Background Check Basics

An Introduction to E-Verify

Written by tammy | May 30, 2024 1:42:17 PM

An Introduction to E-Verify:

E-Verify compares the information an employee enters in their Form I-9, "Employment Eligibility Verification," to records from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration. E-Verify can provide results in as little as three to five seconds. 
 

Benefits of Using E-Verify:

 •  Ensures compliance with laws and regulations. Ensure new hires have a right to work in the United States. If employees are undocumented, there could be legal repercussions for your business.
•   Provides employment to U.S. citizens and eligible individuals. Ensure you hire people who are eligible for employment, whether they live in the U.S. or another country.
•   Promotes accurate tax reporting. 

In some states E-Verify is voluntary while other states require participation in E-Verify for some employers or all employers. Visit our State Resources page to find out if your state requires E-Verify. Since 2009, all federal contractors and their subcontractors (paid over $3,000) have been required to use E-Verify to confirm that their new hires and all existing employees working directly on federal contracts are authorized to work in the U.S.

With E-verify, you’ll know instantly whether your employees are “Employment Authorized.” If their information returns invalid or incomplete, you’ll also be notified. If the system determines that a manual review of records is necessary, you’ll receive a “Verification In Process” response, and verification results are returned within 24 to 48 hours.

Occasionally, however, the information from an employee’s I-9 doesn’t match government records. In these cases, E-Verify will display a TNC result. A TNC doesn’t mean that your employee isn’t eligible to work in the U.S. or is an undocumented noncitizen. If you receive a TNC result, the notice will explain the cause of the mismatch. The employee has eight federal business days to resolve the situation, and you must allow him or her to continue working until you receive a final result from E-Verify. Employers may not take action based on a TNC unless a “Final Nonconfirmation” notice is received.

“Final Nonconfirmation” means that E-Verify cannot confirm employment eligibility after the employee took additional action.

Four Things Employers Should Know About E-Verify:

  • Once you enroll a company location for E-Verify, then you must run E-Verify on all new hires at that location going forward.
  • You can’t run E-Verify on existing employees unless your federal contract requires it.
  • You must provide notice to prospective employees who will have their employment eligibility verified by: displaying an E-Verify participation poster in English and Spanish or ensuring all prospective employees receive notice with their application materials.
  • Most E-Verify issues are resolvable after a Tentative Non-Confirmation.

Electronic Form I-9 & E-Verify Management

NCS can help you comply with the law with our easy-to-use system that guides and stores new hire Form I-9s online and returns E-Verify results instantly. With paperless E-Verify from National Crime Search, the employment verification process has been made simpler, more efficient and more reliable.