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E-Verify rule for federal contractors delayed again

April 17, 2009

A requirement that businesses contracting with the federal government use e-Verify to check on employees has been delayed again. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced the rule will now take effect June 30, instead of May 21, to give the new Administration an opportunity to review the rule.

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.

President George Bush issued on executive order last June calling for the e-Verify rule. However, the Society for Human Resources Management 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.