Tread carefully when using E-Verify in union workplaces

When using E-Verify in union workplaces, one should be careful to ensure union involvement in making the decision and implementing the use of this screening system for employees. A recent settlement between the NLRB and Pacific Steel Casting Company followed a decision by the company to unilaterally implement E-Verify screening for its new hires without seeking the involvement of the labor union which was in the plant.

Pacific Steel made three mistakes, which opened them up to the NLRB action: unilateral implementation of E-Verify, misunderstanding the E-Verify Federal Contractor rule, and misunderstanding when employees can be terminated for E-Verify notices.

Useful E-verify information

Immigration compliance and employment discrimination related to immigration compliance can put employers between a rock and a hard place. As more states require E-verify and the feds are ramping up enforcement against employers who misuse E-verify, it's important to get the facts.

Here are some basics for those who use E-verify:

• Employers must still complete I-9 forms.
• All new hires must be entered within three days of starting work.
• All new hires must be entered into the E-verify system for confirmation of eligibility to work, not just some of them.
• Employers cannot use E-verify to screen existing employees UNLESS a company been awarded a federal contract on or after September 8, 2009, that contains the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) E-Verify clause (see more online).
• E-verify notifications of work eligibility are NOT determinations of a new hire's immigration status. That's not a matter for employers to decide, so don't play cop or make assumptions.
• When you receive a TNC (Tentative Non-Confirmation) notice from the system, be sure to print the notice, provide a copy to the employee and follow the directions. There are employer-specific instructions, as well as instructions for the new hire to follow.
• Log in to E-verify on a daily basis to check for updates on new hires until cases are resolved.

But there's a lot of other information that you need to know, so don't take this article as a definitive answer about the system, rather use it as an invitation to learn more about it if you're not using it - or to brush up on what you know if you are a current E-verify user.

The U.S. Customs and Immigration Services website has a helpful Question and Answer webpage as well as online webinars for those who want to know more about the system. The Justice Department has a useful online Dos and Don'ts resource as well.

Feds cracking down on E-verify misuse

As E-verify usage becomes more common, especially with an increasing number of states passing immigration compliance laws which mandate the use of E-verify for new hires, employers need to be aware of what it is - and what it is not - so they can use it without getting into trouble.

It appears as if the federal Justice Department is taking this issue seriously, first by warning of plans to  ramp up investigations and enforcement actions for E-verify related acts of employment discrimination and then by taking action against employers who misuse of E-verify has an adverse impact upon employees. These are certainly warning signs those who use E-verify - or plan to - should take seriously.

E-verify mandate underway in North Carolina

Following the lead of South Carolina, which was one of the first states to pass workforce immigration compliance legislation following the Chamber of Commerce of the United States v. Whiting ruling, North Carolina is now mandating the use of E-Verify for screening all new applicants.

North Carolina will phase in compliance, based upon the size of a company's workforce, as follows:

• Effective Oct. 1, 2012—employers with 500 or more employees will be required to use E-Verify to check work authorization for all new hires.
• Effective Jan. 1, 2013—employers with 100 or more employees will be required to use E-Verify to check work authorization for all new hires.
• Effective July 1, 2013—employers with 25 or more employees will be required to use E-Verify to check work authorization for all new hires.

For companies with multi-state workforces, the agency will consider just in-state employees towards the determination of the first date of enforcement.

At this time, the North Carolina legislation exempts employers with less than 25 employees as well as seasonal workers (but keep reading because federal requirements may still apply).

Immigration enforcement focusing on employers

Federal immigration officials in Kansas are applying severe measures to punish those who employ undocumented workers:

After an Overland Park couple were indicted, accused of knowingly hiring illegal immigrants and paying them less than other employees, federal authorities said Tuesday that they would seek to seize the couple’s two hotels.

This followed a raid earlier this year which found that roughly half the employees at the two hotels were undocumented workers. The feds allege the couple paid the workers with cash and paid them less than the minimum wage, including to an undercover agent who told the couple he was an illegal alien.

According to Kansas U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom, the agency would continue to go after employers for illegal hires, warning "We are going to enforce immigration laws, and we are going to enforce them equally ... we’re not going to enforce them merely on the backs of (undocumented workers).

This is part of a new approach to dealing with the illegal immigration issue by going after employers. Two years ago, the New York Times reported on the agency's new focus:

The wrong way to handle an immigration audit

There are right ways to handle an immigration compliance audit and there are wrong ways.

In Los Angeles, Yoel A. Wazana, 38, owner and production manager of Wazana Brothers International, Inc., doing business as Micro Solutions Enterprises (MSE), decided to try one of the wrong ways and will now have to plead guilty plead to one felony count of false representation of a Social Security number. This comes after a 2008 raid resulted in the arrest of eight company workers on criminal charges and another 130 for  administrative immigration violations. 

