COMPLIANCE CORNER
Utah E-Verify Bill Signed into Law
On March 31, 2010, Utah Governor Gary Herbert signed a bill into law requiring Utah employers to use E-Verify to ensure their employees are legally permitted to work in the US. The bill passed both chambers of the legislature with large margins, making Utah the fourth state to require all employers to verify their workers (the others are Arizona, Mississippi, and South Carolina). Another 10 states require certain groups of employers, usually public agencies and contractors, to verify workers using E-Verify, and nine states have laws reinforcing federal law in other ways.
The bill contains some unusual provisions, including a planned amendment by June of 2010 which will make participation voluntary for the first year. This voluntary participation is designed to give businesses time to enroll and adjust their hiring procedures. Using E-Verify then becomes mandatory on July 1, 2011. The law applies to employers with 15 or more workers. Employers of legal guest workers would not have to use E-Verify. There are no penalties for non-compliance, rather the state will provide positive incentives for compliance including exemption from penalties under state law should a company using a status verification system inadvertently hire an illegal worker. Also, the state will maintain a list of all those who enroll in the program, presumably to encourage the public to monitor which businesses follow the rules and to reward them with their business.
E-Verify is a federal program that employers use to check the work status of new hires electronically by comparing information from an employee's Form I-9 against the E-Verify Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security databases. For detailed information about E-Verify enrollment requirement(s) based on state and federal legislation, see our E-Verify Legislation Guide.
Verifications, Inc.’s E-Verify Solutions
Verifications, Inc.'s E-Verify solution helps you maintain compliance across your organization and reduce the time it takes you to process an E-Verify query - by up to 67%. Verifications’ E-Verify product queries E-Verify databases to instantly verify new employees' U.S. work eligibility and can easily be incorporated into your onboarding process company wide, improving efficiency, consistency, and compliance in your processes. Step-by-step user guidance simplifies exception management while management alerts save time and eliminate worry by doing away with manual "tickler" events for follow up action items.Federal contractors are faced with the daunting task of running hundreds, possibly thousands of E-Verify checks in a short amount of time because an employer’s existing employee population also must be submitted through E-Verify. Verifications offers a solution to relieve your administrative headaches and ensure both your existing employees and new hires are "E-Verified" as mandated by Executive Order 12989.
Click here to learn more about how Verifications’ E-Verify solutions can help you maintain compliance with E-Verify regulations.
