Workforce Bulletin

When the pandemic abruptly shifted many employment relationships from offices and other physical workplaces to remote environments, many governmental and regulatory authorities responded by modifying existing protocols to accommodate new realities. Among those were temporary adaptations to long-standing federal requirements for inspecting identification and verifying employment eligibility, whereby employers were permitted to forego standard document inspection procedures while completing Form I-9.

On August 31, 2016, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a proposed rule which, if adopted in its present form, would ease the ability of foreign national (FN) entrepreneurs to temporarily enter the United States to invest in and grow start-up businesses.  At the present time, there is no temporary visa classification that permits FNs to make significant investments in new or growing businesses and then remain here to manage them.  In announcing this proposed rule, DHS indicated that it was intended to spur business growth and job creation at a time when the U.S. economy ...

One of the featured stories on Employment Law This Week is the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) release of its highly anticipated final rule expanding and modifying the F-1 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Optional Practical Training (OPT) Program.

A 2015 district court case found procedural errors in the DHS’s program, putting the current employment and OPT extensions of thousands of foreign nationals in jeopardy. This new final rule is DHS’s response to the court’s decision. Among other changes, the new final rule extends the potential ...

Our colleagues in Epstein Becker Green’s Immigration Law Group recently published a special client alert: "DHS Releases New F-1 STEM OPT Regulations."

Following is an excerpt:

On March 11, 2016, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) issued its long-awaited final rule (the “2016 Rule”) allowing F-1 graduates to extend their Optional Practical Training (“OPT”) period if they have a degree in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (“STEM”) from an accredited U.S. university and their prospective employer is registered in and using the ...

By:  Robert S. Groban, Jr.

On December 6, 2010, the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Francisco announced that the owners of the El Balazo restaurant chain in the Bay Area had been charged in a 20-count criminal Information with tax fraud and harboring illegal aliens.  These charges arise out of a raid made by federal agents in May 2008 that resulted in the arrest of 64 illegal aliens at several of these restaurants.  The Information charges the owners with conspiracy to commit tax evasion, tax evasion, harboring illegal aliens for financial gain, and submitting false Social Security ...