General Business Alert:

New Mississippi Law Harsh on Employers of Illegals
 
The Mississippi Local Surety Association has informed us that Governor Hailey Barbour signed SB 2988 today, which is a new immigration law. Under the new law, employers in Mississippi must hire only legal citizens of the United States or legal aliens. All Mississippi employers will be required to use a federal pilot program, eVerify, to determine whether newly employed workers are legal U.S. residents.

What the New Law Requires of Employers

For contracts entered into after July 1, 2008, no contractor or subcontractor may enter into a contract with a public entity unless the contractor or subcontractor registers and participates in eVerify to verify the status of all newly hired employees. Any employer that complies with the requirements of this new law shall be held harmless by the Mississippi Department of Employment Security unless the employer was directly involved in the creation of false documents or knowingly and willingly accepted false documents from an employee.

Penalties for Non Compliance

Any employer violating the provisions of the law can have its public contracts cancelled, become ineligible for any state or public contract for up to three years and have its licenses and permits suspended for up to one year. The contractor or employer shall be liable for any additional costs incurred by a public entity because of cancellation of a contract or the loss of any license or permit to do business. The new law also permits the Department of Employment Security, State Tax Commission, Secretary of State, Department of Human Services and the Attorney General to seek penalties.

One of our concerns is this bill seems to permit cancellation of all outstanding contracts of a contractor who violates the law in connection with one of its public contracts.

The new law contains time periods under which employers have to use eVerify. The largest employers, with over 250 employees, will have to be in compliance by July 1, 2008. Smaller employers are given until 2009 to comply. Nevertheless, all employers are required to verify the status of all employees newly hired after July 1, 2008.

If you have employees or contracts in Mississippi, plan to comply with the new law. 

For more information contact Chester Butler 1-800-253-1165 or butler@insurancebutler.com