On June 6, President Bush issued an executive order requiring all federal government contractors to use E-Verify to verify the work authorization of all new hires and existing employees assigned to perform work on federal contracts.

The executive order establishes, as a condition of all federal contracts, that contractors must agree to use E-Verify to confirm the work eligibility status of all individuals hired during the duration of the contract for work conducted within the United States and for all employees assigned to work within the U.S. on a federal contract.

E-Verify is the electronic employment verification system offered by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).  It is currently a voluntary web-based system which verifies the eligibility of individuals to work in the United States by comparing information from Form I-9 against the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) database and the DHS immigration database for non-citizens.  

Final regulations should be published in the near future with the provisions of the Executive Order and the effective date for federal contracts to comply.  Until then, it is important for employers to fully understand the E-Verify system and the requirements.  Additionally, employers should be aware that once an employer enrolls in E-Verify the employer must sign an agreement that gives the government broad access to the company's records, including Form I-9’s.  Therefore, it is highly recommended that employers review their current I-9's for accuracy and begin training management on proper completion, storage, and retention of I-9 forms.

More information about the E-Verify program can be found here

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