Employers looking to retain current foreign national employees or attract highly skilled talent should consider adding the National Interest Waiver to their immigration sponsorship toolset. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic,...more
Over 11 million people are likely in the United States without legal authorization to work, accounting for over 3% of our workforce. This often forces employers to choose between essential employment compliance and economic...more
The USCIS approach to immigration compliance is changing rapidly as we come out of the COVID-19 pandemic. While employers must use Form I-9 to verify employment eligibility, it is an often-overlooked requirement that may open...more
“For too long, workers have been getting stiffed. But not anymore. We’re beginning to restore the dignity of work.” With these words, spoken by President Biden midway through his State of the Union address Tuesday night,...more
2/10/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Employee Benefits ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Reform ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Relations ,
Medical Leave ,
Minimum Wage ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Paid Leave ,
State of the Union ,
Wage and Hour
Federal immigration officials just agreed to streamline the process by which certain nonimmigrant dependent spouses are able to secure employment, reverting to a previous method that should reduce processing times and...more
1/26/2023
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Form I-129 ,
Form I-765 ,
H-1B ,
H-4 Spouses ,
Immigration Procedures ,
L-1 Visas ,
L-2 Visas ,
Non-Immigrant Visas ,
USCIS
Employers in the U.S. would face significant increases in filing fees for many employment-based petitions under a recent USCIS proposal. The changes would place the burden on employers to cover the cost of processing complex...more
It’s never easy to make accurate predictions about what we might expect to see in the workplace in the coming year. After all, at the start of 2020, no one could have predicted COVID-19. None of us had heard the phrase “the...more
1/3/2023
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Form I-9 ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Labor Relations ,
OSHA ,
Over-Time ,
Privacy Laws ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
It’s never easy to make accurate predictions about what we might expect to see in the workplace in the coming year. After all:
- At the start of 2020, no one could have predicted COVID-19.
- None of us had heard the phrase...more
11/1/2022
/ Affirmative Action ,
Background Checks ,
Blockchain ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Security ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employee Retention ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Labor Relations ,
Leave of Absence ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Trade Secrets ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
Welcome to FP Forecast, a monthly outlook featuring Fisher Phillips thought leaders providing their insights into what employers can expect in 2022 and beyond. By following along each month, you’ll be in the best position to...more
As the new year begins, federal immigration officials are implementing rules to help the over 500,000 backlogged visa appointments – three of which will be quite welcome news to employers across the country. Most of these...more
It was inevitable and now official: the Omicron variant of COVID-19 arrived in the United States in recent days. One of the main challenges this new threat poses for employers is determining how it will impact (and be...more
It’s been said that from crisis comes opportunity. And given that the COVID-19 pandemic has handed us the greatest collective crisis in our lifetimes, it should stand to reason that we should now be in the perfect position to...more
5/3/2021
/ Business Operations ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Governance ,
Data Security ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-9 ,
Gig Economy ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Labor Relations ,
Legal Operations ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Remote Working ,
Staffing Agencies ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
Given the tumultuous news that occupied all of our attentions last week, you may have missed the announcement that President-elect Biden has nominated Boston Mayor Marty Walsh to be the next Secretary of Labor – the first...more
1/11/2021
/ Affirmative Action ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Pay ,
Foreign Workers ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joint Employers ,
Paid Leave ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Secretary of Labor ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
A federal judge recently struck down the Trump administration’s recent efforts to significantly restrict the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which provides protection from deportation for approximately...more
Federal immigration officials announced on November 18 that the relaxed rules for completing I-9 forms has been extended until December 31, 2020. Officials also recently issued guidance that should further help employers...more
While the election results may still be debated until officially certified and litigation is resolved, employers should be looking ahead to what a Biden administration will mean for immigration. Prior to this tumultuous year,...more
11/16/2020
/ Biden Administration ,
Border Security ,
Corporate Counsel ,
DACA ,
Dream Act ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Green Cards ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Immigration Reform ,
Municipalities ,
Public Charge ,
Seasonal Workers ,
USCIS ,
Visas
It appears to be official: unless the election results can be overturned in several states, Joe Biden will soon be our nation’s 46th president. Now the work begins to forecast what the next four years will bring. We’ve spent...more
11/9/2020
/ Affirmative Action ,
Biden Administration ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Security ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Labor Relations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Paid Leave ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Political Campaigns ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
President Trump just issued a Proclamation to further restrict legal immigration, preventing employers from bringing new H-1B, H-2B, L-1A, L-1B, and J-1 workers from abroad into the United States. Effective June 24, 2020...more
6/23/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Students ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
H-2B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
J-1 Visas ,
L-1 Visas ,
Presidential Proclamations ,
Trump Administration ,
Visas
In a measure responding to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, President Trump has issued a proclamation temporarily suspending the entry of immigrant-visa applicants for 60 days. Although the initial announcement preceding the...more
Many businesses already facing COVID-19 coronavirus-related threats to the bottom line are now besieged on another front as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has ramped up the I-9 workplace inspections central to...more
3/17/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Form I-9 ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Inspections ,
Trump Administration ,
Undocumented Immigrants ,
Workplace Investigations
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) threatened to start to carry out a series of immigration raids this weekend seeking to identify and apprehend undocumented individuals – with some potentially occurring at the...more
7/16/2019
/ Audits ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Form I-9 ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
NLRA ,
Raids ,
Search Warrant ,
Undocumented Immigrants
The Social Security Administration recently resurrected its practice of issuing Employer Correction Request notices – also known as “no-match letters” – when it receives employee information from an employer that does not...more
5/8/2019
/ Books & Records ,
E-Verify ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Form I-9 ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
IRS ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Social Security Administration (SSA) ,
Undocumented Immigrants ,
Verification Requirements
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently proposed a new rule that could dramatically change the way the H-1B application process works. The rule would establish an electronic pre-registration system and run the...more
12/18/2018
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Filing Requirements ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Lottery ,
New Rules ,
Proposed Rules ,
Registration ,
USCIS ,
Visa Caps ,
Visas
In the past week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has significantly increased the number of Notices of Inspection issued to employers nationwide, leading to a dramatic spike in I-9 audits. Unlike the enforcement...more
7/23/2018
/ Audits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Form I-9 ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Raids ,
Risk Management ,
Sanctuary Cities ,
Trump Administration ,
Undocumented Immigrants
It’s no secret that immigration compliance is a priority to the Trump administration, so the recent announcement that it expects the number of worksite investigations to quadruple in coming years should come as no surprise....more
3/9/2018
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Penalties ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Form I-9 ,
Franchises ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Raids ,
Trump Administration ,
Undocumented Immigrants