Page 19 - PCCAJournal2ndQuarter2011

This is a SEO version of PCCAJournal2ndQuarter2011. Click here to view full version

« Previous Page Table of Contents Next Page »

PCCA Journal|2 nd Quarter 2011 19

N

ow is the ideal time to ensure that employers and employees under-stand the E-Verify and the federal employment eligibility verification processes. E-Verify is a fast, free, and easy-to-use internet-based system run by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that allows employers to verify the eligibility of their newly hired employees to legally work in the United States.

All United States employers are al-ready required to complete and retain a Form I-9—the “Employment Eligibility Verification” form—for each person they hire in the United States. That includes citizens and non-citizens.

E-Verify takes the Form I-9 process one step further. It compares informa-tion provided on a Form I-9 against information in government records. In most cases, E-Verify tells the em-ployer in just seconds if an employee is eligible to work in the United States. E-Verify isn’t a database, but simply a secure way for employers to check a new employee’s employment eligibility information against existing records in the Social Security Administration, DHS, and the State Department—depending upon which form of identification the employee presents and the employee’s citizenship or immigration status. To use E-Verify, an employer must first enroll online at www.dhs.gov/E-Verify.

Employers complete a basic registration application, then must take a tutorial and pass a test before being granted access to the system. E-Verify users give the signup process a high score and rate the program as fast and easy to use, ac-cording to a recent American Customer Satisfaction Index survey.

For example, E-Verify cannot be used by employers in a discriminatory way, such as only checking some employees but not others. Employers may not use E-Verify to prescreen job applicants. Also, employers may not take any adverse action against an employee, including firing or delaying the employ-ee’s start date, who is in the process of resolving an initial mismatch. According to survey results, most employers are confident in E-Verify’s accuracy. Also, users are likely to use E-Verify in the future and recommend it to others.

DHS conducts free, live webinars about E-Verify that can be attended with-out ever leaving the office. The 90-min-ute webinars include a demonstration of E-Verify and an opportunity to ask questions. By the end of the webinar, employers will have a good understand-ing of E-Verify. DHS also offers Form I-9 webinars.

E-Verify is currently used by more than 233,000 employers and is growing rapidly, with more than 1,400 new busi-nesses enrolling each week. For most

employers, using E-Verify is voluntary and limited to verifying new employees only. Since September 2009, E-Verify is mandatory for many federal contractors. Visit the E-Verify web pages for more information and follow E-Verify and Form I-9 on Twitter @USCIS.

Assistance from USCIS

To help employers better understand the Form I-9 process, the U.S. Citizen-ship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently issued a revised Handbook for Employers: Instructions for Completing Form I-9 . The handbook (Rev. 01/05/11) is available in the Form I-9 page of www.uscis.gov and in the publications section of www.dhs.gov/E-Verify. The handbook, also known as the M-274, is the official guide for the Form I-9 process. Some of the many improve-ments, new sections, and tools included in this revision are:

New visual aids for completing Form I-9

Expanded guidance on lawful perma-nent residents, refugees and asylees, individuals in Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and exchange visitors and foreign students

Expanded guidance on the processing of employees in H1-B and H2-A status

Expanded guidance on extensions of stay for employees with temporary employment authorization

Examples of new and revised docu-ments issued by USCIS

Guidance on Native American tribal documents

Electronic storage and retention of Forms I-9

Updated answers to frequently asked questions

DHS Offers E-Verify Information for Employers

NOTE: This information was provided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Francine Hill, DHS deputy chief of the Outreach Branch, Verifcation Services, spoke at the recent PCCA convention and urged association members with any questions or issues to contact her at francine.hill@dhs.gov.

Page 19 - PCCAJournal2ndQuarter2011

This is a SEO version of PCCAJournal2ndQuarter2011. Click here to view full version

« Previous Page Table of Contents Next Page »