The news has been filled with reports on the current focus on immigration, including workplace enforcement conducted by Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE). Beyond preparing for potential agency actions or review, employers must also consider broader legal compliance issues – both before and after immigration enforcement.
If you have an agency visit you should comply with the legal directives of the agency, including ICE, and provide documentation and access as required by law. However, in some instances, certain documents are necessary to assure legal protection for you as the company. This can include receiving a copy of warrants and subpoenas, you may also need to address issues such as state or federal confidentiality laws which may apply to certain forms of documentation. If the request is for patient information, HIPAA would apply. Student information is governed by FERPA which provides generalized protection for all student information absent something such as a court order. There are also other state and federal requirements regarding the privacy of documentation and information.
However, once that information has been accessed as part of an agency action, such as an ICE visit, you as the employer need to make sure that you lock it down post agency access. A raid of any type will generate employee interest, and you have the potential for other employees to access or look at the records out of pure curiosity. This type of access, which is...
On March 25, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Evolutions Flooring Inc., an importer of multilayered wood flooring, and its owners agreed to pay $8.1 Million to settle False Clai...