Hot Topics for 2008 for In-house Counsel and Human Resources Departments

Partner Laura J. Mazel spoke at the second part of a two-part complimentary breakfast series on May 20, 2008 on compliance under immigration and employment law.  Topics included Best Practices from Hire to Fire and Dealing with Independent Contractors.

Our immigration firm collaborated with the Employment Law Group at Folger, Levin and Kahn on this joint series, so that attendees could learn from the experts in two currently very challenging areas of the law--immigration and employment, and so that they could learn how to navigate through minefields when these two areas intersect. 

The Intersection of Employment and Immigration Law: Best Practices from Hire to Fire and Dealing with Independent Contractors

Employers continue to strive to recruit and retain the best and the brightest global talent. Employers may also face economic pressure to reduce their workforce. Employers increasingly use independent contractors to meet their business needs. At this employment and immigration session, attendees learned how to:

• Minimize exposure to liability in hiring decisions, during an employee’s tenure and upon termination
• Comply with Form I-9 Requirements while avoiding discrimination allegations
• Determine whether your independent contractor is actually an “employee” under state and federal law
• Identify immigration issues and costs to the employer regarding foreign national candidates
• Know what constitutes a “proper” termination under applicable immigration law to limit exposure to liability for back pay
• Know employers’ obligations for certain immigration costs and when reimbursement agreements are permissible
• Identify need for immigration policies to clearly delineate ramifications of termination and notification to government agencies upon termination