Considering the extent to which he attempted to cover up potential problems, he's lucky to get off so lightly:

According to court documents, shortly after MSE received notification in April 2007 that HSI planned to audit the company's payroll and hiring records, Wazana directed that about 80 of MSE's most experienced employees – at least 53 of whom did not have work authorization – be relocated to another manufacturing facility. When investigators requested hiring records from MSE on three separate occasions, the company failed to provide paperwork for those unauthorized workers. The plea agreements filed in this case also describe how, after learning of the ICE audit, Wazana conducted meetings with MSE's assembly line workers, instructing them to obtain valid work authorization documents and return with those documents, suggesting that he did not care if the documents were actually theirs.

As this blog is not written by an immigration attorney, I won't attempt to tell you the right ways to handle an immigration audit, but based upon my experience in the field of HR (and having passed immigration compliance audits), compliance with the law in hiring practices seems like a good way to keep out of trouble.  

Pennsylvania latest state to issue E-Verify mandate

Pennsylvania joins a growing number of states which are mandating the use of the federal E-Verify service for screening new hires for eligibility to work in the United States.

Signed into law earlier this week, the Pennsylvania law applies to companies which do business with state government, but doesn't apply to other businesses. The new law would require them to subscribe to the service and begin running new hires through the system no later than January 1 of next year, giving them several months to learn the system.

It's worth noting that E-Verify rules require that all new hires be run. Selectively running new hires or even checking out applicants who have not been hired is not allowed. All or nothing.

The new law comes with penalties, including fines and bans on doing business with the state:

More states mandating E-verify for employment screening

While this week's Supreme Court decision on Arizona's immigration enforcement legislation may have tied the hands of the state to enforce immigration laws, this ruling did not touch the state's E-verify mandate, which was affirmed by the Supreme Court in last year's ruling in the matter of Chamber of Commerce of the United States v. Whiting. This and other signs point to a growing willingness to mandate E-verify and allow states to implement laws restricting the ability of employers to employ those who don't establish their legal right to work in the United States.

Following Chamber ruling, nine other states joined Arizona in requiring businesses in those states to use E-verify to screen new hires - Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia. While the dates for the implementation of the laws vary from state-to-state, all ten states require employers to be using this system by the end of this year. But a report from the National Conference of State Legislatures indicates the E-verify mandates are just the tip of the iceberg on issues related to employment and immigration. 


Nearly 500 pieces of legislation related to immigration and employment have been filed in forty-four states, as well as Washington DC and Puerto Rico, in 2011 and 2012. Last year, immigration bills related to employment and law enforcement issues were the overwhelming majority of legislation introduced regarding immigration and employment-related bills remained one of the larger areas of such legislation this year.

While the volume of legislation dropped this year, at least some of this drop-off may be due to the fact that many state legislatures hold shorter - or no - sessions in even-numbered years, thus allowing for less legislation to be filed.

As these efforts are ongoing and the laws will vary from state-to-state, employers and their HR staff would be wise to keep on top of these issues as well as the laws passed wherever they may be doing business. With many of these laws including punitive measures such as hefty penalties, business license  sanctions and even jail, those who choose not to stay on top of these issues do so at their own risk.

Got a federal contract? Use E-verify

The E-Verify federal contractor rule, requires federal contractors and subcontractors to use the E-Verify system to confirm that all new employees performing work under federal contracts are authorized to work in the United States. Per this rule, federal contracts awarded and solicitations issued after September 8, 2009 must include a clause committing contractors to use E-Verify. The same clause will also be required in subcontracts over $3,000 for services or construction.

While E-Verify was originally intended solely to screen new hires, federal contractors will now be required to screen current employees who are working on that company's federal contracts. Those contractors will also be allowed to use E-Verify to screen all current employees, even those who may not be assigned to that project.

With new rules and regulations like this adding to the pressure to use E-Verify to screen employees, as well as the growing number of states which are mandating its usage for new hires, you might as well go ahead and start using it, even if you're not required to do so, so compliance won't be so difficult later on.

Please email me if you have questions.

States now mandating E-verify use

Following the Supreme Court ruling (Chamber of Commerce of the United States v. Whiting) in which justices ruled 5-3 that the state of Arizona could mandate the use of the federal E-verify system as a means of screening new hires, other states are following Arizona’s lead to mandate it’s use.

Legislation sponsored by Berkeley County's State Senator Larry Grooms require South Carolina employers to use E-verify. In addition, three other states mandated E-verify usage beginning this year: Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee.

South Carolina law sets some pretty tough penalties for those employers who don’t comply with the new law:

For a first occurrence by a private employer, after July 1, 2012, of failure to verify a new hire through the E-Verify federal work authorization program within three business days, the Department of LLR must place the employer on probation for a period of one year, during which time the private employer must submit quarterly reports to the agency demonstrating compliance with the law. A subsequent violation within three years of the law’s verification requirements must result in the suspension of the private employer’s licenses for at least 10 days but not more than 30 days.

A private employer who knowingly or intentionally employs an unauthorized alien must have his licenses suspended by the Department of LLR on a first occurrence for at least 10 days but not more than 30 days.