July 2, 2013. WNYC’s Morning Edition featured a story about immigration reform, with an emphasis on how reform by itself will not prevent workers from being paid off the books.
“My view would be that in conjunction with immigration reform you also need to have a stepping up of labor enforcement standards … to make sure people are not being paid off-the-books,” said David Kallick, a senior fellow at the Fiscal Policy Institute.
Kallick says labor departments need to audit employers regularly to ensure they’re really complying with the rules. He sees the possible passage of the immigration reform bill as a unique opportunity to renew these efforts.
“Every employer should pay for every employees work compensation and unemployment insurance,” he said. “Today … some employers are paying and others are not. So, some employers are carrying the burden for others.”