Legal Question in Employment Law in New York
i-9 documentation
i have been hired by a company in nyc to help out with their labor problem :30-40 Workers trying to unionize,
company has little or no i-9 validation on workers. i would
like to require all current employees to fill out i-9(i think several are not legal), but i am being told i would be considered an ulp(unfair labor practice) in retaliation to the union activity. are we not required to have i-9 validation from all employees?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: i-9 documentation
Thank you for your question.
While it is true that employees must be authorized to work in the United States, the time to verify authorization to work is at the time of hire and not as a result of organizational activity. To review work authorization now, in response to organizational activity, and base decisions to discharge on such a review will be viewed as a subterfuge for unlawful discrimination. The employer should devote its energy to (1) underscoring the 2-3 key issues leading to this activity, (2) defining the bargaining unit and (3) tailoring its campaign to address the key issues.
Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions. Thank you again for your inquiry.