E-Verify Federal Contract Rule Delayed (Yet Again) Until September 8

For a fourth time this year, the effective date of the E-Verify requirement for federal government contractors is delayed, this time from June 30, 2009 until September 8, 2009. The delay gives the Obama administration additional time to review the regulation, which was originally scheduled to be implemented on January 15, 2009 after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) designated E-Verify as the employment eligibility verification system for federal contractors.

On June 6, 2008, former President George W. Bush amended Executive Order 12989, directing all federal departments and agencies to require certain contractors use E-Verify, a free Internet-based system that allows enrolled employers to confirm the legal status of new hires within seconds. Operated jointly by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and Social Security Administration (SSA), E-Verify electronically matches information found on the Employment Eligibility Verification Form – or Form I-9 – against government databases and clears over 96% of applicants automatically. Over 120,000 U.S. employers currently use the E-Verify system, many voluntarily, with approximately 1,000 new employers signing up each week.

The litigants in the case over the legality of the E-Verify federal contractor rule – Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, et al. v. Napolitano – have agreed to push back the effective date of the rule from June 30 until September 8 to give the new Administration more time to review the case and determine its position. Initially, federal contractors were supposed to be required to use E-Verify beginning on January 15, but the rule was put on hold three separate times: first to February 20, then until May 21, and most recently to June 30. September 8, 2009 is the fourth (and final?) extension date.

If the September 8, 2009 date is indeed final, then certain Federal contractors and subcontractors will be required to begin using the E-Verify system to verify their employees’ eligibility to legally work in the United States. This new rule would require 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.

Full compliance with government legislation requires careful planning. The integration with E-Verify can be time consuming and users within a company must undergo training and pass the online mastery test. This can take several hours per employee. In addition, management of the data, reproduction of reports for audits, electronic storage of documents, pre-set reminders for expiring documents, automatic notification of document expiration, and step by step instructions for filling out the form are not included with the E-Verify system.

Because not every company is prepared to take on the task or dedicate staff members to maintain an employment eligibility program that will ensure full Form I-9 and E-Verify compliance, many companies have chosen to use third party E-Verify solution providers to limit the possibility of government audits due to violating compliance regulations. More information on what federal contractors and subcontractors would need to know if the E-Verify requirement takes effect on September 8 can be found in an informational white paper from I-9Compliance.com – 15 Facts You Should Know About I-9 Compliance: Questions and Answers – available at http://www.i-9compliance.com/whitepaper/.

I-9Compliance.com – a service offered by leading pre-employment screening provider Pre-Employ.com – can make any business owner a I-9 Form and E-Verify expert while maintaining full I-9 compliance, reducing risks and liability, virtually eliminating errors, and improving the economy by ensuring jobs for legal Americans. For more information about I-9Compliance.com’s Form I-9 and E-Verify solutions, please visit us at www.i-9compliance.com, email us at sales@i-9compliance.com, or call us at 1-800-300-1821.

tahearn@i-9compliance.com

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