285.530. Employment of unauthorized aliens prohibited--federal work authorization program, requirements for participation in--liability of contractors and subcontractors.

MISSOURI STATUTES AND CODES

285.530. Employment of unauthorized aliens prohibited--federal work authorization program, requirements for participation in--liability of contractors and subcontractors.

Employment of unauthorized aliens prohibited--federal workauthorization program, requirements for participationin--liability of contractors and subcontractors.

285.530. 1. No business entity or employer shall knowingly employ,hire for employment, or continue to employ an unauthorized alien to performwork within the state of Missouri.

2. As a condition for the award of any contract or grant in excess offive thousand dollars by the state or by any political subdivision of thestate to a business entity, or for any business entity receiving astate-administered or subsidized tax credit, tax abatement, or loan fromthe state, the business entity shall, by sworn affidavit and provision ofdocumentation, affirm its enrollment and participation in a federal workauthorization program with respect to the employees working in connectionwith the contracted services. Every such business entity shall also signan affidavit affirming that it does not knowingly employ any person who isan unauthorized alien in connection with the contracted services. Anyentity contracting with the state or any political subdivision of the stateshall only be required to provide the affidavits required in thissubsection to the state and any political subdivision of the state withwhich it contracts, on an annual basis. During or immediately after anemergency, the requirements of this subsection that a business entityenroll and participate in a federal work authorization program shall besuspended for fifteen working days. As used in this subsection,"emergency" includes the following natural and manmade disasters: majorsnow and ice storms, floods, tornadoes, severe weather, earthquakes,hazardous material incidents, nuclear power plant accidents, otherradiological hazards, and major mechanical failures of a public utilityfacility.

3. All public employers shall enroll and actively participate in afederal work authorization program.

4. An employer may enroll and participate in a federal workauthorization program and shall verify the employment eligibility of everyemployee in the employer's hire whose employment commences after theemployer enrolls in a federal work authorization program. The employershall retain a copy of the dated verification report received from thefederal government. Any business entity that participates in such programshall have an affirmative defense that such business entity has notviolated subsection 1 of this section.

5. A general contractor or subcontractor of any tier shall not beliable under sections 285.525 to 285.550 when such general contractor orsubcontractor contracts with its direct subcontractor who violatessubsection 1 of this section, if the contract binding the contractor andsubcontractor affirmatively states that the direct subcontractor is notknowingly in violation of subsection 1 of this section and shall nothenceforth be in such violation and the contractor or subcontractorreceives a sworn affidavit under the penalty of perjury attesting to thefact that the direct subcontractor's employees are lawfully present in theUnited States.