Kudos to Dunkin’ Donuts management for establishing a company-wide policy for employing only US citizens and legal immigrants at its 5,000 US stores. It’s no secret that the US restaurant industry is one of the largest employers of illegal aliens. More than a few times, we at DunkinDonutsTalk.com have seen comments on blogs and other websites complaining about food service workers (including some at Dunkin’ Donuts) who speak little or no English, and no doubt these complaints are sometimes related to the hiring of illegal aliens.

On May 30, Dunkin’ Brands, the parent company of Dunkin Donuts, announced that it would require all 5,000 of its franchisees to participate in the Basic Pilot verification program starting June 1. Gerri Ratliff, chief of the verification division for U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS), says Dunkin’ Brands isn’t alone — roughly 200 new companies — both small and large businesses — are signing up for the free program every month. Over 6,200 U.S. employers have joined so far.

“Dunkin’ Brands is participating in [the] Basic Pilot program because we see it as a way to help our franchisees comply with the laws when the authenticity of their new hires’ credentials are difficult to discern,” said Dunkin’ Brands Chief Legal Officer Stephen Horn in an e-mail statement. “We were compelled to participate in the [program] because of the difficulty faced by employers for screening new hires within the confines of the law.”

The issue of hiring only legal workers should be a no-brainer. Would people accept treatment from physicians not certified by the relevant Medical Board, or allow teachers to be hired without a criminal background check? In this age of frivilous lawsuits and declining standards, its about time that corporations and individuals set a minimum bar for hiring and then live by it. Why shouldn’t every company, not just Dunkin’ Donuts, agree to follow the law as written and set reasonable standards in the hiring of its employees?

Source: BusinessWeek