Business news for Mon, 31 Dec 2007 & with word determine. 2 news.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - Workstream Inc. said Monday it received an unsolicited offer from a U.S.-based payroll business to determine the viability of a merger between the two companies. Any deal will be subject to the standard conditions including the completion of due diligence, regulatory approval, shareholder approval, board approval and the required valuations, Workstream said. Shares last traded at about 65 cents each.

TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- Arizona puts into effect on Jan. 1 a law that punishes businesses that knowingly employ illegal workers, the toughest such law in the U.S., the Arizona Republic reported. Only about 6% of the state's 150,000 employers have so far signed up for E-Verify, an Internet database the U.S. federal government operates to enable employers to determine whether a person is eligible to work, the paper reported. Arizona's new law requires employers to use E-Verify; the database is voluntary at the federal level, the paper reported. While the new law has survived two legal challenges, many employers are waiting to see whether the law is ultimately upheld, the paper reported. Arizona has more than 500,000 undocumented immigrants, and many employers are reluctant to use the database, the Republic reported, because screening out the workers cuts off a major supply of low-cost labor.