Nalini S. Mahadevan, JD, MBA
nsm@lawyersyoucantalkto.com
All Copyrights reserved, 2010
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What is E-verify?
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U.S. federal law requires companies to employ
only individuals who may legally work in the
United States
Employees can be either U.S. citizens, or foreign
citizens who have the necessary work
authorization.
Designed to prevent unauthorized employment.
E-Verify is an Internet-based system that allows
businesses to determine the eligibility of their
employees to work in the United States.
E-verify is free
Provides electronic confirmation of information
on your employees' Forms I-9, Employment
Eligibility Verification
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Who Uses E-Verify?
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195,000 employers
Participation in E-Verify is voluntary for most
businesses
But for some employers it is mandatory:
For example, most employers in Arizona and
Mississippi are required to use E-Verify.
E-Verify is also mandatory for employers with
federal contracts or subcontracts that contain
the Federal Acquisition Regulation E-Verify
clause.
Self employed individuals are exempt from
verification, but sole proprietors are not.
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What about Missouri employers?
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The 94th General Assembly enacted laws to
prevent employment of illegal aliens by
Missouri employers.
Effective date January 1, 2009
An employer is any individual, organization,
partnership, political subdivision,
corporation, or other legal entity which has
or had in the entity's employ five or more
individuals performing public works as
defined in section 290.210, RSMo;
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Missouri employers
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Any employer who has a state contract for
more than $5,000.00 has to enroll in Everify and use the program to verify work
status of their employees
Once the employer is enrolled in E-verify, all
new employment must be must be verified,
using E-verify
Employer must retain a copy of the
verification received in its records
◦ Provides safe harbor for Missouri employers
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Penalties for non compliance with Missouri
Immigration Law
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Penalties apply to employers who employ
workers unauthorized to work in the US
Penalties for violations include:
◦ Suspension of business license for a stated period
or permanently
◦ Termination of state contracts
◦ Debarment from doing business with the state for
3 to 5 years
◦ With-holding of 25% of state monies to employer
◦ Termination or suspension of state-administered
tax credit, tax abatement, or loans from the state
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Which employers should enroll?
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Any business, nonprofit organization or government
agency, whether it's a small family-owned pizza
shop or a multinational corporation or sole
proprietor.
Before you can start using E-Verify, you need to
enroll your company or organization in the program.
Enter basic information about the company and
agree to follow the rules of the program.
You'll enroll your company just once and after you
do, you can register yourself and others to use the
system.
You can contact E-Verify Customer Support for
assistance or questions in determining your
company's enrollment status.
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Verification
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Employer uses employee details on I-9 form
to complete verification online
Usually, verification is instantaneous
If the system cannot match the information,
then the employer is asked to check the
information for mistakes
Other results could be:
◦ DHS verification in process – verification in 24
hours or
◦ Tentative nonconfirmation – no verification
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Follow up steps
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When final verification result is received, the
verification number is recorded on the
employee’s I-9 form
When nonconfirmation is received from Everify, employees not authorized to work,
usually stop reporting to work.
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Employees rights and responsibilities
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Employer must post a notice of E-verification
usage in a prominent place
Must use it for new hires only and not
current employees
Use it for all US citizens and non citizens
alike
Use e-verify only after employee has been
hired and accepted employment
Cannot use E-verify as a screening tool
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Employees rights and responsibilities
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Provide employee information of tentative
non confirmation and a hard copy
Cannot take adverse actions include firing,
suspending, withholding pay or training, or
otherwise infringing upon terms of
employment, for contesting tentative non
conformation
Employee has 8 days to contact the federal
agency to resolve the issue
Update name change, and status, with Social
Security Administration
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Employees rights and responsibilities
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Employees may be entitled to receive pay for
work lost due to employer violations, and
reinstatement in the job.
The employer may also be subject to civil
penalties for violations of E-Verify rules,
Such as discrimination based upon employee
citizenship, immigration status, or national
origin, or other misuse of E-Verify
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Federal contractors
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Enroll within 30 days if the contract contains
a Federal Acquisition Regulation E-verify
clause
Verify new employees with in 90 days of
enrollment
Verify existing employees assigned to the
federal contract within 90 days or within 30
days of assignment to the contract
All employees can be verified within 180
days, if the employer chooses
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Sub contractors
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Sub contractors are required to verify their
employees if:
The prime contract includes the Federal
Acquisition Regulation (FAR) E-Verify clause
The subcontract is for commercial or
noncommercial services or construction
The subcontract has a value of more than
$3,000
The subcontract includes work performed in the
United States
Exempt: Suppliers and work performed outside
the US
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Thank you
For more information, please contact
Nalini S Mahadevan
nsm@lawyersyoucantalkto.com