The Impact of Immigration Law to the HR Field - Research Paper Example

The Impact of Immigration Law to the HR Field Introduction Immigration is the movement of persons from one nation to another with the aim of making a permanent settlement. The US immigration system has long been acknowledged, even by both sides of the political divide in Washington’s highly polarized modern politics, as broken. While almost everyone agrees that the broken system needs to be fixed, politicians and commentators differ on exactly how this should be done. Since the Immigration Reform and Control Act was passed in 1986 during President Ronald Reagan era, a lot of effort has exercised to achieve another comprehensive immigration reform by successive governments to address what is widely acknowledged as a broken immigration system in light of modern challenges of national security and globalization. The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013 (S. 744) that was passed in the US Senate under the leadership of a group of eight bi-partisan senators in 2013 and President Obama’s immigration executive order on 20th November 2014 mark two major stand-out efforts to address the immigration problem with potential impact on the US labor market (Inserra, 2014). The paper seeks to understand how the two pieces of legislation are likely to affect the legal environment in which human resource management operates as a practice and how human resource managers should prepare themselves for the emerging order in the US labor market. The paper looks at the impact of the proposed changes in immigration policy across a range of perspectives. Human Resource Planning and Recruitment President Obama’s immigration executive action will lead to significant changes in the wage structure of the US labor market that will demand the attention of HR planners and recruiters for a smooth transition. Various organizations and think tanks interested in the US immigration debate have given their analysis and forecasts on the potential impact of the president’s executive action on the US labor market. According to the Council of Economic Advisors estimates, the executive actions by President Obama are projected to raise the average wages of native-born American citizens by 0.3% (or $170 in today’s dollars) over the coming 10 years (White House, 2014). The CAP estimates that wages will increase by an average of 8.5% over the next one year for individuals who will be eligible for new and deferred action (Center for American Progress). These wage gains will be driven by the potential eligibility for work permits, better job matches in the market as well as a reduced probability of being taken advantage of being employers. The FPI on the other hand estimates a 5 to 10 percent increase in wages over the next five years for the projected 5 million workers who will be expected to gain work authorization through the president executive's expanded deferred action (Garcia, 2013). The NAID Center approximates that the deferred action on 3.8 million undocumented immigrants could raise labor income by as much as $ 7.1 billion in the order’s first two years of implementation (“Executive Action”, 2014). All these projections call for the attention of Human resource planners to adjust their fiscal budgets so as to anticipate the increased expenditure on wages. The recruitment function should be prepared to take advantage of the increased pool of more skilled workers so as to hire the best in the market. Some research has shown that a significant portion of unauthorized immigrant workers have been victims of minimum wage law violations, most probably based on their weak position to bargain for what they are justified to bargain for. The research even goes ahead to establish that as much as 84 percent of the full time of these workers who worked full time were not paid for overtime. Overtime pay is determined to be time-and-half the hours that are worked beyond the normal 40 hours per week. Young people who qualified for DACA are the group that is most poised to benefit from President Obama’s order from survey analysis (“Executive Action”, 2014). Unauthorized immigrants who qualify for the president’s new expanded deferred action will have the same legal protection similar to that available to DACA. Thus, this means that this minimum wages payments and the overtime pay that they will be entitled to. Segment of immigrant workers will have the freedom to compete for better-paying jobs or in case they remain in their present jobs, they will be able to demand for minimum wages or the overtime pay that they will qualify for (Martin, Abella, & Kuptsch, 2008). In case their employers fail to comply, then this category of workers will be legally empowered to pursue legal redress without fear of their employers retaliating or fear of deportation. This calls for the human resource management to be alive to this reality of newly empowered employees who can no longer be taken for a ride or be exploited. This means that employers should adjust their books so as to be ready to spend more on compensating their employees on what they deserve or be ready to spend more in legal battles with their newly empowered employees (Martin, Abella, & Kuptsch, 2008). According to the Senate immigration reform bill, S.744, agricultural guest workers will be eligible for temporary work visas, only subject to caps that are designed to protect native US workers. The new proposals would allow the guest workers to receive worker’s compensation, employer-provided housing, fair wages and the change to other employers in the agricultural sector (Martin, Abella, & Kuptsch, 2008). Strategic Human Resource Management in a Changing Environment The expanded DACA and the new DAPA programs are estimated to benefit approximately 4.4million of undocumented individuals who could add significantly to certain industries such as hotels, restaurants, and manufacturing. These new changes are likely to see employees come forward with new identities and Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) (Martin, Abella, & Kuptsch, 