Instructions to interviewer:
SAY TO EMPLOYEE:
Hello, I am (INTERVIEWER NAME) with Westat. [SHOW WESTAT ID BADGE]
[IF AT A HOME, CONFIRM THE ADDRESS] May I please speak with (R NAME)?
We are conducting interviews about employee experiences with verification of employment eligibility. A letter was sent to you recently explaining the study and the importance of your participation. Did you receive this letter? As mentioned in the letter, your participation is voluntary and all the information you give us will be kept confidential as required by the Privacy Act. Your name will not be attached to any of your answers. In appreciation for your cooperation with the interview, you will receive a $25 cash gift after completing the interview.
Do you have any questions before we start?
[Instructions to Interviewers: If the respondent does not have any questions, proceed to the Screener questions on next page.]
Screener Section: Identifying the Person to Be Interviewed
Instruction to interviewers: Before the interview, verify that the person you are speaking to is the person you should interview. If it is the correct person, proceed with the interview. Otherwise, thank the person, and (if at a residence) ask them if the person lives at this residence. If the person lives there, find out when you might be able to contact him/her to make an appointment. Make sure you explain why you would like to interview the person, using some of the language on page 1-1. If the person does not live there, inquire about a current phone number or residence of the person to be interviewed, and withdraw from the residence.
S1. Let me confirm, did you talk to (NAME OF EMPLOYER) about a job during the last year or so?
YES 1
NO 2
S2. To help make sure I am speaking with the correct person, I’d like to confirm your name, date of birth and the last four digits of your social security number. What is your full name?
NAME
REFUSED 7
S3. Is your date of birth [R DATE OF BIRTH]?
YES 1
NO 2
CORRECT DATE OF BIRTH:
|___|___| - |___|___| - |___|___|___|___|
REFUSED 7
S4. Are the last four digits of your Social Security number [R LAST FOUR DIGITS ]?
YES 1
NO 2
CORRECT LAST FOUR DIGITS OF SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER:
- |___|___|___|___|
REFUSED 7
DON’T KNOW 8
FOCUS QUESTION 1 What evidence is there that the employer used E-Verify to prescreen this employee? What was the impact of prescreening on the employee?
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Instructions to interviewers: To find out if the employee was prescreened, you may need to help the employee “walk through” the application and hiring process
Please tell me about how you applied for the job with this employer. [PROMPT IF NECESSARY]
How did you know about the job with this employer?
How did you apply for the job (e.g., by phone, e-mail, show-up at the door, etc.)?
Do you remember when you applied for the job (specific date)?
Did you know that this employer was using a program to help them figure out if employees are legally allowed to work in the United States?
What happened when you applied for the job, and when did this happen? For example:
Did you fill out an application form?
Did you have an interview?
Did you have to submit any kind of work documents?
In what order did these things happen?
After you applied for a job with [employer], did you ever receive a job offer?
(If so) How many days did you wait before hearing from the employer that you got the job?
How did you hear that you had gotten the job? On the phone? A letter in the mail?
Did you accept the job offer? When did you accept the offer?
When did you show your identification and work documents to the employer and fill out the Form I-9? (Present Show Cards)
Was this before or after you were told whether or not you had gotten the job?
Was this before of after you had accepted the job?
What documents did you show to the employer when you applied?
Did you have a valid passport/social security card/alien card when you applied for the job?
Did you have to renew your temporary working permit at the time you applied for the job?
Were you hired by the employer? If so, did you begin working right away?
If the employee was never hired, ask the following questions:
When did the employer tell you that you did not get the job? How were you told? (e.g., I was told on the spot; I was called after the interview; etc.)
What did your employer tell you about why you did not get the job?
Why do you think you did not get the job?
At the time you applied for the job, were you employed somewhere else (i.e., different employer)?
Did you have to quit another job to apply for this one?
What made you feel you had to quit?
How did you feel when you did not get the job?
OK with it, upset, angry, embarrassed? [Respondent should reply in own words]
Why did you feel that way?
How long after you applied for this job was it until you received another job?
Did you ever get another job that was as good as or better than the one at [employer]?
How long was it until you got a job that was as good as or better than this one? What makes you say this?
GO TO FOCUS QUESTION 2 FOR ALL EMPLOYEES.
FOCUS QUESTION 2 What evidence is there that the employer properly informed the employee about the tentative nonconfirmation? Did the employee make an informed decision about whether or not to contest the finding?
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Did your employer ever tell you there were problems with your paperwork?
