South Carolina employers beware. S.C. businesses have been given notice about employing illegal immigrants – and using E-Verify.

The South Carolina Illegal Immigration Reform Act requiring all employers in the state to verify the legal status of new employees and prohibiting employment of any worker who is not legally in this country and authorized to work takes effect on July 1, 2009. After that date, businesses with 100 or more employees that hire or employ illegal immigrants can be subjected to monetary fines or temporary suspensions of their work licenses. For private employers who employ less than 100 employees, the compliance date is July 1, 2010.

In addition to completing and maintaining the federal employment eligibility verification form – known as the Form I-9 – all South Carolina employers must verify the employee’s work authorization through the E-Verify federal work authorization program administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) within five days after employing a new employee. E-Verify provides automatic information for a potential employee. The business inputs information from the employee’s Form I-9 and receives an automatic response from the program as to whether the employee can be hired.

Businesses may also verify that the employee possesses a valid South Carolina driver’s license or identification card issued by the state's Department of Motor Vehicles, or is eligible to obtain those documents, or possesses a valid driver’s license or identification card from another state with requirements as strict as those of South Carolina.

Recently, the DHS has stepped up Form I-9 enforcement with help from E-Verify, and will target employers more than workers to tackle illegal immigration. For example, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – the largest and primary investigative arm of the DHS – recently announced the indictment of a Human Resources Manager on charges of Form I-9 fraud for knowingly employing illegal aliens in the company’s workforce. The charges stem from an August 25, 2008 raid by ICE when nearly 600 illegal workers were arrested. It was the largest single-workplace immigration raid in U.S. history.

This case is proof that DHS and ICE are aggressively targeting employers who violate Form I-9 compliance and immigration laws by knowingly employing illegal aliens in their workforce in order to take advantage of illegal labor for personal profit. To avoid audits, fines, penalties, and even possible jail time, many employers are turning to third-party software to maintain full Form I-9 compliance with the myriad of employment eligibility verification regulations.

I-9Compliance.com – a Form I-9 and E-Verify compliance service offered by leading pre-employment screening provider Pre-Employ.com – helps employers outsource their Form I-9 and E-Verify needs at minimal cost. A designated E-Verify service provider, I-9Compliance.com reduces risks and liability, virtually eliminates errors, maintains full Form I-9 compliance, and improves the economy by ensuring jobs for legal Americans.

For information about our Form I-9 and E-Verify compliance services, please visit www.i-9compliance.com, email sales@i-9Compliance.com, or call 1-800-300-1821.

Download FREE Form I-9 Compliance White Paper (.PDF) 

*We welcome relevant comments and questions from consumers, experts, and human resources professionals. Please do not submit comments with advertisements as they will not be posted publicly. Thanks for visiting our blog!