Employers will be able to use an online federal database to confirm new hires are eligible to work in the United States for three more years, the National Restaurant Association reports. The federal E-Verify program has been approved by Congress until Sept. 30, 2015, and President Barack Obama will likely sign the bill soon.
The program, which would have expired at the end of this month, allows employers to use the database to check on work eligibility of recently hired workers by entering I-9 info. Started as a pilot program in 1996, the program went national in 2003 to every employer.
Use of E-Verify is voluntary, but 19 states have made it mandatory for some businesses, such as federal contractors and state agencies, in addition to some private companies. Some states have incentives for businesses to use E-Verify, and Louisiana mandates private companies look at photo IDs or check on E-Verify for all new hires.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) and other lawmakers have pressed to mandate E-Verify for all employers. (NACS: www.nacsonline.com)
