August 26, 2008

E-VERIFY RULE AIMS TO REDUCE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS IN CONTRACTOR WORKFORCE

The politically charged issue of illegal immigration has entered the federal procurement arena. And the result likely will be a new—and potentially expensive—compliance obligation for many contractors, along with workforce turnover for those employing workers without a legally documented presence in the United States.

A proposed rule for the Federal Acquisition Regulation would require many prime contractors and subcontractors to use the E-Verify system of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to ensure that certain workers are eligible to work in the US.

The proposed rule is designed to prevent contractors from employing unauthorized workers, minimize high levels of employee turnover associated with such workers, prevent disruption when ineligible employees are removed by the government, and promote national security and provide a financial disincentive to hire ineligible individuals for lower wages. More than 168,000 contractors and subcontractors will likely be affected by this enhancement to E-Verify, with approximately 3.8 million additional employees being vetted through the program.

For our readers, we have written a brief overview of the proposed rule, which will affect all new hires of government contractors, as well as all existing and new employees who directly engage in work under federal contracts.

Please read it here.

An earlier version of this article, “E-Verify Rule Brings New Compliance Requirements,” was published in Washington Technology in July 2008.