Window Cleaning Employers/Employees Despair

Red Rock Window Cleaning was founded in 1998 by Coby Powell (center) starting out as a one man operation.

ICE Going After Businesses Who May Have Illegal Workers, LAS VEGAS: The federal government is paying much more attention these days to illegal workers, and if an employer makes a simple paperwork error, it can really cost them. Over the past four years the number of businesses in the U.S. being audited by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement has more than quadrupled. ICE is cracking down on Las Vegas businesses who hire illegal workers, but also some just failed to accurately fill out forms. Across the country, ICE has fined businesses roughly $9 million just this fiscal year. Some of the companies that are in trouble are knowingly breaking the law, but others who work hard to stay in compliance say something as simple as missing a signature is costing them big.

"We were scared at first. Some authority with a badge came in, so we were scared at first but we thought we were in compliance and had all our documents in place," said Coby Powell (pictured) with Red Rock Window Cleaning. It was a costly visit Powell never expected. Without notice, an officer from ICE just walked into his office and said his window washing business was being investigated. "They didn't give any reason as to why they came, they just came in. She was very polite, they talked to us and said get the information for this investigation," he said. Immediately Powell turned over all the I-9 forms requested by ICE. Every employer, like Red Rock Window Washing, is required by law to fill out I-9's when hiring workers to verify their identity and employment eligibility. Powell thought he had everything in order.

"Though we had all the information, almost all the information needed to fill out the I-9's, we didn't transfer that information on the I-9 and sign it and sign the dotted line at the bottom that we verified everything and everything was in compliance with the form," he said. Powell was fined $25,000 -- $1,000 for each form, for each employee. "The employers are always shocked. They have no idea why this is happening, they don't understand what's going on," said immigration attorney Gus Fountas.

Fountas says he's seen the number of U.S. businesses being investigated and fined by ICE rise dramatically over the last two years. "They are taking it more seriously that employers should not be violating the law at all and that employers will be held accountable," he said. "Go through your HR files, ensure your I-9's are filled out, verify employees with cards and expiration dates that you re-verify those," said Powell. The president of Red Rock Window Cleaning shared his story because he wants to let other businesses know that ICE means business, and even if you think you're in compliance, go over your records with a fine-tooth comb. The enforcement is all part of President Barack Obama's policy to crack down on immigration issues.

Employer: ‘We can’t hire 99 percent of the people who apply’ - Today, we explore the other side of the unemployment issue and how hard it is for employers to find qualified, competent and, as you will see, reasonably intelligent employees to join the workforce.

‘This is what we’re up against’ Another company’s owner allowed me to go behind the scenes in his hiring process. I viewed application after application and came away shaking my head in disbelief. Mistakes. Misspellings. Misdemeanors. I couldn’t believe they were genuine applications, but they were. “We can’t hire 99 percent of the people who apply. I’d be out of business in a heartbeat,” said Don Markovich, owner of Bren-Mark Window Cleaning Service in Valparaiso. “The applications we receive on a daily basis are a sight to behold.”

His company uses an online hiring system for applications, including about 20 minutes of questions, explained to me by office manager Candy Smith, who has the daunting task of interviewing some of the knuckleheads who apply — if they even show up for the interview. “We can always upgrade our staff, and we’re interviewing every week, but this is what we’re up against,” she said while guiding me through the website’s application system.

The incredibly detailed system shows red boxes for “warning” or “weak” and green boxes for “clear” or “interested.” I saw many more red boxes than green ones on most people’s application. I literally laughed out loud at some of the applicants’ responses and they had to be rejected even though the company could receive a sizeable tax break if they were hired. For instance, under the question, “What SKILLS do you bring to this job?” one woman responded, “My smile.” In the comment section of her (rejected) application, Markovich wrote, “Smiles don’t clean windows.”

“I’m tired of hearing about how nobody’s hiring,” he told me. “It’s important that the general public understand there ARE businesses hiring and willing to pay good wages.” “We, like many other businesses, are limited not by our skills or motivation, but by the number of quality employees we can find,” he added. “Every time the president and Congress extend the unemployment benefits, our labor market keeps sitting on their collective ass. Why should they start a job that starts them out at what they are collecting on unemployment? Even though they can make two to three times that within three to four months, they don’t care. They will wait until the benefits run out before looking for a job.”

The downside to today’s column is obvious: “There is an incredible amount of people who are, for all intents and purposes, not employable,” Markovich said flatly. (On Monday, between noon and 1 p.m., Markovich will offer first-hand tips and insights for job-seekers on my weekly radio show on WVLP, 98.3-FM, www.wvlp.org.)

The upside of all this incompetance? This should inspire all those other job-seekers who are honest, credible, qualified, competent, intelligent and professional. And, if anything, the Darwinian culling of the job-applicant herd should eventually work in your favor if you learned anything today from Markovich and Pearman. “Sorry, America. I was never in favor of the ‘everybody gets a trophy’ mentality,” Markovich said. “Just because you helped clean up a work site for $12 an hour doesn’t qualify you as a carpenter. And if your education and skills say you are only able to stock shelves, then you are a stocker.” My suggestion to job seekers: For starters, review your resume, personalize your application approach and provide intelligent responses, spelled correctly. And save your smile for the interview, not the application.