GA Law Update

Senate Bill 40 - Requirement to use Federal Work Authorization System:

If passed, Senate Bill 40 will require every private employer in the state to use the federal work authorization system to verify the employment eligibility of every new hire within three (3) business days of hiring and to retain documents demonstrating that verification for at least five (5) years.

The first violation will be met with a written warning from the Georgia Department of Labor, but additional violations will receive civil fines and potential revocation of the company's business license.

There is opposition to the proposal based upon the impact to employers.


House Bill 87 - Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act of 2011:

This bill is similar to Senate Bill 40 in that it requires employers to use the E-Verify system. This bill applies to all private employers of five (5) or more employees.

Violations could be prosecuted as criminal offenses.


Senate Bill 104 - Hiring of Day Laborers:

In a similar measure, Senate Bill 104 would bar the hiring of day laborers throughout Georgia.

The bill would make it illegal for an occupant of a motor vehicle to attempt to hire and pick up passengers for work at a different location, if the motor vehicle is blocking traffic, as well as for a person to enter the motor vehicle (i.e., both the driver and the workers are in violation).

It also prohibits a person who is an unauthorized alien to knowingly apply for work, solicit work in a public place, or perform work.


Other News - OSHA Citation:

OSHA cited a Georgia Contractor for willfully exposing a workers to being trapped and buried by a trench collapse and serious safety hazards.

The company, George Grading and Hauling, Inc., faces $64,750 in penalties for the violations, with $49,000 of that being for one willful violation. The remaining portion is for five serious citations, such as allowing employees to work in a trench with overhead hazards and without personal protective equipment, not supplying a safe means of exit from the trench, allowing employees in the trench too close to materials overhead, allowing materials to be placed too close to the trench creating the possibility that they would roll back into the excavation, and insufficient inspection of the trench to ensure safety.