Last week, the United States Department of Homeland Security made an announcement regarding expedited processing and improvements for supporting labor enforcement. This new procedure increases the chance that undocumented employees will file wage-hour and EEOC claims against their employers.
It is generally illegal for an employer to hire a worker who is unauthorized to be employed in the United States. Still, some employers do it for a number of reasons. Among these reasons include that there may not be enough eligible candidates available for hiring, the business may want to pay the employee less than what is needed by law, or the employee may have given the employer fake work authorization paperwork in order to secure a position. Workers who are victims of, or witnesses to, the violation of labor rights, may now access a simplified and accelerated deferred action request procedure and apply for employment authorization, according to DHS guidelines which were unveiled last week. Deferred action and the potential to get employment authorization are two powerful incentives that the program gives undocumented individuals to accuse their employers of wrongdoing.
The deferred action plan allows undocumented employees to stay in the country on deferred action without the fear of being deported meanwhile the typical first deferral period lasts for two years. The potential to get employment authorization allows immigrants the ability to obtain legal authorization to work in the U.S. which is a notable positive to an undocumented worker.
