SI Review: February 2012

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You Ask, We Answer

What about E-Verify?

50% of staffing buyers say they don’t require it

Question: How many staffing firms use E-Verify?

Answer: E-Verify is a Web-based system run by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that uses the Social Security Number of a newly hired worker to check if he or she is legally authorized to work in the U.S.

Some states require that all employers use E-Verify, such as Arizona. On a federal level, however, it is voluntary.

The last time Staffing Industry Analysts surveyed staffing firms about their use of E-Verify, 93 percent of the 902 firms surveyed said they have heard of the system but only 42 percent were sure their firm used it. Forty-five percent said their firm did not use it.

More states have mandated the use of E-Verify since that survey took place.

Overall, counting both staffing firms and firms in other industries, more than 292,000 employers were using the E-Verify program as of the last federal fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, 2011, according to testimony from Janet Napolitano, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

At the same time, only 31 percent of contingent workforce buyers reported they required staffing firms to use E-Verify, according to the 2011 Contingent Buyer Survey by Staffing Industry Analysts. Taking part in the survey were 236 respondents from large companies of 1,000 or more employees.

Fifty percent of buyers said they did not require staffing firms to use E-Verify and 19 percent didn’t know or were unsure.

Editors at Staffing Industry Review

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