Watch out if your company is at risk of immigration violations in its workforce: Fines have just been adjusted for inflation, and they’ll be hitting pocketbooks much harder.

Regardless of whether or not companies intentionally employ illegal immigrants, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are hitting them with increased fines.

What’s the damage for any companies who fall astray of the Departments’ regs? The new numbers are a whopping 25.35% higher than before.

Here’s a breakdown of the DHS and DOL violations, and how much they’ll cost:

• Hiring or recruiting illegal immigrants (per person):
  • First offense — minimum penalty of $375; maximum of $3,200
  • Second offense — min. penalty of $3,200; max. of $6,500
  • Subsequent offenses –min. penalty of $4,300; max. of $16,000
• Failure to notify DHS of final nonconfirmation of employee’s employment eligibility (per person): min. penalty of $500; max. penalty of $1,100
• Document fraud (per document):
  • First offense — min. penalty of $375; max. penalty of $3,200
  • Subsequent offenses — min. penalty of $3,200; max. penalty of $6,500.

Tags: DHS, Fines, Immigration, Inflation