Punching In: Ongoing Shutdown Starts to Hit Foreign Hiring (Correct)

Monday morning musings for workplace watchers

E-Verify Online | Kaiser Nurses Strike

Andrew Kreighbaum: Companies with foreign workers are seeing a trickle of new guidance on how to navigate the ongoing government shutdown as it enters its fourth week.

E-Verify, the electronic system used by businesses to confirm the work eligibility of new employees, resumed operations earlier this month after going briefly offline at the beginning of the lapse in appropriations.

Considering the Trump administration’s focus on immigration enforcement, it’s not surprising to see it prioritize restoring operations of the E-Verify program. And while participation is mostly voluntary, about half of all states require that businesses use the program, with many looking to expand those mandates. That means a hiccup in services can quickly turn into a problem for employers’ HR officers, attorneys said.

“Clients were calling asking how are we suppose to on-board people with E-Verify down?” said Sanford Posner, a partner at Pierson Ferdinand LLP.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services didn’t say what funds are being used for E-Verify, one of the few programs at the agency that’s funded through congressional appropriations rather than user fees. A spokesman said the Trump administration took action to reopen the site “in an effort to support American employers.”

USCIS, meanwhile, clarified that it will continue processing petitions for temporary workers filed before the shutdown. And it will take delays caused by the lack of funding into account for workers whose temporary status is expiring if they couldn’t get required documents from the Labor Department to seek an extension.

The DOL has ceased most immigration-related operations during the shutdown, including labor condition applications that typically must be approved before companies can petition the Department of Homeland Security for an H-1B employee or seasonal farm laborers. Its also halted labor certifications that employers must clear to sponsor a foreign worker for a green card, leaving employees who hoped to get permanent residency in limbo.

Employers will welcome USCIS clarifying that it won’t penalize workers prevented by the shutdown from filing for an extension or for another legal status. But effects on businesses from the halt to DOL services will deepen as the standoff over funding continues, said Hector Chichoni, a partner at Greenspoon Marder LLP.

“There’s no doubt for employers it will have an economic effect,” he said. “It could discourage the most intelligent people from coming to the US.”

Kaiser Permanente nurses and healthcare professionals hold placards on a picket line outside of Sunnyside Medical Center in Clackamas, Oregon.

Elayna Yussen/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Parker Purifoy: Around 46,000 health care workers employed by Kaiser Permanente wrapped up a five-day strike Sunday with no sign of an agreement between the company and the workers’ union.

Nurses, nurse anesthetists, pharmacists, midwives, physician assistants, and other specialists walked out on strike at over 500 hospitals across California, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii on Oct. 14 to demand 25% wage hikes across the lifetime of a new collective bargaining agreement.

Kaiser said in a statement that its proposal would increase wages by 21.5% and called the demands by the Alliance of Health Care Unions “excessive.” A 25% wage boost could cost the company $300 million annually and result in higher costs to patients, it said.

“At a time when the cost of health care continues to go up steeply, and millions of Americans are having to make the difficult choice to go without coverage, it’s critical that we keep quality, accessible health care coverage affordable — while attracting and retaining top talent and keeping Kaiser Permanente a great place to work and receive care,” Kaiser said. “Our offer does all this.”

The largest bloc of striking workers is represented by the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals in California.

The parties’ old contract expired on Sept. 30, meaning the union can go on strike and the company can lock workers out legally.

UNAC/UHCP maintained in its Oct. 15 statement that Kaiser’s financial stability isn’t in question, with its cash and investment reserves growing $22 billion over the last four years.

The unions’ wage proposal is “designed to restore what was lost, keep pace with the cost of living, and recognize the value of our members’ labor,” it said.

“This is not a money problem. It’s a priority problem,” UNAC/UHCP said in a statement before the strike started.

Kaiser has also been the subject of some of the largest health care strikes in recent history.

Around 75,000 Kaiser workers represented by the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions went on strike in 2023 in the largest healthcare strike in US history. The company eventually agreed to a 21% wage hike after President Biden’s Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su and mediators from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service stepped in. The industry has also seen a wave of new labor organizing, driven by student residents at universities.

The Alliance and Kaiser didn’t engage in negotiations during last week’s strike but plan to return to the national bargaining table on Oct. 28 and 29, UNAC/UHCP said Sunday.

We’re punching out. Daily Labor Report subscribers please check in for updates during the week, and feel free to reach out to us.