A state report found that nearly half of audited Colorado employers are not verifying the legal status of newly hired workers as required by law.
A separate audit issued Monday also found Colorado’s unemployment insurance program likely paid $60 million in benefits last year to people who could not prove they were legally in the United States, a glitch caused by a lack of adequate verification procedures.
The Colorado Auditor’s Office found 48 percent of 404 employers audited in 2010 by the state Division of Labor did not comply with state law requiring residency verification.
State auditors emphasized that noncompliance does not mean an employer hired an illegal immigrant. The audit says lack of awareness about the law is a significant barrier to compliance.
The 2006 law requires employers to have paperwork showing they’ve reviewed a worker’s legal status and are keeping copies of employment authorization forms and worker’s identification. That’s in addition to having federal I-9 forms to document that workers are authorized to work in the U.S.
The performance audit of the unemployment insurance program found a verification system that did not discern between someone who provided valid identification numbers from a driver’s license or state ID card and someone who simply entered all zeros.
It’s unclear whether benefits were paid to illegal residents, but the audit found the individuals had not proven they were in the country legally.
Auditors also found the state overpaid about $169 million in unemployment benefits in 2010 — a 285 percent increase over 2006. Overpayments occur for a variety of reasons, including claimants providing incomplete or inaccurate information and staff errors.
