Gilroy Business Focus by Weeklys

GILROY DISPATCH GILROY CHAMBER BUSINESS FOCUS

4 JULY 20, 2018

JULY 20, 2018 9

On July 5, a federal district judge generally allowed most of California’s sanctuary state laws to survive, but granted a preliminary injunction blocking the state from fining employers who voluntarily grant U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) access to their worksite or employee records.

Consent to Workplace Access

On Wednesday, July 11, Caliber Collision celebrated the opening of their second location in Gilroy with a Gilroy Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting. Celebrating with Robert Kretz, Center Manager and Lisa Mendez, Field Account Executive and staff of Caliber Collision were Gilroy Chamber members, Ambassadors and staff along with Mayor Roland Velasco. The new location is located at 8516 Church Street. Caliber Collision is America’s largest collision repair company with 572 repair centers in 17 states.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS Friday, July 27 – Chamber Office Closed Friday, August 10 – GRC Meeting Canceled Wednesday, August 15 – Chamber Breakfast at the Hilton Garden Inn. 6:45 – 8:00 a.m. Saturday, August 18 – 17th Annual Garlic City Car Show in Downtown Gilroy. 10:00 a.m – 6:00 p.m. 225 cars to be on display, 12 food vendors, 35 specialty vendors, Family Zone and lots of fun.

Court Puts Parts of California’s New Workplace Immigration Law on “ICE” By Gail Cecchettini Whaley, Senior Employment Law Counsel, CalChamber alifornia’s Immigrant Worker Protection Act (AB 450) provides California workers with certain protections from immigration enforcement while on

• Enter nonpublic work areas without a warrant; or • Access, review or obtain company records without a subpoena or judicial warrant. Employers who violated these provisions could be fined up to $10,000.

July 27 – 29 – Gilroy Garlic Festival at Christmas Hill Park

AB 450 placed various requirements on employers for workplace immigration enforcement actions. Since January 1, employers have been prohibited from voluntarily allowing immigration agents workplace access. Employers could not voluntarily allow a federal immigration enforcement agency to:

the job. This law went into effect on January 1, 2018, but the federal Department of Justice challenged the law, plus several other California “sanctuary state” laws.

Notice Obligations Upheld Importantly, the court upheld the notice obligations found in AB 450. Under AB 450, employers: • Must give notice to employees of any inspection of Forms I-9 or other employer records within 72 hours of receiving a Notice of Inspection. • Have notice obligations once the inspection is over. Within 72 hours of receiving the inspection results, employers must give each “affected employee” a copy of the results and a written notice of the employer’s and employee’s obligations arising from the inspection. The court found that the notice provisions simply provide employees an opportunity to cure deficiencies in their paperwork or eligibility, and that nothing in federal law indicates Congress intended for employees “to be kept in the dark.” Providing the “courtesy” of notice to employees does not thwart federal immigration goals.

The federal district court issued a preliminary injunction blocking these two provisions from being enforced against private sector employers.

In other words, California employers must continue providing both pre- and post-inspection notice to employees.

The court held that the Department of Justice is likely to succeed on its federal constitutional challenge to these provisions, writing:

The battle over California sanctuary state laws, including AB 450, is probably not over as this is only a preliminary injunction and future appeals are likely. In the interim, California employers should continue to comply with AB 450’s notice requirements and consult legal counsel with any questions about how to respond to an ICE visit or request for documents.

For now, private sector employers can’t be fined for voluntarily allowing ICE to enter nonpublic work areas or for voluntarily allowing ICE access to employee records.

Reverification of Employment Eligibility

Stay Tuned

The court also blocked a portion of AB 450 that limits an employer’s ability to reverify the employment eligibility of current employees in a time or manner not allowed by federal law. But employers should be aware that federal law also places limits on reverification of employment eligibility, and those limits still stand.