The minimum wage has increased, there’s high employee turnover, you do your best to attract long-term employees that will help grow your business. How do you manage the risk of ensuring your new hire has the right to work in your state?
Some restaurateurs do their own background checks, verifying the data that was supplied to them and then have the new hire sign documentation ensuring that all of the information they have provided is accurate to the best of their knowledge. This process will likely involve the participation of an attorney and any associated costs that are included in that process.
Other restaurateurs outsource verifying employment application information to local employment agencies that charge a monthly, annual or per-use fee.
Another perhaps less well-known service is provided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (USDOHS) which offers E-Verify service. The impressively thorough website lists that “E-Verify is a web-based system that allows enrolled employers to confirm the eligibility of their employees to work in the United States. E-Verify employers verify the identity and employment eligibility of newly hired employees by electronically matching information provided by employees on the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, against records available to the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).”
E-Verify is the only free, fast, online service of its kind that electronically confirms an employee’s information against millions of government records and provides results within as little as three to five seconds. As of March 31, 2018 722 food services and drinking places around the country have enrolled. A list of currently enrolled employers can be found on the USDOH website and even downloaded in an excel spreadsheet.
Today, E-Verify:
- Has over 750,000 registered employers of all sizes
- Includes more than 2.4 million hiring sites (Note: your hiring site or agency may be using e-Verify)
- Is joined by about 1,400 new participating companies every week
- Is one of the federal government’s highest-rated services for user satisfaction.
The services available to get any employer started are local outreach offices, webinars, a very robust website, a customer service number and an online assistant, Emma, that is available and ready to chat with you providing answers to your questions any time.
According to Jennifer Nelson, Management and Program Analyst Outreach Branch Verification Division in Lincoln, NE, whom I met at the National Restaurant Association Show, “Some might consider the greatest benefit of using E-Verify is that when used correctly it lessens the risk of liability because they are checking government records and getting a response from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to make sure an employee is authorized to work.”
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