LAS VEGAS—Best practices in immigration compliance and union avoidance were topics brought up last month during the Latino Hotel Association’s 2011 International Conference & Expo in Las Vegas.
On the topic of immigration, Jacob Monty, managing partner and founding partner of Houston, Texas, law firm Monty & Ramirez LLP, which specializes in employment, labor and immigration, said hospitality industry employees more often are seeing their work status challenged by federal agents conducting “silent raids.”
“They don’t involve a bus or people getting arrested, but they are very devastating for a company. … This industry is being targeted,” Monty said during a breakout session at the Tropicana Las Vegas.
He said hotel companies must review workers’ I-9 forms and ensure all paperwork is accurate, as well as ensure that copies of the forms are on file.
“They look simple,” Monty said of the forms, “but a lot of people mess up on them.”
In some cases, it is a hotel’s competitor down the street who tips off federal agents that a company might be employing illegal workers, speakers said.
“It’s very easy because you can file an anonymous complaint,” said Stephen R. Lueke of the labor and employment law firm Ford & Harrison.
An audience member asked what a company can do in response when that occurs.
“One thing you can do is return the favor,” joked moderator Alfonso Kennard Jr., founding shareholder of Houston-based labor and employment law firm Kennard Law P.C.
Companies also should consider getting on E-Verify, an Internet-based system that verifies workers’ statuses. The service does seem to have some holes, Monty said, but it shows federal agents the company is trying to comply with immigration laws.
Union issues
Lueke centered a majority of his discussion around what hotels can do to mitigate the effect of unions forming in a hotel. Upcoming National Labor Relations Board requirements might move union avoidance up on hoteliers’ list of action items.
For one, as of 31 January 2012, all employers must post a sign in their workplaces informing employees of their right to organize. “What this poster will do is encourage workplace questions (about organizing),” he said.
Also, Lueke said the NLRB is trying to move through a requirement that could be in place by the end of the year that would allow for just a 10-day waiting period before a union election is held, instead of the current six-week waiting period.
Only 9% of hotels are organized, but that just means unions have plenty of ground they can take, Lueke said.
“Organized labor will use these two things to reinvent itself,” he said.
It’s important that hotels are proactive about union issues because once you suspect an organizing drive might be in motion, it is likely well underway, he said. With those two measures in mind, Lueke outlined five steps hotels should take regarding union organizing activity.
• Ensure employees understand the ins and outs of their wages and benefits package.
• Explain to them why their company is a good place to work, Lueke said.
• Ask what more the company can do to make the employees happy.
• Be sure employees know they do not have to put up with harassment from co-workers who might be badgering them to fall in step and join or vote for a union.
• If harassment is occurring, the employer should contact the NLRB or even the police department.
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