BILL SB10-033
Statutory Ref.:
CONCERNING THE VERIFICATION OF THE WORK ELIGIBILITY STATUS OF NEW EMPLOYEES THROUGH THE FEDERAL ELECTRONIC VERIFICATION PROGRAM.
Sponsors: SCHULTHEIS / BAUMGARDNER
Under current law, employers are required to examine, and retain records of examining, the legal work status of new employees. The bill repeals the current law and instead creates the “Fair and Legal Employment for Coloradans Act” (act), which requires all nongovernmental employers in the state to participate in the federal electronic verification program (e-verify program) for purposes of verifying the work eligibility status of all new employees hired by an employer. A person who employs only H-2A workers would not have to comply with the act. Employers would be obligated to start participating in the e-verify program in accordance with the following schedule:
* For employers with 200 or more employees, by January 1, 2011;
* For employers with 50 or more employees but fewer than 200 employees, by July 1, 2011; and
* For employers with fewer than 50 employees, by July 1, 2013. The attorney general is to impose fines on an employer for knowing or intentional failure to participate in the e-verify program or to provide documentary proof of participation. An employer would be prohibited from intentionally or knowingly employing an unauthorized alien, and would be required to immediately terminate an employee for whom the employer receives a final notice of nonconfirmation of work eligibility through the e-verify program. The attorney general or the county or city attorney, as appropriate, would be obligated to investigate complaints of employer noncompliance, and the appropriate county or city attorney would have to bring a court action against the employer when an investigation shows a complaint has merit. Upon finding a violation, the bill requires the court to order the employer to:
* Terminate the employment of all unauthorized aliens;
* Be subject to probation, during which the employer must submit quarterly reports of all newly hired employees to the county or city attorney; and
* Submit a sworn affidavit attesting that the employer has terminated the employment of all unauthorized aliens. For knowing violations, the court may order the suspension of the employer’s business licenses. For intentional violations, the court must order the suspension of all business licenses for a period determined by the court. For a second violation, the court is to order the immediate and permanent revocation of all business licenses. The bill requires the attorney general to maintain copies of, and provide access to, all court orders issued against employers and to maintain a database of employers with a first violation. The department of labor and employment (department) is required to notify employers via quarterly electronic publications and post a notice on its web site explaining the requirements of the act to employers. Additionally, the bill requires the secretary of state, in consultation with the department, to include information about the requirements of the bill on its web site. The bill creates the e-verify program cash fund, to consist of moneys collected as fines imposed on employers for failing to participate in the e-verify program. The moneys in the fund are to be used to cover the reasonable costs incurred by the attorney general, county attorneys, and city attorneys in administering and enforcing the requirements of the act. The bill defines as a discriminatory or unfair employment practice the refusal to hire, or to terminate from employment, a United States citizen or permanent resident alien while hiring or retaining an unauthorized alien in the same type of job when the employer knew or should have known that the person was an unauthorized alien.
Status
03/03/2010 Senate Committee on State, Veterans & Military Affairs Postpone Indefinitely
Fiscal Notes Status: Fiscal note currently unavailable