After much legal wrangling, the federal district judge presiding over the lawsuit challenging the AZ Employer Sanctions Law has upheld the law.  In a detailed legal opinion issued last week, the judge rejected all legal arguments raised by the business group plaintiffs.  The plaintiffs are appealing the case to the 9th Circuit.  I will keep you posted of further legal developments; however, in the meantime, you should assume the law is in effect and proceed accordingly.

The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) has been amended to extend leave coverage to families of servicemembers under certain circumstances.  Now, an employer that is otherwise subject to the FMLA (50 employees within a 75 mile radius), must extend FMLA protected leave to: (1) family members caring for injured servicemembers and (2) family members who face a “qualifying exigency” (to be defined by the Dep’t of Labor)  arising out of a spouse, child or parent being called to active duty in the Armed Forces.  An employee who qualifies for leave to care for an ill or injured family servicemember can take up to six months off. This more than doubles from 12 to 26 weeks the annual leave entitlement otherwise available under the FMLA.  Employees who qualify for leave because an immediate family member has been called to active duty can take up to 12 weeks off from work.  Servicemember FMLA runs concurrent with traditional FMLA leave and any other leave entitlements provided under federal, state or local law.

The new law takes effect immediately.  Therefore, employers are advised to amend their FMLA leave policies to provide notice of these new leave entitlements.

The district court judge presiding over the case challenging the enforceability of the AZ Employer Sanctions Law issued a ruling today denying the employer groups’ application for a Temporary Restraining Order to stop the law from going into effect.  Absent an extraordinary turn of events, you should assume the law will go into effect as planned on Jan. 1, 2008.  Accordingly, if you haven’t already done so, you should immediately enroll your company in the E-Verify program and use the program to verify the employment eligibility of anyone hired by your organization after Dec. 31st, 2007.

The federal district judge presiding over the lawsuit challenging the enforceability of the AZ Employer-Sanctions Law tossed out the lawsuit late Friday on technical grounds.  The judge ruled that the plaintiffs did not sue the proper parties and did not present evidence that they had or will suffer harm by the new law.  The court did not rule on the merits of the lawsuit.  The attorneys representing the various business groups and trade associations that brought the suit have promised to file a new lawsuit next week, but it is unlikely that lawsuit will be ruled on before January 1st.

Given this ruling, the new law will most likely go into effect as planned on January 1st.  Accordingly, if you have not already done so, you should enroll your business in the Dep’t of Homeland Security’s E-Verify program.

Click here for the E-Verify Program website: (https://e-verify.uscis.gov/enroll/)

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued a revised Form I-9 and Employer Handbook: Instructions for Completing the Form I-9.  The revised Form I-9 is available for immediate use.  The most significant change to the form is the elimination of five documents from List A of the List of Acceptable Documents.  The revised form and Handbook also contain information on electronically signing and retaining I-9 forms.

Although the new form is available for immediate use, the form does not become effective until notice is posted in the Federal Registrar.  However, employers are encouraged to begin using the new Form I-9 as soon as possible.  After the effective date, employers may incur fines and penalties for failing to use the new Form I-9.

Employers are only required to use the revised Form I-9 for new hires and for I-9 re-certifications that occur after the effective date.

Here for your ease of reference are links to the new Form I-9; the Employer Handbook; and the USCIS Fact Sheet re Revised I-9 Form.