BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 622 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 13, 2015 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Jimmy Gomez, Chair AB 622 (Roger Hernández) - As Amended April 27, 2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Labor and Employment |Vote:|6 - 1 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No SUMMARY: This bill expands the definition of unlawful employment practice to prohibit an employer or other person, except as required by federal law or as a condition of receiving federal funds, from using the federal electronic employment verification system AB 622 Page 2 known as E-Verify to check the employment authorization status of an existing employee or an applicant who has not been offered employment. Specifically, this bill: 1)Specifies that nothing in this bill is to be interpreted to prohibit an employer from utilizing an employment verification system in accordance with federal law to check the employment authorization status of an individual who has been offered employment. 2)Provides that if the employer receives a tentative nonconfirmation (or "no-match letter") issued by the Social Security Administration or the United States Department of Homeland Security, the employer is required to comply with the required employee notification procedures under any memorandum of understanding governing the use of the federal E-Verify system. 3)Requires the employer to furnish to the employee any specified notification containing information specific to the employee's E-Verify case or any tentative nonconfirmation notice promptly, but not exceeding the timeframe provided in the Referral Date Confirmation notice, which is generated by E-Verify after an employee chooses to contest the tentative nonconfirmation notice. 4)Provides that, in addition to other remedies available, an employer who violates this bill is liable for a civil penalty not $10,000 for each unlawful use of the E-Verify system. 5)States that this bill is intended to prevent discrimination in employment rather than to sanction the potential hiring and employment of employees who are not authorized for employment under federal law. AB 622 Page 3 FISCAL EFFECT: Minor/absorbable costs to the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) Division of Labor Standards Enforcement to monitor compliance and enforcement related to discriminatory use of the E-Verify system. COMMENTS: 1)Purpose. E-Verify is an Internet-based system that compares information from an employee's Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, to data from U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration records to confirm employment eligibility. Some critics of the program have argued that it has been hindered by inaccurate and outdated information in the DHS and SSA databases and misuse of the program by employers. According to the author, each year, thousands of people may be wrongly kept from working or even fired because of a federal program known as E-Verify. This bill is co-sponsored by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) and the California Immigrant Policy Center with the goal of strengthening California's protections for all workers by limiting misuse of AB 622 Page 4 the E-Verify program and creating penalties for abuse. 2)Prior Legislation. a) AB 1236 (Fong), Chapter 691, Statutes of 2011 enacted provisions of law that prohibit state and local entities from requiring an employer, other than one of those government entities, to use an electronic employment verification system, including E-Verify, except when required by federal law or as a condition of receiving federal funds. b) AB 263 (Roger Hernández), Chapter 732, Statutes of 2013 prohibited an employer or any other person or entity from engaging in unfair immigration-related practices, as defined, against any person for the purpose of retaliating against the person for exercising specified rights. The law defines "unfair immigration-related practice" to include using E-Verify to check the employment authorization status at a time or in a manner not required under federal law or authorized under a federal memorandum of understanding. Analysis Prepared by:Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916) 319-2081 AB 622 Page 5