Agency Battles Confusion Over Immigrant Law

A large Anaheim hotel last year fired dozens of Latino employees who could not produce documents proving that they were legally working in the United States.

But the hotel unwittingly was the law breaker, said Robin Blackwell, coordinator for the Orange County Coalition for Immigration Rights. She said hotel officials were unaware that because their employees were hired before Nov. 6, 1986, they were exempt from documentation requirements established by the Immigration Reform and Control Act, which became law on that date.

In an attempt to prevent such misunderstandings, the Orange County Human Relations Commission has updated its Equal Opportunity Handbook, which is being made available to all employers in Orange County.

Since the commission published its first primer on how to promote equal opportunity in the workplace more than a year ago, employers have become increasingly confused about how to distinguish “legal” immigrants from “illegal” ones, according to Barbara Considine, staff specialist for the commission.

Because the new immigration law imposes potentially large fines on employers who don’t take proper precautions to avoid hiring undocumented aliens, some employers are becoming excessively picky about what documents they will accept, Considine said. Frequently, they require a job applicant to show a “green card”--a permanent residency card--when other documents would suffice.

“There tends to be a mind-set with employers that if a person seems to be an immigrant, it is not enough for him to show a Social Security card and driver’s license, although that is all that is required,” she said. Moreover, she observed that an employer is acting illegally if he arbitrarily decides what documentation a job applicant must show.

To try to clear up the confusion, a page has been added to the latest edition of the commission’s 32-page handbook that lists a wide array of documents or combinations of documents that a job applicant can use to prove he has legal standing.

Another change in the handbook is the addition of an “affirmative action recruitment directory” that lists community and government organizations that provide employment counseling and will post job openings. The organizations serve a wide variety of groups, including ethnic minorities, the disabled and senior citizens.

Yet another revision in the book explains what “responsible steps” employers may be expected to take to prevent sexual harassment, such as developing an official policy on the subject, establishing a grievance procedure and conducting education programs.

Peg Albano, spokeswoman for the Employer Advisory Council, a nonprofit organization with about 900 employer members in Orange County, said the council welcomes the guidance provided by the handbook on how to comply with state and federal laws in personnel matters.

“Most people are so busy trying to run their businesses that they don’t have time to keep up with the laws,” Albano said. “If every business could afford to hire a labor attorney, that would be fortunate. But they can’t afford to do that.”

Considine said that with funding from the Southern California Gas Co., the Orange County Human Relations Commission has printed 1,000 copies of the new handbook. She said free copies will be mailed to companies that send $1.65 in postage to the commission.