The System News

              System News
The
www.sucss.state.il.us
Illinois’ Public University System Support Resource and Advocate
02 Boards & Committees
04 Q&A: At the Water Cooler
03 What’s New
05 Legal Update
06 University Spotlight
The State Universities Civil Service
System routinely monitors legislative
and other legal activities to assess
and analyze their potential impact on
our operations and the overall public
sector human resource environment.
Most recently, several items have
come to our attention that have the
potential to change some basic
operational premises surrounding
civil service employment protocols. Following is a brief recap of some
of those items.
A District Federal Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in this matter and
determined that a state pre-employment residence requirement, which
limited applications for public employment to current legal residents of
the state at the time of application, was not rationally related to any
legitimate interest or goal, and thus violated the fundamental right of
out-of-state persons to interstate migration. The state's argument that
persons who were non-residents at the time of application were more
likely to leave a position soon after their hire than those persons who
were residents at the time of their application was contradicted by their
argument that obtaining residency was easy and instantaneous upon
arrival in the state.
In this global and technical employment environment, further
modifications may have to be made to our statute and rules in this
respect to accommodate new legal parameters and to adequately
incorporate procedures consistent with the ever-changing global and
technical employment environment.
System Office staff recently participated in a webcast sponsored by the
Society of Human Resource Management(SHRM) and presented by
representatives from SHRM, the Department of Homeland Security,
the American Council on International Personnel, and a consulting law
firm. This presentation discussed the current employment eligibility
verification requirements and the possibility of change in immigration
laws when the 110th Congress convenes in January. The speakers
discussed the outlook for immigration reform legislation, focusing on
provisions mandating the use of an electronic employment eligibility
verification system based on the current Department of Homeland
Security Basic Pilot program in use in select U.S. workplaces today.
Employers can voluntarily participate in this program now, but
legislation has been presented and will be considered that will require
al employers to participate in this electronic verification process at
some point in the very near future.
Legislation in this respect proposes to significantly change the process
by which employment offices collect, verify, and manage employment
eligibility information. Legislative proposals would require
participation in an electronic verification process which may pose
additional technical difficulties and require some major regulatory and
local policy changes. If you have access to the SHRM website, this
webcast can be viewed at .
A recent opinion letter submitted by the Administrator of the
Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, may provide some
insight on the FLSA status (exempt or non-exempt) of Information
Federal Court Case -Walsh v. City and County of Honolulu
Society of Human Resource Management Webcast – Electronic
Employment Eligibility Verification(December 6, 2006)
DOL Employment Standards Administration,Wage and Hour Division,
Opinion Letter # FLSA2006-42(October 26, 2006)
http://www.shrm.org/webcast/06december/
continued on page 2
Legal Update: Activities Impacting HR Operations
Lewis T. (Tom) Morelock, Executive Director
Volume 4   Issue 4   2006