Because of stricter enforcement of federal immigration, labor, and tax laws, Chinese

Because of stricter enforcement of federal immigration, labor, and tax laws, Chinese restaurants have started a series of changes to seek, employ and pay employees in a legal way, in order to escape prosecution.

Currently, in addition to using employment agencies to find immigrants with legal status, employers also review and get copies of employees’ paper work. Furthermore, in order to offset the cost of compliance, employers no longer provide free food, room and board, and transportation; however, in order to attract job seekers, they are increasing wages to compensate for the employees’ added costs.

Mr. Lin, who is an employer at the Dynasty Buffet in Long Island, said that when he tried to look for employees through the agencies, he specifically directed that job seekers must have a legal status. He said that the kitchen needs several people, the openings have been there for several weeks, but has been unable to find the right people for the jobs since many Chinese immigrants do not have a legal status or have lost their legal status.

According to Mr. Lin, in the past, Chinese employers usually did not follow the rules when hiring people. Usually, employers and employees would reach an oral agreement over the phone regarding salary and vacation days and start a working relationship. In the past year, however, federal immigration agencies have targeted Chinese employers charging some with hiring, transporting, and harboring illegal immigrants. Mr. Lin counsels employers to follow the laws properly.

Many Chinese restaurants in the northeast have been reforming their employment process. For example, in New Jersey, some employers eliminated the free lunch and dinner policy. Instead, they charge a lunch fee of $3 and $5 for dinner. For employers who provide housing, they charge $200 in monthly rent. If they provide transportation, they charge $2 per ride. The restaurants also set up a clock for workers to punch in their time at work and to calculate their wages. Most importantly, all the employees have to fill out an application for agencies to check their records.

Mr. Luo, another business owner, said that calculating the employees’ hours and wages takes a lot of time and planning, but in order to comply with the laws, they have no choice. Some employment agencies point out that many restaurant employers follow the rules, but are flexible in implementing them. First, when employers check for work authorization papers, they don’t verify whether the papers are real or not, they just need to make a copy and file an I-9 form. [All U.S. employers must complete and retain an I-9 for each employee, including citizens and non-citizens, as required by immigration law. The I-9 documents the paperwork presented by potential employees that indicate his or her eligibility for employment.]

Second, although employers must treat employees equally, no matter the gender or race, Chinese employers are more lenient with reliable Chinese workers, but demand more stringent documentation from Hispanic employees.

Via World Journal, 10 March 2011. Translated from Chinese by Connie Yik Yong.