Atlantic Human Resource Advisors

December 2008

E-VERIFY

E-Verify (formerly the Basic Pilot/Employment Eligibility Verification Program) is an online system operated jointly by the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration (SSA). Participating employers can check the work status of new hires online by comparing information from an employee's I-9 form against SSA and Department of Homeland Security databases. More than 87,000 employers are enrolled in the program, with over 6.5 million queries run so far in fiscal year 2008.

E-Verify is free and voluntary, and is the best means available for determining employment eligibility of new hires and the validity of their Social Security numbers.

For Federal Contract Employers

Federal contractors and subcontractors will be required to begin using the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' E-Verify system starting Jan. 15, 2009, to verify their employees' eligibility to legally work in the United States. The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council amended the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to reflect this change.

The new rule implements Executive Order 12989, as amended by President George W. Bush on June 6, 2008, directing federal agencies to require that federal contractors agree to electronically verify the employment eligibility of their employees. The amended Executive Order reinforces the policy, first announced in 1996, that the federal government does business with companies that have a legal workforce. This new rule requires federal contractors to agree, through language inserted into their federal contracts, to use E-Verify to confirm the employment eligibility of all persons hired during a contract term, and to confirm the employment eligibility of federal contractors' current employees who perform contract services for the federal government within the United States.

Here are some answers to some of the top questions we've received:

Q : Why should I consider participating in E-Verify?

E-Verify is currently the best means available for employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of their newly hired employees. E-Verify virtually eliminates Social Security mismatch letters, improves the accuracy of wage and tax reporting, protects jobs for authorized U.S. workers, and helps U.S. employers maintain a legal workforce.

Q : How Do I Register for participation in E-Verify?

You can register for E-Verify at https://www.vis-dhs.com/EmployerRegistration, which provides instructions for completing the registration process. At the end of the registration process, you will be required to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that provides the terms of agreement between you the employer, the SSA, and USCIS. An employee who has signatory authority for the employer can sign the MOU.

Q : I am an employer with multiple hiring sites. Can one site verify everyone? How?

Yes, one site may verify new hires at all sites. When registering, the individual at the site that will be verifying new hires should select "multiple site registration" and give the number of sites per states it will be verifying.

Q : I am an employer with multiple hiring sites. Does every site need to enroll in E-Verify?

No, you can choose which sites to enroll.

Q : What is the required timeframe for conducting an employment eligibility check on a newly hired employee?

The earliest the employer may initiate a query is after an an individual accepts an offer of employment and after the employee and employer complete the Form I-9. The employer must initiate the query no later than the end of three business days after the new hire's actual start date.

An employer may initiate the query before a new hire's actual start date; however, it may not pre-screen applicants and may not delay training or an actual start date based upon a tentative non-confirmation or a delay in the receipt of a confirmation of employment authorization. An employee should not face any adverse employment consequences based upon an employer's use of E-Verify unless a query results in a final non-confirmation. In addition, an employer cannot use an employment authorization response to speed up an employee's start date. This would be unfair treatment to use E-Verify results to accelerate employment for this employee compared to another who may have received a tentative non-confirmation.

For example, Company X always assigns a start-date to new employees that is two weeks after the employee has completed an approved drug test. After the employee has accepted a job with Company X and after the employee and Company X completes the Form I-9, the company can initiate the E-Verify query. However, the company cannot speed up or delay the employee's start date based upon the results of the query (unless the program issues a final non-confirmation, in which case the employee should not be further employed).

Employers must verify employees in a non-discriminatory manner and may not schedule the timing of queries based upon the new hire's national origin, citizenship status, race, or other characteristic that is prohibited by U.S. law.

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