Workforce Management addressed the Howard Industries raid yesterday in an article that covers how E-Verify has failed businesses that use the program.

The fact that E-Verify only determines if the identification given by the applicant is eligible and not if the applicant is the owner of the identification is a serious pitfall about the program. However, if your company is relying on E-Verify as the only means of verifying employment eligibility, then you may end up with a host of problems beyond the hiring of illegal workers.

Immigrants who provide stolen documents most likey don't know the previous addresses or work history of the original identification holders, so it's more than likely that a background check would not match the information on an application. Employers who rely on migrant or foreign workers should implement a multiple process hiring program that includes:

• An application that asks for previous addresses and previous employers (available in several languages, if necessary)
• A comprehensive background check, including a Social Security Trace, Criminal Background Check, and Sex Offender Search
• Form I-9 complete with two forms of identification
• Process employment eligibility documents through E-Verify or send to I-9 compliance service

When the background check is complete, the hiring manager should compare the background check with the application. If there is missing or incorrect information on the application, this should raise a red flag that starts another process to verify identity. If the application matches the background check information and matches information received from E-Verify or I-9 compliance service, the chances are the applicant is eligible.

If employers don't conduct background checks in conjunction with E-Verify, not only are they confronting possible ICE violations, they are putting the company and its employees at risk for workplace theft and violence. The most common reasons employers conduct background checks is to determine whether or not an applicant is truthful on an application or resume and if they are hiring dangerous criminals. The latter being more serious of a problem than immigration violations.

Outsourcing I-9 compliance and employment eligibility processes reduces liability and helps ease the administrative strain on human resources departments. For more information on background checks and Form I-9 employment eligibility processing, please visit www.i-9compliance.com or www.Pre-employ.com.

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