USCIS Reminds Federal Contractors To Use E-Verify Beginning September 8

Just in case contractors who want to work for the government forget over the long Labor Day holiday weekend, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued a reminder that federal contractors and subcontractors will be required to use the E-Verify electronic employment eligibility verification system to verify their employees’ eligibility to work in the United States beginning Tuesday, September 8, 2009.

E-Verify – which compares information from the Employment Eligibility Verification Form (I-9) against federal government databases to verify employment eligibility – is a free web-based system operated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in partnership with the Social Security Administration (SSA). After being delayed three times since January, the rule will finally take effect on September 8.

According to USCIS, the “Federal Acquisition Rule; Case 2007-013; Employment Eligibility Verification” extends use of E-Verify to covered federal contractors and subcontractors – including those who receive American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds – and applicable federal contracts awarded and solicitations issued after September 8 will include a clause requiring those contractors to use E-Verify.

In addition, the update explians that companies awarded a contract with the E-Verify clause after September 8 will be required to enroll in E-Verify within thirty (30) days of the contract award date, since E-Verify must be used to confirm that all new hires – whether employed on a federal contract or not – and existing employees directly working on these contracts are legally authorized to work in the United States.

USCIS figures show that E-Verify is used by over 145,000 employers at nearly 550,000 worksites nationwide and more than 7.6 million employment verification queries have been run through the system since October 2008, with  97 percent of them automatically confirmed as work-authorized within 24 hours or less. Other figures show E-Verify is used to verify the work eligibility of one out of every four new hires in the United States.

While E-Verify has proven a fast, accurate, and popular method for verifying employment eligibility, the integration with the E‐Verify system can be time consuming for employers who must undergo training and pass an online mastery test. Some are turning to third party agents for assistance with E-Verify in order to maintain full compliance and avoid government audits that can lead to fines, penalties, and even jail.

A designated E-Verify service agent like I-9Compliance.com – a I-9/E-Verify compliance solution offered by leading pre-employment screening and Human Resources Outsourcing (HRO) provider Pre-Employ.com – helps employers understand the myriad of government regulations in order to maintain full I-9/E-Verify compliance, eliminate errors, reduce liability, and ensure jobs for legal workers.

To learn how to get I-9Compliance.com for FREE, visit www.i-9compliance.com/FREE/. To view a FREE webinar on demand, visit http://www.i-9compliance.com/On-Demand-Webinars.aspx. For more information about I-9Compliance.com’s fully automated and paperless I-9/E-Verify solution, download our FREE white paper “15 Facts You Should Know About I-9 Compliance,” read “20 Questions (& Answers) For The E-Verify Federal Contractor Rule” visit www.i-9compliance.com, email sales@i-9compliance.com, or call 1-800-300-1821. To follow Pre-Employ.com on Twitter, visit www.twitter.com/PreEmploy.

Source: USCIS Update: Federal Contractors Required to Use E-Verify Beginning September 8, 2009 (PDF)

tahearn@pre-employ.com

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