The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service’s (“CIS”) E-Verify program is an online employment eligibility verification system that employers may use for I-9 compliance purposes. The program is also intended to guard against employment discrimination and identity theft, and it is optional at the federal level (except for federal contractors, who are required to use the program).
Several states now require certain employers to use the E-Verify system to confirm employees’ employment authorization, and others, including New Jersey, are considering such a requirement. New Jersey senators introduced a bill this month that would require all employers in the state to use E-Verify.
The New Jersey bill also proposes a random auditing system to ensure compliance. Earlier this year, the federal government stepped up its enforcement of employment eligibility laws and regulations by auditing at least 180 Southern employers under a similar auditing program. With civil penalties ranging from $100 to $1,000 per violation discovered through random audit, it is clear that the New Jersey bill is intended to eradicate employment of illegal aliens. Employers with over 100 workers would need to enroll in the program by January 1, 2011, and all other employers would have until January 1, 2012 to follow suit.
E-verify continues to evolve, and the program may become mandatory in New Jersey in the near future. Therefore, it is important that New Jersey employers keep an eye out for new developments both at the state and federal level, and be proactive in bringing their hiring practices and recordkeeping in line with current laws.