On New Year's Day, an E-Verify mandate took hold in Georgia for firms with 500 or more employees. The mandate will progressively expand so that, by July 2012, firms with 100-499 employees will be required to employ E-Verify, and by next January all companies with 11 or more employees will be covered. Companies with 10 or fewer employees will remain exempt.

E-Verify is an online database system managed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) used to check the legal right of people to work in the United States and is used in conjunction with the form I-9 employment verification process.

The Georgia E-Verify mandate is part of its controversial (and still-being-legally-challenged) Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act.

The Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts will conduct random audits to ensure compliance.

Employers, if you want to keep your workforces informed of their rights and obligations regarding the E-Verify process, get a copy of Personnel Concepts' E-Verify Right-to-Work Notice Poster and display it conspicuously.

Connecticut today becomes the first state in the nation to have a paid sick leave policy on the books. The law applies to firms with 50 or more service workers.

Because of the confusion over what constitutes a service worker, the state Department of Labor has been involved in an ongoing outreach program to educate business owners and human resource managers. Another seminar in the outreach effort is slated for Jan. 12, the agency announced.

Heidi Lane, chief attorney for the labor department, said that firms with existing paid sick leave policies must ensure that their time off accrues at the same rate as the new state law, which is one hour for every 40 hours worked, or better.

Other Connecticut laws taking effect today include a new tax credit program for businesses that hire new employees; expanded insurance coverage for breast MRIs, bone marrow tests, colorectal cancer screening and ostomy supplies; and a loan forgiveness program for students who graduate from so-called "green studies" programs.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials issued 2,393 form I-9 audit notices in 2011, a 375-percent increase from 2008, the last year of the Bush administration.

In addition, ICE arrested and prosecuted 196 business owners, executives and human resource managers for immigration violations in 2011, surpassing the previous high of 135 in 2008.

The trend toward increased enforcement is expected to continue, so business owners and HR managers must be careful in compiling I-9 work authorization forms on all new hires. A handy guide is Personnel Concepts' I-9 Compliance Kit. Get yours today and keep ICE away from your door.

Much like New York's Wage Theft Protection Act (WTPA), California has enacted legislation taking effect this Jan. 1 that mandates employees to notify non-exempt employees of their wage guarantees and protections.

With the same name as its New York counterpart, the Golden State mandate applies to new hires and requires employers to inform these newcomers of the following:

• Their rate of pay and how it's computed (hourly, weekly, per piece, commission, etc.), along with any withholdings anticipated by the employer
• The name, address, phone numbers and DBAs of the company that is hiring them
• The name, address and phone numbers of the company's workers' compensation provider

The notice, which must be signed by the employee and retained by the employer, must be issued in the principal language of the worker. The state has developed templates in many languages for this purpose. Records are to be retained for a minimum of three years.

The law allows aggrieved workers to file directly with the Labor Commissioner for back wages rather than file a lawsuit. It also subjects employers in violation of the law with fines and possible criminal misdemeanor charges.

Twenty-three states that have implemented at least five of eight programs to streamline children's health insurance coverage and meet enrollment targets will receive more than $296 million in federal performance bonuses, the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department announced Wednesday.

The performance bonus payments are funded under the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA), one of the first pieces of legislation signed into law by President Obama in 2009.  To qualify for these bonus payments, states must surpass a specified Medicaid enrollment target. They also must adopt procedures that improve access to Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), making it easier for eligible children to enroll and retain coverage. 

The bonuses come one week after new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that the number of children with insurance increased by 1.2 million since the CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Program) reauthorization in 2009. An HHS issue brief notes that this increase has been entirely due to greater enrollment in public programs such as Medicaid and CHIP.

Employers, you can help keep your workforces informed of their children's rights under CHIPRA by posting our CHIPRA Compliance Poster. Get yours today.

New York's Wage Theft Prevention Act (WTPA) takes effect on Jan. 1, 2012, giving employers until Feb. 1, 2012, to provide their employees with the following information in writing:

• Their wage rate, and how it is computed (hourly, salaried, commissioned, etc.)
• Their overtime rate, if applicable
• The company's pay dates
• The company's name and DBAs, and its main physical address and phone number
• The amount of any allowances for meals, tips and so on claimed by the employer

The notifications must be provided in English and in the employee's primary language if the State of New York has developed a template for that language. Thus far, templates are available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Creole, Polish and Russian.

In addition to providing copies of the notices to their employees, employers must retain a signed receipt copy on file for six years. (Under some circumstances, this can be done electronically.) Failure to do so may result in a fine of $50 per week per employee notification violation.

BREAKING NEWS: The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has agreed to delay the implementation of its Employee Rights Poster mandate until April 30, 2012, giving the legal system time to hear challenges.

This development follows closely upon our earlier advisory that a district court judge had beseeched the board to reconsider its Jan. 31, 2012, implementation date.

A district court judge in Washington, D.C., has asked the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to reconsider its Jan. 31, 2012, mandate for all U.S. businesses to post an National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) Employee Rights notification. The judge issued his request in the face of mounting legal challenges over the new poster.

With no NLRB reconsideration, the official deadline of Jan. 31, 2012, will take effect. Penalties are twofold for not posting it: 1) the NLRB will extend the statute of limitations by six months for employees who file unfair labor practice complaints and 2) the NLRB will consider the non-posting a sign of "anti-union animus," regardless of whether the business is unionized or operates under a federal contract.

Employers, the best bet is to procure your NLRA Employee Rights Poster now and display it on time just in case.

As part of the Veterans Opportunity to Work (VOW) Act signed Nov. 21 by President Obama, the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Act (USERRA) has been amended to provide protection against harassment for service members in their civilian jobs.

Prior to VOW, courts had found it unclear if USERRA offered harassment (hostile work environment) protection to service members as a protected class. Now this has been clarified and amended by VOW.

All employers must notify past, present, and future members of the uniformed services in writing about their rights and obligations under USERRA. Get your copy of Personnel Concepts' USERRA Military Leave Compliance Program today and display the USERRA Rights poster that comes with it as a first step in compliance.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) voted today, 2-1, to finalize rules that will restrict employers in their challenges to union organizing elections at their worksites. The NLRB intends to publish the Final Rule in the Federal Register tomorrow (Dec. 22, 2011).

Previously, employers could challenge–and thus delay elections–the status of supervisors (can they vote or belong to a unit?) and even the legality of the bargaining unit itself. Under the new rules, employers can challenge only those issues relevant to whether an election should even be held, and the challenges will be heard before an NLRB hearing officer, not an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ).

Already, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has filed suit to block the new regulations. Barring the success of that or other lawsuits, however, the Final Rule will take effect on April 20, 2012.

As this election rules drama plays out, most employers in the U.S. already face a Jan. 31, 2012, deadline to post the new NLRA Employee Rights Poster (which you can obtain by clicking on the link), another byproduct of an activist NLRB.