What did they tell you?
When did they tell you?
Did you know what the problem was? (e.g., you used a different name, SSN or Alien number, or your work papers were expired at the time of application.)
Did your employer ever show you the notice of Tentative Nonconfirmation and give you a copy of it? [Present Show Cards C, D & E]
How did your employer tell you about the notice?
Did your employer give you the notice to read?
Did your employer explain what the letter said?
Did your employer explain that you could contest the findings if you wished?
The letter asks you if you want to contest the findings. Did you know what “contest” meant? If not, did you ask your employer to explain it to you? [Explain “contest” if necessary.]
Did you decide to contest the finding?
Do you remember signing the TNC notice?
Did your employer ever give you a copy of the TNC notice after they signed it?
Any other questions that can help answer if and how the employee was informed of the TNC.
If the employee did NOT contest (based on answer to Question 17 above):
What stopped you from trying to correct your paperwork?
Were you allowed to work in the United States at the time you applied for the job?
Did you need to renew your work permit before you could work legally?
Were you concerned that you would lose too much time at work and too much pay if you took the time to correct your paperwork?
How did you feel about having to contact the government? Were you concerned that you would be punished/arrested/forced to leave the country?
Did you decide that you would rather get another job with a different employer than take the trouble to correct your paperwork?
Were you worried that your employer would not treat you fairly because you had paperwork problems?
Were you concerned at all because you do not speak much English?
Was it inconvenient for you to go to SSA or USCIS to correct your paperwork? In what ways was in inconvenient?
Did your employer tell you that you would [lose your job/not get the job] if you did not contest?
What happened after you decided not to contest?
Did your employer [fire you/tell you that you wouldn’t be hired]?
Did you quit? If so, when? Why did you quit?
Any other questions that can help in obtaining the answer for the focus question.
FOCUS QUESTION 3 What impact did receiving a TNC have on the employee?
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Did you understand what the notice of tentative nonconfirmation said?
What language was the notice in? Was it a language that you could read/understand?
Did you understand the content and technical terms written in the notice? Was it clear or confusing?
Were you able to ask questions and was your employer able to answer your questions?
Besides you and your employer, do you know whether any of your co-workers knew about your TNC situation?
How did they know? Did you receive the notice in private or in front of other people?
How did you feel about other people knowing?
How did you feel about receiving the notice?
Were you scared, nervous, embarrassed, or did not feel much?
Did you feel tension or stress at work because of your TNC status?
If the employee is not fluent in English: Did you get nervous because you do not speak much English?
Any other questions that can help uncover the burden of receiving a TNC.
IF EMPLOYEE WAS NEVER TOLD ABOUT THE TNC OR DECIDED NOT TO CONTEST, GO TO FOCUS QUESTION 9. OTHERWISE, GO TO FOCUS QUESTION 4.
FOCUS QUESTION 4 What evidence is there that the employer gave the employee all information necessary for contesting the TNC with SSA or USCIS?
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When you decided to contest the finding, did your employer give you a referral letter? [Present Show Cards F & G to the employee so that s/he can identify the one received.]
If you did not receive the letter, did your employer explain what you needed to do to contest the finding?
If you did receive the letter, did you understand what the referral letter was and what it said?
Did your employer explain it to you?
Did you ask your employer any questions if you did not understand?
Did your employer tell you what to do or who to call in order to solve your problem? What did they tell you?
Which government agency were you referred to, SSA or USCIS? Did your employer tell you everything you needed to know in order to contact SSA/USCIS?
Did your employer give you the address of a nearby SSA office/the USCIS toll-free number?
Did your employer tell you how many days you had to contact SSA/USCIS? (8 Federal Government work days)
In general, did you understand how to correct your SSA/USCIS record?
Did your employer tell you that you would [lose your job/not get the job] if you didn’t correct your records?
Any other questions that can help determine whether the employee was given all the information necessary to contest.
How many days did your employer tell you that you had to contact SSA or USCIS? Was this enough time for you to take care of your paper work? If not, why not?
FOCUS QUESTION 5 How was the employee’s relationship with their employer affected when he/she contested the TNC?
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What happened with your job when you told your employer that you wanted to contest?
Were you allowed to keep working/start working or did your employer tell you that you had to correct the problems first?
Were you able to begin training or did your employer postpone your training until you corrected the problems?
Were you paid for the work you did while you were correcting the problems?
Were you paid the same amount as other employees doing the same job?
