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E-Verify federal contractor rule delayed again

June 04, 2009

A rule requiring federal contractors to use e-Verify to check on employees was delayed for a third time, the Society for Human Resource Management announced this week. The date the rule takes effect is now Sept. 8 instead of June 30.

E-Verify is a federally operated Web-based service for employers that checks information from I-9 forms against Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration databases to verify if a worker is legally eligible to work in the U.S.

Then-President George Bush issued an executive order in June 2008 calling for the e-Verify rule for federal contractors. However, SHRM and other organizations filed a lawsuit to prevent it from taking effect, arguing such a mandate must come from Congress and that it could expose employers to more lawsuits from workers who feel they were discriminated against on the basis of race or national origin.

E-Verify is a voluntary program, although some states require employers to use it.