2008). This means that there are likely to be some legal actions by some employers who may wish to terminate the contracts of the affected employees on the basis of giving false documentation during the signing of their contracts. In so doing, employers will be expected to involve attorneys who will make sure that the entire process is done in a non–discriminatory fashion and accordance with the existing federal and employment laws. On the other hand, employers that wish to continue employing employees who come forward with new Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) will be expected to update their I-9 employment eligibility forms for the affected employees (“Executive Action”, 2014). The new executive actions have provisions that may benefit several companies that employ highly skilled workers. Some of these initiatives include the modification of the visa system such that more green cards are allocated to highly skilled workers; modifying the green card portability rules such that employees can change jobs or even apply for new ones as they await the completion of the green card application process, etc. This challenges Human Resource managers of this group of companies to align themselves strategically to the operationalization of these changes so as to take full advantage of the high skilled human resource that they can’t do without (“The Economic Benefits”, 2013). Researchers argue that the President’s executive order is likely to increase the labor force participation rate as many hitherto inactive immigrants come forward to anticipate in the labor market without fear of deportation as they will have legal documents to look for work. Also, there will be increased productivity growth as immigrants become more and more specialized. The combined effect of these two effects will be real economic growth that will demand a proportionate rise in real wages. Therefore, it will require HR managers to anticipate a rise in the real wages of the employees so as to strategically plan on how to adjust their budgets so as to incorporate this reality (“Executive Action”, 2014). The bipartisan Senate bill on immigration (S.744) does a lot to boost innovation and worker productivity for immigrants. One of the ways it accomplishes this is by eliminating the existing backlogs for employment-based green cards by exempting certain employment based green cards from limitations on the overall numbers of such green cards issued in any particular years as well as elimination of restrictions on the number of immigrants from such populous nations as China and India (“Comprehensive Immigration”, 2013). The bill also proposes elimination of restrictions on the number of green cards available to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) graduates available every year (Inserra, 2014). The bill goes ahead to propose that STEM graduates with advanced degrees from US colleges and universities with job offers in the US will be able to obtain green cards. The overall impact of this proposal is that the U.S. labor market will retain the best minds in STEM disciplines in the labor market and more than guarantee that it continues to be world leader in science and cutting edge technology for the rest of the world (Inserra, 2014). Human Resource managers, especially of companies that directly employ the high-skilled STEM graduates should strategically align themselves to take advantage of the readily available high-skill employees that are critical to their competitiveness in today’s global economy (“The Economic Benefits”, 2013). Equal Employment Opportunity The United States equal employment opportunity commission criminalizes discrimination against job seekers and employees on the basis of a range of aspects such as race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability age, etc. the commission’s mandate is to promote equal opportunity in employment through enforcement of Federal civil rights laws and through technical and education assistance (Martin, Abella, & Kuptsch, 2008). The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013 (S. 744) proposes a merit-based immigration system that would consider such factors as professional skills, work relations and work history in the US for consideration of acceptance into the US (“Senate Approves”, 2013). This would seem to discriminate against prospective immigrants who may not possess the various aspects needed for successful immigration into the US. President Obama’s executive decision announcement on immigration on 20th November 2014 allows employment authorization for H-IB visa holders hence eliminating a potential source of discrimination based on national origin. The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013 (S. 744) provides that undocumented workers in the agricultural sectors and their dependents will be eligible for an accelerated pathway to citizenship with a ‘blue card’ (Summary & Analysis”, 2013). The blue card holders will be eligible to continue working in the agricultural sector as they wait to become permanent legal residents in 5-8 years, from which point they will become eligible to work in any occupation. This again deals a blow to discrimination based on one’s legal status in our country (Inserra, 2014). The bill also proposes a category of visas called the U visas for victims of serious abuse in the workplace, exploitation or retaliation. These visas will become available to migrant survivors of crime who assist in law enforcement (“Comprehensive Immigration”, 2013). This implies that fair workplace treatment and discrimination will gain heightened attention and employers will be expected to be careful on how they treat their immigrant workers lest they find themselves spending large sums of money on legal defenses. Cases of some employers holding their employees pay on the basis of the employee’s immigration status have been well reported. With immigrant gaining new legal status in the Senate bill, such discriminatory practices are expected to be a thing of the past (Summary & Analysis”, 2013). Employment Relationships The S.744 will