Employment DENIED

[a.post 0]

Hello everyone.

Almost two months ago a received my EAD in the mail. Since, I have been looking for jobs. Finally got hired at a place that I am well qualified for. The manager really liked me and was enthusiastic about the fact that I just moved to the US and all that. I start the background check with the companies HR dept and wait for a response. When two days later it finally comes it was not what I expected. It was an automated email:

Thank you for your interest in employment with ****.

As all requirements of the **** hiring process have not been satisfied in connection with your conditional offer of employment, we must inform you that this offer has been rescinded.

Best regards,

**** Incorporated

I was shocked because I know it can't be anything in my background check! I tried calling my HR contact for two days but no luck. Finally through their main HR dept I get a hold of her. She tells me I was denied employment because I have not been in the US for at least 5 years! I could not believe what I was hearing. I called the manager that I did the interview with and he told me he was just notified and it made him feel sick. But there was nothing he could do for me since it was company policy.

I am outraged that this is even possible and frankly feel discriminated against. I know I am more than qualified for the position and they have no other reason than those 5 years of residency. Are there more people with the same sort of experience? Or does anyone know if this is legal for them to do?

Thank you!

[Pitaya 2,577]

~Moved from K1 Process to Finding Work in America Forum~

~Similar topics are often discussed at this forum, not K1 related~

[Mike&Lin 39]

I sorry to hear this happened to you. There really isn't anything that can be done. While it is upsetting it is not discriminatory. Many companies have residency requirements for employment. The real travesty is that someone during the interview process did not know this to begin with. Good luck on your job search.

[CowBoE 429]

Sadly, I think it is very legal.

I will give you another simpler examples.

You know it's legal to be a tobacco smoker in US (in proper areas).

But there are companies that do nicotine tests, and you will not be hired

if you are found to be a smoker. I worked for one before.

Also, US government says, you can't discriminate against age, sex, religion, etc.,

but that government like (CIA, FBI, Police) have age restrictions on certain positions.

If they don't want you, you probably don't want to be there anyway.

There are plenty of other jobs, just let this one go and move on to the next job search.

That's American style...

Best wishes

[mota bhai 2,675]

If they don't want you, you probably don't want to be there anyway.

OP, if you internalize anything from the responses to your post, it should be this.

[milimelo 4,505]

Unless the position description stated they wanted proof of US residency for the prior 5 yrs, they can't deny you employment.

Their background check company probably couldn't verify your SSN (check on other topic with same problem) and decided easy way is to say they won't hire you over stupid reason.

[gwenstar 66]

I am outraged that this is even possible and frankly feel discriminated against. I know I am more than qualified for the position and they have no other reason than those 5 years of residency. Are there more people with the same sort of experience? Or does anyone know if this is legal for them to do?

Thank you!

That is really messed up! That really sucks and I am sad that this happened to you I would feel outraged as well -

I am not an expert this is my personal opinion based on life experiences - It is legal as long as they consistently apply policy especially since residency is not a protected class. The only legal route I am aware of that you could pursue (not recommending it) is to get them to prove that they have consistently used this policy (which I assume you would have to go through a lawyer..?). After it became company policy if even 1 person in the company was employed before they met that requirement, you could have something to go on. However, it would be a lot of work and cost and take a long time and in my opinion not worth it. If it something you feel very strongly about, I would recommend contacting a lawyer as they would know the law far better and could give a better idea of what options you would have. There are free legal services in many cities that you can discuss a potential issue to determine if it is a viable case.

I have had similar encounters in the housing industry regarding protected and non protected classes and people who felt there had been discrimination towards them (there was not). The agency I worked for had to prove the consistency of the policies and was never found to be discriminatory and it never went to court. In these aforementioned situations the burden was on the agency being accused to prove they were not being discriminatory.

In my opinion - like what has previously been said - if they don't want you there you are probably better off somewhere else. Sounds like you have some great qualifications if you were able to get the job aside from that one thing. You will find something else - don't let this get you down!!!

Edited July 11, 2014 by gwenstar

[Brit Abroad 166]

Did you take the time to read the company's background and hiring policies before applying for the job? Did you ask during the interview?

If the company undertakes ANY government contracts they will not employ someone who is a US citizen, much less has a minimal period of residency. It's common sense and not something that they use to beat up new residents.

Stop looking for reasons to be outraged and start doing more homework on an organisation that is going to be receiving your time and effort and with whom you'll spend more of your day than at home.

