Georgia DOL to Begin Addressing Federal Immigration Issues

From SLMA's Employment Counsel at Wimberly, Lawson, Steckel, Schneider, & Stine, P.C.

There is an important development that has been announced by the Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) that it will implement beginning January 1, 2019 affecting all of Georgia employees. In essence, the GDOL will begin notifying Georgia employers of Social Security "mismatches" and other discrepancies caught in connection with the review of quarterly Georgia employment tax returns. There will be deadlines for responses to the rejected tax returns, which will be rejected because of suspicious Social Security numbers. Depending on the responses received from employers, the GDOL may audit the employers' practices and in the process seek information from the federal government, which may create interest from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 

The process will begin when quarterly employment tax returns are rejected by the GDOL because of suspicious Social Security numbers. There will be a number of options for employers to consider at that point, all of which will have ramifications under state and federal immigration laws, as well as applicable employement tax laws. 

For any questions or concerns, please contact Jim Wimberly at jww@wimlaw.com.