Employers Urge Alternative to E-Verify

Washington, D.C. – In testimony today before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security, Susan R. Meisinger, President and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) urged Congress to reject the current effort to mandate use of “E-Verify” and focus instead on creating a secure employment verification system through support for H.R. 5515, the New Employee Verification Act (NEVA). 

“The employers we represent are fully committed to the hiring of only work-authorized individuals through an effective, efficient electronic employment verification system,” said Meisinger.  “We believe effective employment verification is the lynchpin for true immigration reform.  We also recognize that the current employment verification system is in need of real reform and is inadequate to meet current and future demands.”

Meisinger testified on behalf of SHRM’s 245,000 individual members as well as the Human Resource Initiative for a Legal Workforce (HR Initiative), a coalition representing hundreds of thousands of U.S employers through the American Council on International Personnel, the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources, the Food Marketing Institute, the HR Policy Association, the International Public Management Association for Human Resources, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the National Franchisee Association.

The HR Initiative has endorsed NEVA as a superior alternative to mandated E-Verify, as it would transform today’s error-prone employment verification system by putting an end to the dependence on paper documents, providing resources to clean up the Social Security database, and by introducing state-of-the-art technologies into the verification process that can effectively stop document fraud and identity theft as means for obtaining employment. 

“The proliferation of false or stolen documents can and does cause reputable employers to mistakenly hire individuals who are not eligible to work.  At the same time, the lack of certainty and the threat of government-imposed penalties may lead some employers to delay or forego hiring legal workers who are eligible.  In either case, the costs are high for both U.S. employers and legal workers,” Meisinger continued.

If NEVA were to become law, all U.S. employers would be required to participate in one of two electronic employment verification systems by enrolling through their state’s existing “new hire” reporting program.  This electronic portal is already used by 90 percent of U.S. employers – a vast improvement over the one percent of employers that currently use E-verify – which will allow government resources to be focused on enforcement, not enrollment.

“As a pilot program, E-Verify has been very worthwhile in highlighting the challenges to creating a one-size-fits-all system for the many hiring situations in the U.S. economy.  It is time, however, to go beyond E-Verify and to provide employers the option of enrolling in a more secure system.  The New Employee Verification Act deserves widespread Congressional support as it will transform the current paper-based verification process into a state-of-the-art electronic system that is accurate, reliable, cost-efficient, easy-to-use, and shares responsibility among government, employers and employees alike,” Meisinger concluded.

Visit www.legal-workforce.org to learn more about the HR Initiative and the New Employee Verification Act.  To view the testimony, click here.

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