E-Verify Now Required for Federal Contractors

The time has come for all federal contractors and subcontractors to use the E-Verify system to verify their employees’ eligibility to work in the United States.

According to regulation 73 Fed. Reg. 67,651 (November 14, 2008), certain federal contracts awarded or solicited on or after Sept. 8, 2009, will be required to contain a new E-Verify clause. This clause will minimally require the use of E-Verify to confirm employment eligibility for all new hires and all employees who perform work directly under the contract. Employers, however, also have the option of screening all employees using E-Verify.

Under this regulation, any contractor with this clause and any applicable subcontractors are required to enroll in the E-Verify program within 30 days of receiving the contract. These contractors and subcontractors receive 90 days from the date of enrollment with E-Verify to initiate verification queries for existing employees who will be working on the federal contract and to begin using the system to verify newly hired employees.

If the contractor is already enrolled in E-Verify for 90 days or more at the time of a contract award, he must use E-Verify to verify employment eligibility for all new hires within 3 business days after their date of hire. Any existing employees assigned to the contract must be verified within 90 calendar days after date of contract award or within 30 days after assignment to the contract (whichever is later).

Sound confusing? GIS has the capability to provide you dedicated E-Verify and Form I-9 support by automating the process so that you don’t have to worry about being compliant. We are a Federally Designated Agent of E-Verify as well as the author of web solutions that simplify the compliance process for our clients.

Please feel free to contact your account manager or executive relationship coordinator directly should you have any questions or would like additional information to demonstrate how we can help you simplify your compliance processes.

For further clarification on legal information, please see USCIS’ E-Verify FAQ File.

Look for more legislative updates coming soon . . .