Did you receive the same work assignments as other employees or different assignments? If different from other employees, would you say that your assignments were better or worse than those given to other employees?
Did your employer make you uncomfortable in any way (e.g., making jokes, negative statements about your performance)?
If the employee was fired:
Why do you think you lost your job?
What did the employer tell you about why they fired you?
Did you lose the job before you had a chance to correct your records at SSA or USCIS?
How did you feel when you were fired? Were you surprised?
Were you paid for any work you had already done for the employer?
IF IT IS CLEAR THAT THE EMPLOYEE WAS ABLE TO FOLLOW THROUGH WITH CONTESTING THE TNC, CONTINUE TO FOCUS QUESTION 6. OTHERWISE SKIP TO FOCUS QUESTION 9.
FOCUS QUESTION 6 If the employee decided to contest the TNC, what were his/her experiences in contesting the TNC with SSA or USCIS?
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If the employee contested the TNC with SSA:
Did you go to the SSA office?
Did you have someone go to the SSA office with you? If so, who went with you and what did they do?
Did you take the referral letter with you?
How many times did you have to go to the SSA office to solve your problem? (If more than once): What happened that caused you to go to the office more than once?
If you did not go to the SSA office, what made you decide not to go?
What happened at the SSA office?
How long did you have to wait to speak to someone at the SSA office?
Did you have to talk to a few people before you talked to the “right person?” (If yes) Do you know why you had to talk to so many people?
Were you able to solve the problem with your SSA records? If not, what prevented you from solving the problem?
How long did it take to straighten out the problem? What took so long to get the documents you needed?
What was the problem?
How were you treated while you were at the SSA office?
Any other questions about the employee’s experience contesting the TNC with SSA.
If the employee contested the TNC with USCIS:
Did your employer give you the toll-free number to call USCIS?
Did you call the number?
(if not) What made you decide not to call?
Did you visit a USCIS office?
What made you decide to visit the USCIS office to straighten out the problem?
What was the problem?
How long did you have to wait before being helped?
Were you told you had to make an appointment and come back?
(If they called the USCIS toll-free number) Tell me about the phone call.
Was it easy to get through or did you have to wait for a long time to speak to someone?
Did you talk to the official yourself or was there a reason that you had to have someone do it for you?
How many times did you have to call USCIS to solve your problem? Was there a reason that you had to call more than once?
Did you have to talk to a few people before you could talk to the “right person”?
Do you think that the USCIS official understood your problem?
Were you able to solve the problem with your USCIS records? If not, why not?
What was the problem?
Did you need to fax your documents to USCIS?
Did your employer tell you to fax the documents using their office fax? Did you ask to do so?
If you did not fax your documents from the office, was it easy or difficult to find a place where you could fax them to the USCIS official?
Any other questions about the employee’s experience contesting the TNC with USCIS.
FOCUS QUESTION 7
If the employee decided to contest the TNC, what was the financial burden of contesting the TNC?
Please try to identify both the types of costs and the amounts.
Did you lose any time at work because you had to correct problems with your paperwork?
If your employer did not allow you to work until the problem was resolved, how long were you not working? (e.g., 3 days, 1 week, etc.) How much did you lose in wages while you were not working?
How many days (or hours) did you lose at work in order to correct your paperwork?
About how much money would that be?
Did it cost you anything to visit SSA? For example, did you spend money on:
parking
public transportation
gas for long distance driving
babysitting
about how much?
Did you have to spend money on sending faxes to USCIS? About how much?
Did you have any other financial costs related to resolving your TNC finding?
Any questions that can help determine the answer for the financial burden on the employee.
FOCUS QUESTION 8
If the employee decided to contest the TNC, what was the burden of contesting the TNC?
How did you feel about going to the SSA office/calling USCIS/going to the USCIS office? What made you feel that way?
Were you concerned because they were government agencies?
Were you concerned that you would be punished or arrested?
(For those with limited English) Were you concerned because you do not speak much English?
Did you understand what the officials at the agency were saying?
Were you able to speak to someone who speaks your language?
How did the officials treat you?
Were they helpful? In what ways?
Did they treat you with respect? If not, what makes you say this?
Any questions that can help uncover the burden of contesting a TNC with government agencies.
IF THE TENTATIVE NONCONFIRMATION WAS RESOLVED, SKIP TO FOCUS QUESTION 10. OTHERWISE CONTINUE TO FOCUS QUESTION 9.
