Company Responses to Hiring Illegal Workers

Thursday, 28 Oct 2010

Four companies issued statements concerning the practice of hiring illegal immigrants. Read their statements below.

Statement from McDonald’s:

“McDonald’s takes immigration laws very seriously. Our hiring and employment practices comply with applicable local, state and federal immigration and employment laws.

“We caution anyone from jumping to conclusions based on incomplete and potentially unreliable information.

“McDonald’s does not permit the employment of individuals without completing the appropriate procedures, including reviewing documentation and completing Form I-9s. Any individuals unable to meet the legal requirements for authorization to work are not employed by McDonald’s. If we subsequently determine that someone is not authorized to work, we take the appropriate action.”

Beth Van Loon, Director of Human Resources – McDonald’s Atlanta Region

Statement from International House of Pancakes:

“It is our expectation that the 22 franchisees that own the 55 restaurants in the Atlanta market comply with all laws pertaining to the operation of their business.”

Patrick Lenow, Executive Director, Corporate Communications – DineEquity, Inc.

Statement from Target:

“At Target, we are committed to maintaining high ethical standards in every aspect of our business. This includes abiding by all applicable federal immigration laws.

“We are confident in the policies and procedures we currently have in place to ensure our team members and vendors are complying with all applicable laws and maintaining the highest ethical standards. These policies and procedures include:

Annual companywide I-9 compliance training
A team at our headquarters location devoted to reviewing I-9 forms
Store audits
Partnership with law enforcement during any investigation of potential unauthorized workers
The use of e-verify as required by state law

“Target is committed to treating all team members in a fair, respectful, and non-discriminatory manner, while upholding our obligations to fully comply with workplace immigration laws. We can confirm that none of the individuals referenced are current team members at Target or otherwise work in our stores. We are unable to provide additional information related to their employment.”

Target Communications

Statement from CKS Packaging :

“CKS is and always has been firmly committed to employing only those legally authorized to work in the United States. CKS has always taken efforts to follow the law and ensure I-9 compliance. In fact, in 2008, CKS voluntarily instituted an E-verify program, which is the gold standard, and above and beyond that required by law, and the best thing CKS can do to ensure that it does not employ any individuals who are not authorized to work in the United States.

“We are committed to our community. Twice a year, CKS sponsors Maximum Impact Love – a faith-based community outreach ministry that brings together local church groups, community leaders and the residents of the Fulton Industrial Boulevard community to enjoy a day of fellowship. Participants are ministered to through Christian music; they are provided food, clothing, hair cuts, and Christian counseling.”

Malcolm McCarn – General Counsel

Statement from Wendy’s

“We are as diligent as we can be in verifying the authenticity of the job applications that we receive. We go through extra steps to be diligent. Of the names you provided, we found that 12 have worked for us. Eleven are no longer there. The 12th is still working but has an updated permanent residence card and cleared E-Verify.”

Denny Lynch, Senior V.P. – Wendy’s International

Statement from Kennesaw State University

“Except for KSU’s public safety department, external law enforcement officials do not provide us with information about who they arrest, nor do they ask us to identify the enrollment status of any students or alleged students who they arrest. If law enforcement officials ask us to provide information, we will fully cooperate, and we’ll share any information that is needed within the protections of FERPA laws.

“Our focus has been and remains on ensuring compliance with the Board of Regents’ mandate to identify any undocumented students to ensure that they are paying appropriate tuition rates.

“We are comfortable with the recent review that we conducted to ensure that all of our students are either adequately documented to pay in-state tuition, or–if they did not have documentation to reflect eligibility for in-state tuition–they are being charged out-of-state-tuition.

“If the information that you have might be useful in that regard, then we welcome it. Since FERPA allows directory information such as the names and dates of attendance of students to be made public, we would then be able to verify those details against our records.”

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