Originally effective January 15, 2009, but recently postponed to February 20, 2009, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has promulgated a new rule which requires Federal contractors and subcontractors to begin using the USCIS’ E-Verify system to verify their employees’ eligibility to work legally in the United States. The new rule requires that each new prime Federal contract awarded or amended after February 20, 2009, with few exceptions, must include a clause committing Federal contractors to enroll and utilize the E-Verify system. The same clause will also be required in subcontracts over $3,000 that flow from such prime contracts. Companies awarded a contract with the Federal Government will be required to enroll in E-Verify within 30 days of the contract award date.
With the implementation of new regulations like these, employer compliance is becoming more and more complex. To effectively deal with these issues and avoid the potentially severe consequences for noncompliance (including debarment from future Federal contracts), employers should consider taking the time to develop a compliance program so that your Company remains eligible to contract for such services.
The Immigration Law Group of Meyner and Landis LLP has substantial experience with immigration compliance and worksite enforcement issues. As such, we are prepared to customize a compliance program that is ideally suited to your business. Whether by way of telephonic or onsite training, consulting, and/or document auditing in E-Verify or other areas of regulatory compliance like I-9, Social Security Mismatch and H-1B public access, we can assist your business in navigating the sometimes daunting requirements of regulatory compliance. By utilizing a “team approach”, we will partner with owners, managers, in-house counsel or human resource personnel to set in place an immigration compliance program, or, if preferred, we can administer and manage your business’ compliance program entirely.