The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has just released a revised Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, for immediate use and a new M-274, Handbook for Employers, Instructions for Completing the Form I-9. 

All employers are required to complete a Form I-9 for each employee hired in the United States.  The USCIS has encouraged employers to start using the new form as soon as possible.  According to the USCIS, employers that fail to use the new Form I-9 after the effective date (as established by publication in the Federal Register) may incur fines and penalties.

According to Andrew Merrills, a shareholder in Ogletree Deakins’ Raleigh office: “Updating the I-9 has been long overdue.  Although an updated form is clarifying and is generally a welcome development, the Bush Administration has made it clear that, in the absence of more comprehensive immigration reform, it intends to increase enforcement.  Accordingly, employers may want to take this opportunity to audit their existing I-9s and review their current policies and procedures.” 

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Mike is a founding Partner of the New Orleans office of Fisher & Phillips LLP, one of the oldest and largest firms in the country practicing exclusively in labor and employment law representing management. His practice covers all aspects of employee relations, with an emphasis in collective bargaining, defense of unfair labor practice charges, union avoidance and supervisor training in employee relations.
 
A native of West Virginia, Mike graduated from the West Virginia University College of Law in 1973 and for four years served in the judge advocate corps of the U.S. Air Force as trial counsel.  Following military service, he returned to school, earning a master's degree in labor law from George Washington University, magna cum laude, in 1979.

He has practiced labor and employment law exclusively since then, and has been involved in major cases before a number of circuit courts of appeals.   Mike has been recognized by Chambers USA as one of American’s leading business lawyers, as well as Who’s Who in Law.  He has also been designated as a Louisiana “Super Lawyer.”  He is a member of the Global Association of Hotel Attorneys, a frequent speaker before trade and professional associations, and is the editor of the Firm’s award-winning newsletters, practice area publications, and legal compendiums.

In-House Counsel:

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Hotel Operators:

According to Census statistics from the year 2000, roughly 45 million Americans spoke a language other than English at home.  And although the exact numbers are uncertain, there is little doubt that the hospitality industry employs large numbers of these foreign-born workers.  In the kitchens, laundry areas, and back hallways of this nation’s hotels, clubs, and restaurants, the number of languages heard can rival that of the United Nations.

Many employers’ response to a workplace filled with so many different languages is to institute a rule mandating that only English be spoken at work.  Before doing so, however, employers should be aware of the problems which can arise under English-only policies, and the limits on their enforcement.  Recent settlements of cases challenging such policies have exceeded $1.5 million.

Read More for Answers to the Following Questions

• What are the legal problems with English-only policies?
• How do I make sure that our worksite’s English-only policy is legal?
• When can an employer not require employees to follow an English-only rule? 
• How can a lawful English-only policy become unlawful?
• If I have an English-only policy, can I avoid translating my employment policies into the foreign language(s) my employees speak?
• Do English-only policies help or hurt workers’ morale?
• One of my employees is complaining that her coworkers are talking about her in their native tongue, which she does not understand.  How do I handle this?
• What if my customers complain that they cannot understand an employee’s accent?
• Can I require that my employees speak a particular foreign language, based on our clientele?

In our view the ten hot issues are:

1. Sign Them Up:  International operators are also increasingly active in Japan.
2. Leases OK:  Operators are more willing to agree to lease in Japan.
3. The Big Question:  Why more leases in Japan?
4. Legal Perspective:  There are pluses and minuses for management agreements v leases.
5. The Operator’s Perspective:  Sale, insolvency, agency, licensing and brand control factors.
6. The Owner’s Perspective:  Legal characterization of management agreement, agency and management control are important factors.
7. Cross-border Agreements:  Tend to follow the wider trends in Asia but with some differences, issues.
8. Let’s Bind Financiers; But what if they do not want to be bound?
9. Agency In:  It is difficult to move away from agency relationships in Japan.
10. Let’s Co-Brand:  In cross-border deals, the owner may want to use a local brand alongside the operator’s brand.

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Pawan Kapoor is a graduate of University of Houston with MS in Hospitality Management and MBA in Finance. Upon graduation he received the Dean's Award from the Conrad N. Hilton College and the Dean's Award for Academic Excellence from the C.T. Bauer College of Business. In addition to writing his thesis on the implications of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on the hospitality industry, Pawan has also published articles in several academic and trade journals.

Pawan has been in the hospitality industry since 1996, when he started his undergraduate program at IIHM Aurangabad, which is considered among the premier institutes for hotel management education in India. He was awarded BA in Hotel Management from University of Huddersfield; he simultaneously pursued and earned the Hospitality Management Diploma awarded by the Educational Institute of the erstwhile American Hotel and Motel Association as well.

Pawan has worked in a variety of roles with prominent international hospitality companies such as the Four Seasons, Regent International Hotels, Taj Group of Hotels, and Ambassador Group of Hotels, Restaurants and Flight Kitchens. Currently, Pawan has joined the HospitalityLawyer.com team as its Vice President for Strategic Planning and Development.