labor lawAdivision of labor law center

Effective May 21, 2009 companies entering into new federal contracts will have to use E-Verify to double-check the immigration and legal work status of new employees. This deadline has been delayed from January 15, 2009. 

 

The Office of Management and Budget or OMB recently extended the deadline after a request by the SHRM, or Society of Human Resource Management.

 

President Obama’s Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel sent a memo to all federal agencies, suggesting that they delay effective dates of any regulations introduced during the last few months of the Bush Administration. SHRM had partnered with other business organizations to fight the new regulation in court.

 

The Department of Justice concurred with the SHRM request to delay the deadline. Although a federal district court judge in Maryland must review the delay, it seems certain to be approved.

 

This action gives federal contractors a few additional weeks to comply with E-Verify. The original deadline for E-Verify compliance was January 1, 2009.

 

E-Verify is a joint project between the Department of Homeland Security, Social Security and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. An employee’s social security number and other identifying information is fed into the online system, which checks it against existing federal records.

 

Under the Bush Administration regulations, all federal contractors would have to use E-Verify to determine if new and existing employees performing work on federal projects are authorized to work in the U.S.

 

E-Verify permits employers to determine a worker’s legal immigration status, usually in just a few moments. The system also prevents identity theft. Employers using E-Verify are permitted to require new employees to present a Social Security card as one form of I.D. for the I-9 Form – other employers are not.

 

Mike Aitken, the director of government affairs for SHRM said, “SHRM is hopeful that this development signals an interest, on the part of the government, to re-evaluate the rule.” He added, “SHRM is concerned that by issuing the rule, the government exceeded its authority by mandating that federal contractors use a program designed as a voluntary pilot project and by mandating the re-verification of existing employees, currently not allowed under E-Verify requirements.”

 

Complete E-Verify compliance documents are available at www.laborlawcenter.com. A number of states already require employers to use E-Verify.

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