States Require E-Verify

Employers in several states, including Mississippi, Colorado and Arizona, are required by law to use E-Verify to check every new employee’s documentation.

In Texas, Hawaii, Michigan and eleven other states, employers are strongly urged to use E-Verify.

Tax incentives are offered in some states, like Georgia, to employers that utilize E-Verify. Government employees, state contractors and sub-contractors are already required to use E-Verify by most states.

Many states are currently working on legislation to require private employers to use E-Verify, too.

If an employer hires an undocumented worker, even unknowingly, that employer can face severe consequences. Employers in Arizona can have their business license suspended to 10 days for hiring just one illegal immigrant. If the infraction is committed a second time, Arizona revokes the employer’s business license–permanently. In Virginia, businesses and partnerships are covered by a similar law.

Even if the state doesn’t have a specific immigration law, the employers can be fined under federal law for hiring illegal immigrants. For employers who repeatedly hire undocumented workers, the federal fines can reach as high as $200,000.

In some cases, if an employer repeatedly hires undocumented workers, that employer will be required by the federal government to utilize E-Verify or face additional penalties. Any business owner, however, can sign up for E-Verify. It is available to any employer, even those employers who are not required to utilize it under state or federal law.

Under E-Verify, employers are required to maintain records of all employee identification documents and of their I-9 forms. These records are expected to be up-to-date, as well. I-9 forms must be kept for either 3 years after the worker is hired, or for one year after the worker is terminated, whichever is greater. If a worker’s identity document expires during that time period, the employer is responsible for obtaining new ones.

Employers are also encouraged under federal law, and by some state laws to keep copies of all documents which support the I-9 forms. These copies, however, can not be kept in the employee’s personnel file, but must be kept separate and confidential.