(1888PressRelease)
September 11, 2009 - Anderson, CA USA - For those employers getting chills down their spines from recent worksite raids by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the new rule requiring the use of E-Verify by federal contractors, I-9Compliance.com – a designated E-Verify service agent and member of the Pre-Employ.com Family of Companies – will co-sponsor a complimentary webinar “E-Verify & Federal Contractors: Know The Facts” on Wednesday, September 16, 2009 from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM EST (10:00 AM to 11:00 AM PST).
The live webinar will be presented by Jorge R. Lopez, Esq. of Littler Mendelson, P.C. and Peter Weiglein of I-9Compliance.com, and features key issues surrounding ICE raids and the new rule that began September 8 requiring federal contractors and subcontractors to use the E-Verify electronic verification system to verify their employees’ eligibility to work in the United States. Those interested in attending may register at www.gotomeeting.com/register/115512106.
E-Verify is a web-based system operated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) that compares employees’ Social Security Numbers (SSN) and other information from their Employment Eligibility Verification (I-9) Forms with government databases. Participants in the webinar will learn how to maintain full compliance, reduce liability, eliminate errors, and ensure a legal workforce to avoid government audits that can lead to fines, penalties, and even jail.
Recently, ICE issued Form I-9 Notices of Inspection (NOIs) to over 650 employers nationwide as part of a new worksite enforcement initiative that targets companies that hire illegal workers instead of the illegal workers. Since ICE is targeting the individual employers responsible for hiring illegal workers, Executives, Managers, and Human Resources (HR) Professionals need the following questions answered regarding ICE’s new enforcement strategy and the new E-Verify rule that took effect on September 8.
* What Is ICE (U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement)?
* What Is E-Verify & How Does E-Verify Work?
* What Is The Federal Contractor Rule?
* What Employees Must Be Verified & When?
Now more than ever, employers must maintain full compliance or risk government audits. According to a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) update, applicable federal contracts awarded and solicitations issued on or after September 8 will include a Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) clause committing government contractors to use E-Verify, and companies awarded a contract with the FAR clause will be required to enroll in E-Verify within 30 days of the contract award date. In addition, with few exceptions, E-Verify must be used to confirm the employment eligibility of all new hires – whether employed on a federal contract or not – and existing employees directly working on federal contracts.
The USCIS update also states that E-Verify is currently being used by more than 148,000 participating employers at nearly 560,000 worksites nationwide, and that over 7.8 million employment verification queries have been run through the E-Verify system since October 2008 with approximately 96.9 percent of all queries being automatically confirmed as authorized to work within 24 hours or less.
About I-9Compliance.com
A designated E-Verify service agent, I-9Compliance.com – a member of the Pre-Employ.com Family of Companies – is pre-integrated with the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) E-Verify system and provides employers with an electronic employment verification solution to help them manage complex compliance issues in a web-based, paperless environment. To learn more, visit www.i-9compliance.com, email sales ( @ ) i-9compliance dot com or call 1-800-300-1821 dot
For media inquiries, contact Thomas Ahearn at tahearn ( @ ) i-9compliance dot com or 1-800-300-1821 x255.
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