labor lawAdivision of labor law center

The Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) has successfully petitioned the Obama administration to delay implementation of a law requiring some employers to use E-Verify when checking on new employees’ immigration and work status.

 

SHRM’s director of government affairs, Mike Aitken, said the human resources professionals’ organization is hoping that the Obama team’s delay “signals an interest, on the part of the government, to re-evaluate the rule.” According to the rules approved under the Bush administration, contractors would be required to use E-Verify to insure that any employees on federal projects were legally allowed to work in the U.S.

 

The original date for plan compliance was January 1, 2009. The new deadline is May 21, 2009.

 

Mr. Aitken said the SHRM was 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’” something not allowed now under E-Verify.

 

Rahm Emmanuel, President Obama’s Chief of Staff, urged all federal agencies to delay the effective implementation dates of all of the bills that the Bush administration introduced during its final months.

 

At the same time, the SHRM in concert with business organizations fought the regulations in court. The Department of Justice supported the SHRM, and even though a federal district court judge is required to review the delay, its approval is all but guaranteed.

 

Interested parties may see the complete E-Verify compliance documents at www.laborlawcenter.com.

 

The E-Verify approach enables employers to establish any worker’s legal immigration status within just minutes of filing. It is designed to prevent identity theft. Unlike other forms of verification, the E-Verify permits companies to require any new employee to offer up a Social Security card as a form of I.D. for the so-called I-9 form.

 

The E-Verify program was jointly developed by the U.S.Citizenship and Immigration Service, the Department of Homeland Security, and Social Security.

 

It was the Office of Management and Budget (otherwise known as OMB) that extended the E-Verify deadline after receiving the request from the SHRM.

 

There are several states that have required employers to use E-Verify.

 

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