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New Federal Regulations Require Employers to Use E-Verify
The Department of Homeland Security says that E-Verify is an essential tool for employers
committed to maintaining a legal workforce, and to protecting the security of their
companies, employees and country.
All federal contractors and their sub-contractors will be required to use the E-Verify
system, as a condition of future contracts. On June 9, 2008 President George W. Bush
amended Executive Order 12989. Proposed regulations published in the Federal Register on
June 12, 2008, require contractors to use an electronic system to verify all new workers’
employment eligibility. In addition, contractors and sub-contractors must use E-Verify to
check the documents on any current employees working directly on federal projects,
regardless of how long they have been with the company.
E-Verify is available to every employer, even those who are not required to use it by
federal or state law. Several states, including Arizona, Colorado and Mississippi have
laws that require virtually all employers to use E-Verify to check the documentation of
every new employee.
Fourteen additional states strongly recommend that employers use E-Verify. These states
include Arkansas, Hawaii, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire,
Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Some states, such as Georgia, provide tax incentives to employers who use E-Verify. Most
states already require E-verify for government employees, state contractors, and even their
sub-contractors.
In addition, a number of states have pending legislation that would make E-Verify mandatory
for private employers.
LaborLawCenter™ provides you with the e-verify tools you need:
- I-9
Form - Use this form to document that each new employee is authorized
to work in the United States.
- E-Verify Poster - Must be
posted if you have registered to use the E-Verify system.
- DHS
Anti-Discrimination Notice - Must be posted if you have registered
to use the E-Verify system.
Employers are not legally permitted to use E-Verify until after the employee is hired. The EEOC
warns that using E-Verify on an applicant’s documents is illegal discrimination and may result
in expensive lawsuits for the employer. E-Verify may be used anytime after the employee accepts
an offer of employment and completes the I-9 Form. By law, it must be used within 3 days after
the employee starts to work for wages.
E-Verify also requires that employers keep up-to-date records of all employee identification
and I-9 Forms. The I-9 forms must be retained for 3 years after the employee is hired, or one year
after they are terminated – whichever is longer. When an identity document expires within that
time period, the employer must obtain new identity documents.
Federal law encourages and some states require that employers retain copies of the I-9
supporting documents. However, to avoid discrimination charges, these replicas cannot be kept
in the employee’s personnel file. They must be retained separately.
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