E-Verify – Everyone Holding their Breath While the House Takes Up the Issue

Nightmare or business-as-usual?

Right now E-Verify, the Government’s Internet-based system that allows businesses to determine the eligibility of their employees to work in the United States, is voluntary for most companies.

Touted as “fast, free and easy to use,” the potentially universally mandated background check program has employers of all sizes quaking at their laptops. Right now only federal contractors and six states (AZ, MI, SC, AL, GO, NC) are required to comply with the program which started in 1997.

Many current employers who use the E-Verify system complain about difficulty of use, with one out of four applicants entered into the system being rejected as illegal when the system doesn’t recognize social security numbers or other identification. As of July 1, 2013, E-Verify can email employees directly if their information triggers a Tentative Non-Confirmation of eligibility (TNC).

However even this upgrade doesn’t compensate for the increased amount of time, energy, and manpower that is required to document and comply with US regulations. More likely than not, it’s only going to get more time-consuming for companies both large and small.

What to do?

Get Ahead of the Curve

Take a tour of the E-verify site and start an account for your current employees.

Review Your Procedures

Make sure you already comply with I-9 regulations.

Keep Detailed Employee Records

You should already have stored securely and on-file the following information for all employees:

1. Employee’s name and date of birth
2. SSN, "A" number or I-94 number
3. Proof of identity and its expiration date, if applicable

Lastly, get over it!

If E-Verify becomes a requirement for all companies, everyone will equally be responsible for assuring the eligibility of their employees to work here in the US. Like every other regulation that has come before, onerous or not, we’ll all eventually become smarter, better and faster at maintaining this intrusive yet safety-oriented program.

Do What You Do Best, and Let Benay Do the Rest!

Benay stays ahead of the informational curve for all our clients so that changes in regulations and compliance issues aren’t a surprise. Want to learn how you can focus on growing your business rather than filling out forms and databases? Give us a call.