E-Verify: What Organizations Need to Know – hr bartender

graphic image of E-Verify labor law poster

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

(Editor’s Note: Today’s article is brought to you by our friends at Poster Guard® Poster Compliance Service, a division of HRdirect and the leading labor law poster service that gets your business up to date with all required federal, state, and local labor law postings, and then keeps it that way — for an entire year. Enjoy the article!)

I must admit that I haven’t thought much about E-Verify lately but a couple of news articles caught my eye, so I wanted to share. But before I talk about the articles, it might be helpful to do a quick refresher.

Under the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), all U.S. employers are required to complete Form I-9 whenever they hire someone. Basically, Form I-9 verifies that the new hire is who they say they are and that they’re eligible to work in the United States. That was the first *E-Verify* related article I saw. There’s a new Form I-9 and employers must switch over to the new version by November 1, 2023. (I promise we will talk about the new Form I-9 in detail soon.)

So, what does the new Form I-9 have to do with E-Verify? E-Verify is an internet-based system that compares the information on an employee’s Form I-9 with records available to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration. While using E-Verify is voluntary for most businesses, organizations with government contracts might find that E-Verify is a contract requirement. 

And some states are passing legislation requiring organizations to use E-Verify. That was the second *E-Verify* article I saw. My state (Florida) just passed a new law requiring private employers with at least 25 employees to use E-Verify. Now, this might not mean a lot if you don’t have employees in Florida, but in doing some research I discovered that 27 states have some sort of E-Verify requirement. 

So, this change in Form I-9, coupled with state legislation requiring E-Verify, could be a perfect time to look at your processes.

If you’re currently using E-Verify, make sure that you’re in compliance. This includes labor law posting requirements. Organizations that use E-Verify are required to provide job applicants with access to the latest E-Verify and Right to Work posters. In addition to applicants and candidates, employees must be able to see the postings as well. 

If you’re not sure if your postings are current OR you would like an easier way of managing your postings, our friends at Poster Guard offer two posting services related to E-Verify and Right to Work. 

It’s an electronic service that for 12 months is updated in real-time as regulations are changed. And it’s bilingual (English and Spanish). Like the rest of Poster Guard’s services, it comes with a 100% guarantee that the posters are compliant. 

Now, if you’re not currently using E-Verify, given the new updates to Form I-9 … this could be a good time to consider adding it to your process. There are two big reasons for adding E-Verify to your existing process: 1) compliance and 2) administration.

Compliance. E-Verify helps employers reduce the risk of hiring workers who are unauthorized to work in the U.S. through the employment eligibility check. It includes a photo matching option that allows employers to compare the photo provided by the employee when certain documents (i.e., from List A such as a passport or resident card) are presented for verification. This allows employers to establish a rebuttable presumption that they have a system in place to prevent hiring employees who are unauthorized to work.

Administration. E-Verify also allows employers to utilize I-9 software and eliminate manual data entry – saving time, money, and potentially reducing data errors. This also means that organizations can monitor document expiration dates to ensure compliance. This electronic system would make it easier to store and maintain documentation. And should the organization ever find themselves in an audit situation, they would be able to respond in an effective and efficient manner.  

Sometimes when there are labor law changes, it makes sense to look at the entire process not just one step. I think this is one of those moments. 

The upcoming changes to Form I-9 are an opportunity to make sure that the organization is in compliance with both Form I-9 and E-Verify. Organizations can confirm they have the most current forms and the required postings. And if there are opportunities to partner with a company like Poster Guard, this shifts the process from being reactive to proactive. 

And if the company hasn’t adopted E-Verify, now is the time to have a conversation. Services like E-Verify are designed to protect employers and employees. Employers know that they’re hiring someone who is authorized to work. And employees know that the organization is following the law by hiring individuals who are authorized to work. 

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