hen immigration enforcement officials showed up at the offices of Staff Management
last year, their presence didn’t stir the kind of panic that goes on in some workplaces.
They had been invited in to review contingent worker hiring practices at the Chicago-based
staffing company.
Staff Management passed the test, and recently became the first staffing company
to be part of a new pilot program aimed at improving workforce compliance with immigration
laws. Under the voluntary program, called IMAGE, companies agree to an audit of
their hiring practices by the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and
Customs Enforcement officials. If they pass, they are certified by the government
and help shape best practices for compliance with immigration hiring rules.
Chicago-based Staff Management does on-site staffing for other companies, with
a concentration in light industry. The firm decided to join the program as a reality
check on its compliance program and to boost its image as a staffing company with
a solid grounding in meeting immigration requirements.
"With all the negative press on this issue, we felt it was our responsibility
to make sure we are doing our due diligence," COO Joan Davison says.
Still, Davison says she was surprised at just how inquisitive the federal authorities
were. After volunteering, Staff Management underwent an extensive review of how
it handles federal employment verification forms, better known as I-9s, which require
prospective hires to show proof of employability.
A federal crackdown on the hiring of undocumented workers has led to a number
of high-profile cases recently. In one of the largest actions, federal agents in
December raided six meat processing plants run by Swift & Co., rounding up more
than 1,200 suspected undocumented workers. Ironically, Swift was sued by the government
just a few years earlier on allegations that its efforts to do background checks
on prospective workers might be discriminatory.
IMAGE, an acronym for ICE Mutual Agreement Between Government and Employers,
was set up last summer and is an attempt to bring more standardization to the screening
process employers use by helping them set up effective systems to check basic worker
eligibility. The goal is to use practices that conform to federal requirements,
but don’t pry too deeply. To participate in IMAGE, companies join the DHS’ Basic
Pilot program, an Internet-based employee authorization verification system linked
to the Social Security Administration database and DHS immigration records.
"I think this program is kind of teaching us what to look for, helping us to
train our management team around the country on what practices are appropriate,"
Davison says about IMAGE.
The eight other members of the program so far represent a cross section of companies
and include mammoth defense contractor General Dynamics, some manufacturers and
a construction company. Bringing in a staffing company extends the program to an
industry that deals with temporary and contingent employment and places some 12
million workers in U.S. jobs each year.
Ed Lenz, senior vice president and general counsel for the American Staffing
Association, says others in the industry may join if the program proves beneficial
to Staff Management.
But he says the required federal audit is not something that staffing companies
should regard lightly.
"This is designed to help employers do a better job," Lenz says. "But it doesn’t
insulate them from liability if the audit spots problems. They need to make sure
their systems are in pretty good shape before they do this."
Kevin Sibley, acting unit chief for the ICE Worksite Enforcement Unit, says the
participation of staffing companies is particularly important because of the role
they play in the growing field of contract and contingent labor. He anticipated
more staffing companies would follow Staff Management’s lead and join IMAGE.
"Many of our current and prospective IMAGE partners have relayed that their greatest
concern or perceived weakness is with their contract employees," Sibley says. "This
concern would be greatly mitigated with more and more staffing companies participating
in IMAGE."
For more on IMAGE,
www.ice.gov.
Workforce Management, March 12, 2007, p. 23
-- Subscribe Now!
= Member Only