Edited July 12, 2014 by Brit Abroad

[DC85 113]

your job may need public trust clearance or some jobs are related to government contracts , they require 5 years of background check. You can't do anything for that. Even, if you are a USC and you lived all your life abroad you won't be qualified for such a job, so you shouldn't feel bad about it. It happened to me once with a job with USPS, they needed to establish a public trust and one requirement was to be living in the states for 5 years, I was disqualified because i was short 4 months. So, just move on , and keep looking

[Andy and Pui 16]

Unless the position description stated they wanted proof of US residency for the prior 5 yrs, they can't deny you employment.

Their background check company probably couldn't verify your SSN (check on other topic with same problem) and decided easy way is to say they won't hire you over stupid reason.

I think it has EXACTLY to do with this. Pui had one employer who came back that the SSN was under 5 years old and we had to call them and give them some more information. She was hired by the company.

[whysodifficult? 31]

Bad news, they can deny for any reason other than race, religion or age. They can fire you without any reason too.

Bad news, they can deny for any reason other than race, religion or age. They can fire you without any reason too.

Bad news, they can deny for any reason other than race, religion or age. They can fire you without any reason too.

[POA 178]

your job may need public trust clearance or some jobs are related to government contracts , they require 5 years of background check. You can't do anything for that. Even, if you are a USC and you lived all your life abroad you won't be qualified for such a job, so you shouldn't feel bad about it. It happened to me once with a job with USPS, they needed to establish a public trust and one requirement was to be living in the states for 5 years, I was disqualified because i was short 4 months. So, just move on , and keep looking

Oh my! This is really scaring me! I am now federal contractor but it has an ongoing security clearance. I hope they do not disqualify me!

Regarding the topic. I had almost the same issue 2 months ago. I was denied of the job offer bec the third party company who did the background did not find my ssn. I was also so furious but now I am thankful cause I got a so much better job. I guess the others are correct. We just need to try our luck again. Good luck!

Edited July 12, 2014 by POA

[a.post 0]

First of all, thanks for all the responses.

I did do research, did ask the hiring manager about my status ( he was enthusiastic and welcomed more diversity into his company ), nowhere did I read or hear about this residency issue. They wasted five days of my time. Also, the HR person was extremely rude on the phone. I DO NOT want to work for this company EVER! All I wanted was to find out why exactly this happened, what the reason behind the 5 year residency policy is. Since I am job hunting I want to learn from things like this, so I can be ahead of the game for the next job I apply for.

If there's something wrong with my SSN, I need to know. So I'll keep trying to contact this HR dept about it. We'll see.

[Merrytooth 5,748]

First of all, thanks for all the responses.

I did do research, did ask the hiring manager about my status ( he was enthusiastic and welcomed more diversity into his company ), nowhere did I read or hear about this residency issue. They wasted five days of my time. Also, the HR person was extremely rude on the phone. I DO NOT want to work for this company EVER! All I wanted was to find out why exactly this happened, what the reason behind the 5 year residency policy is. Since I am job hunting I want to learn from things like this, so I can be ahead of the game for the next job I apply for.

If there's something wrong with my SSN, I need to know. So I'll keep trying to contact this HR dept about it. We'll see.

Try this website to check your employment eligibility with your SSN.

http://www.uscis.gov/self-check

https://selfcheck.uscis.gov/SelfCheckUI/

[milimelo 4,505]

First of all, thanks for all the responses.

I did do research, did ask the hiring manager about my status ( he was enthusiastic and welcomed more diversity into his company ), nowhere did I read or hear about this residency issue. They wasted five days of my time. Also, the HR person was extremely rude on the phone. I DO NOT want to work for this company EVER! All I wanted was to find out why exactly this happened, what the reason behind the 5 year residency policy is. Since I am job hunting I want to learn from things like this, so I can be ahead of the game for the next job I apply for.

If there's something wrong with my SSN, I need to know. So I'll keep trying to contact this HR dept about it. We'll see.

Not sure if this will help you, but whenever I interviewed for a job, I made clear from the get go that I am a new immigrant and that while my SSN will show 5 years of existence at the time (was an exchange student in early 2000s), any background checks run will not show much if any activity (I didn't do credit cards, phone plans while studying).

Was never a problem for me but with the new SSN randomization as they're trying to prevent fraud, companies may not be updating their HR hiring policies to match current realities.

Good luck job hunting and I hope you get a job soon!