Fact of the Week: 5/13/08

Did you know human resource experts oppose DHS’ latest attempt to push participation in E-Verify on U.S. employers?  Susan Meisinger, President & CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management criticizes the DHS rule in her recent op-ed:

• “If nothing else, the Department of Homeland Security is persistent — even when it comes to forcing a flawed and outdated program upon U.S. employers.  The department is currently pushing its E-Verify employment verification program by tying it to the ability of U.S. employers to hire foreign students graduating from U.S. colleges and universities. This is just one more in a long list of bad ideas designed to promote an ineffective method of verifying workers’ legal status.”
• “The latest DHS ploy to promote this 10-year old clunker is to tie it to the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program that allows foreign students graduating from U.S. institutions to stay and work here after graduation.”
• “To date, less than 1 percent of U.S. employers have registered to use E-Verify. It’s no wonder. The system is based on outdated databases and paper documents. Employers are still required to complete the paper Form I-9 after analyzing as many as 25 documents that an employee can use for identity and work authorization purposes.”
• “It’s not that employers don’t want a national employment verification system. Human resource professionals are clamoring for one — but it has to work. In fact, employer groups have endorsed the New Employee Verification Act, a superior alternative to E-Verify now under consideration by Congress.”