FOCUS QUESTION 9 If the employee did not resolve the TNC, what evidence is there that the employer terminated the employee’s employment as soon as it was apparent that this was the case?
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Are you still working for the employer?
(if yes) Did your employer ever say that he/she should fire you, but was not going to do that? If so, did your employer explain why he/she wasn’t going to fire you, even though your paperwork wasn’t in order?
Did you quit? If yes, why?
(If employee did not quit) Were you fired from your job?
When were you fired?
How many days after your employer told you there was a problem with your paperwork were you fired?
How long after you tried to contest the TNC finding were you fired?
Any other questions that can help determine whether the employee’s employment was terminated as soon as it was apparent that the case was unresolved.
GO TO FOCUS QUESTION 10 FOR ALL EMPLOYEES.
FOCUS QUESTION 10 What evidence is there that the employee was or was not work-authorized at the time he/she applied for the job?
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Were you a U.S. citizen at the time you applied for this job?
Were you authorized to work in the US?
Were you a legal permanent resident (i.e., you had a green card)?
Did you have a work permit?
Have you ever been authorized to work in the U.S. before?
Was your work permit expired at the time you applied for the job? Did you need to renew it?
Did you find out that your documents are not valid? When did you find this out?
Any other questions that can help determine whether or not this respondent is work-authorized.
GO TO FOCUS QUESTION 11 FOR ALL EMPLOYEES.
FOCUS QUESTION 11
What are the demographic characteristics of the employee?
Instructions to interviewer: You also need to obtain or verify the employee’s demographic information. Suggested questions for this area include:
In what country were you born?
Are you Hispanic or Latino?
What is your race? [Prompts: American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, White]
Closure
Instructions to interviewers: At the end of the interview, please
ask if the respondent has any questions about the interview or anything he/she wants to share with you related to the TNC issue;
answer the questions as best as you can;
thank the respondent again for his/her time and for agreeing to talk to you; and
give the respondent $25 and have the person sign the Cash Gift Receipt.
~ End OF INTERVIEW ~
Questions to be completed by the interviewer after the interview
Instructions to interviewers: Complete these questions after you finish an interview. Please answer them with your best judgment and observation.
Is the respondent:
___Male ___Female
Does the respondent appear to be foreign-born?
___Yes ___No
Explain:
Do you believe that this respondent was authorized to work at the time he/she was verified?
___Yes ___No
Explain:
How confident are you of your answer to #3 above? (circle one.)
very sure somewhat sure somewhat unsure very unsure
Questions to be completed by the interviewer after the interview (cont’d)
Do you think that the employer followed all of the WBP procedures in hiring and verifying this employee?
___Yes ___No
Explain (Be specific about what procedures, if any, were not followed):
How confident are you of your answer to 5?
very sure somewhat sure somewhat unsure very unsure
In your opinion, did the employee incur any costs (financial or other) because he/she received a TNC?
___Yes ___No
Explain (include an estimate of the dollar cost, where relevant):
How confident are you of your answer to 7?
very sure somewhat sure somewhat unsure very unsure
Questions to be completed by the interviewer after the interview (cont’d)
Please rate the following qualities of the respondent, the interviewing situation, and the data. Please consider these carefully and code immediately after the interview. Many of these items can have an influence on the interpretation of the results.
CONFIDENCE RATINGS
The respondent (was/had):
HIGH |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
LOW |
A. ABLE TO UNDERSTAND QUESTIONS EASILY |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
HARDLY ABLE TO UNDERSTAND QUESTIONS |
B. TRUTHFUL |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
UNTRUTHFUL |
C. ACCURATE |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
INACCURATE |
D. INTERESTED IN THE INTERVIEW |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
NOT INTERESTED IN THE INTERVIEW |
E. COOPERATIVE |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
UNCOOPERATIVE |
F. NO ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROBLEMS |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
SPOKE ENGLISH WITH DIFFICULTY |
G. INTERVIEWED WITHOUT INTERRUPTIONS |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
INTERRUPTED OFTEN |
H. YOUR OPINION ABOUT THE OVERALL QUALITY OF THE DATA: |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
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10. Describe any other circumstances surrounding the interview or information about the respondent that you think might have had an effect on the interview. Provide useful information about the interview that helps describe unusual response patterns, the respondent’s state of mind, the interview setting, and/or the respondent’s understanding of the interview.
I-
| File Type | application/msword |
| Author | Carey Faulkner |
| Last Modified By | USCIS |
| File Modified | 2007-12-18 |
| File Created | 2007-12-18 |