Fundamentals Still Matter

The Trump administration has been aggressive on pushing its agenda into the private sector. The business environment is chaotic and my inbox is filled with invitations to webinars and FAQs from the legal community offering their interpretations of executive orders and forecasts of changes likely to come. My head is swimming (and yours may be too). If I allow myself though to step back and reflect on what is happening, I am reminded that fundamentals still matter.

An important fundamental is accurate and timely I-9s (Employment Eligibility Verification). These have long been required by law and are taking on even greater importance with this administration’s emphasis on immigration. If you have any doubt that your I-9 process or your I-9 files (both active and terminated employees) are compliant and will survive scrutiny by a government agency, an internal audit is imperative. Far too often, I have seen I-9s treated as a simple, clerical task without proper attention to detail. I-9 violations can be costly. See a refresher here.

Another fundamental is an Emergency Preparedness Plan.  Many companies have emergency preparedness or business continuity plans for events including natural disasters, workplace accidents, widespread technology failures and other crises. With the new administration’s focus on immigration, employers are increasingly seeing ICE agents at their doorsteps to conduct I-9 audits and/or raids in search of illegal workers. I urge you to formally  plan in advance for such visits and to train staff on how to respond. Your plan should be reviewed by legal counsel that is knowledgeable on this specific aspect of the law and that same counsel should be on standby to represent and guide you should a request for documents be received or unscheduled visitors arrive at your worksite. The business continuity component should address the  possibility that staffing levels could be impacted by ICE activity.  And often overlooked, is having a plan to deal with the emotional reaction of your workforce to witnessing an ICE raid or to seeing co-workers and even family members escorted from the workplace.

Tolerance, respect, inclusion, teamwork and diversity of thought have long been fundamentals of a strong work culture. Over 20 years ago, I brought training to my then employer addressing respect, inclusion, and unconscious bias in the workplace. The basics of respecting one another and discovering how our personal biases spill over into our decision making remain key underpinnings of building a healthy and productive workplace.

Unfortunately, these fundamentals are now being challenged under the broad brush of “DEI” or “wokeness.” If DEI has become a toxic term, then you might set it aside.  But business leaders do not need to abandon their values and priorities. Isn’t inclusion, for example, still a worthy objective?

I encourage you to stay true to your company’s core values and to preserve valued initiatives that are legally compliant, advance your business objectives and support your work culture.