After a number of legal hold-ups, the E-Verify system is soon going to
be a required system for the verification of employee eligibility
verification for federal contractors and subcontractors. Effective
September 8, 2009, all companies with contracts with the federal
government and their subcontractors will be required to use E-Verify to
verify the employment eligibility of their employees. E-Verify compares
information entered into the I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification
Form against data in federal government databases.
The E-Verify system is free to use and was created by the Department of
Homeland Security in partnership with the Social Security
Administration.
Legislation requiring the use of E-Verify extends the use of the
E-Verify system to “covered federal contractors and subcontractors.”
This includes all contractors that have received funding from the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. All companies that receive
federal contracts after September 8 will be required to enroll in the
E-Verify system within 30 days of the contract award date. All new
hires, regardless of whether these employees will work on the federal
contract(s), will need to have their eligibility confirmed by the
E-Verify System.