Employers Who Unlawfully Hire Unauthorized Aliens Must Comply With Federal Employment Laws

The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued a decision this week stating unequivocally that “employers who unlawfully hire unauthorized aliens must otherwise comply with federal employment laws,” including payment of minimum wage and overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”).  “[A]n order requiring an employer to pay his undocumented workers the minimum wages prescribed by the [FLSA] for labor actually and already performed . . . . does not . . . condone that violation or continue it. It merely ensures that the employer does not take advantage of the violation by availing himself of the benefit of undocumented workers’ past labor without paying for it in accordance with minimum FLSA standards.”