require employers to begin using a federal government verification system to check whether new hires are authorized to work (Summary & Analysis”, 2013). Workers that are screened under this system have various protections put in place by the bill. American citizens and work-authorized immigrants will have the pathway to file an administrative appeal against a rejection or ‘non-confirmation’ by the system. The courts will be open for appeals if necessary. As well, prospective workers will be compensated for any lost wages, reasonable costs and attorney’s fees if the non-confirmation was due to errors on the side of government or employer (“Comprehensive Immigration”, 2013). This system ensures that potential employees have a fairest possible pathway to employment devoid of any discrimination along the way. The bill also puts in place a system of regularly assessing the system, complaints, and investigation mechanisms as well as privacy protections. In addition, the system expands anti-discriminatory provisions to include discriminatory of electronic verification. The overall impact of these new legislations in the bill is to reduce discrimination to the minimum possible so as to make equality of employment opportunity a reality for all types of workers, especially the would-be empowered class of immigrant workers (Garcia, 2013) The findings discussed above are corroborated by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and other independent studies which affirm the new stringent protection that the bill will provide to both native US workers as well as to the would-be legal immigrant workers. The office asserts that bringing undocumented workers out of the shadows into the formal economy will help to bring to an end to practices that undercut wages and worsen working conditions for American workers (“Congressional Budget”, 2013). Corporate Culture One of the major issues that will highlight American corporate culture is the strong policy recommendations instituted to protect Native American workers. The bill sets forth a requirement that employers must first recruit American workers before hiring highly-skilled temporary foreign workers (“Senate Approves”, 2013). As well, prohibitions against displacing American workers are strengthened. Employers will be required to pay fair wages to temporary workers who are aimed at preventing American workers from being disadvantaged by cheap sources of foreign labor. Other policy recommendations put forward by the bill include raising the ‘wage floor’ for all workers, especially in industries where large numbers of easily exploited, low-wage workers are found; increasing employers accountability through a federal government E-Verify system and a more transparent worksite that places accountability on employers who hire undocumented workers; as well as investing more in border security so as to deter any future infiltration of the labor market by undocumented immigrants (Summary & Analysis”, 2013). Another key element of the American corporate culture will revolve around the hiring process. All American companies will be required to use the federal government-run E-Verify system that is run by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Non-US citizens who are newly hired will be required to show their employers a ‘biometric work authorization card’ or an immigrant feature that includes a photograph stored in the E-Verify system and is available to the employer (“Senate Approves”, 2013). Conclusion The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013 (S. 744) is set to reform fundamentally laws governing immigration and the enforcement of such laws in the United States. In so doing, the highlight of the bill is the pathway to citizenship to a significant number of undocumented immigrants who illegally entered the United States. This outcome has a huge potential impact on the US labor market in terms of increased numbers of skilled immigrant workers who will move out of the shadows into the formal or legal economy without fear of facing deportation. It advantageous to the various U.S. companies when the Human Resource function aligns itself with the expected changes in the US labor market not only to brace for empowered immigrant workers, but also to exploit the advantages the new order of things presents. References Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill Passes the U.S. Senate and Awaits Consideration by the House. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.naacp.org/action-alerts/entry/comprehensive-immigration-reform-bill-passes-the-u.s.-senate-and-awaits-con Comprehensive Immigration Reform through Senate Bill S. 744. (2000). Retrieved from http://lirs.org/cir/s744_analysis/ Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. (2013). Retrieved from https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/s744.pdf Executive Action on Immigration: American Immigration Council Resources on President: Obama's Executive Action on Immigration. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/executive-action-immigration-resource-page Garcia, A. (2013). Making Sense of the Senate and House’s Visions of Immigration Reform. Retrieved from https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/report/2013/12/09/80652/making-sense-of-the-senate-and-houses-visions-of-immigration-reform/ Inserra, D. (2014). Expanding Government: Beware of the Senate’s Immense, Obamacare-Style Immigration Bill. Retrieved from http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2014/05/expanding-government-beware-of-the-senates-immense-obamacare-style-immigration-bill Martin, P., Abella, M., & Kuptsch, C. (2008). Managing labor migration in the twenty-first century. Yale University Press. Senate Approves S 744 20(3). (2013). Retrieved from https://migration.ucdavis.edu/mn/more.php?id=3838 Summary & Analysis Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.nilc.org/s744summary1.html The Economic Benefits Of Fixing Our Broken Immigration System. (2013). Retrieved from https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/report.pdf Read More