Employment Eligibility Verification, I9 Form, E-Verify, Worksite Enforcement & More for Greater Tampa Bay, Florida

From retail stores to banks and car dealerships to insurance companies, all employers in the Tampa Bay, Florida area are required to verify that their employees are legally able to work in the United States. Making sure employees are either US citizens or otherwise legal to work in this country is called employment eligibility verification. Failure to comply with this federal mandate can result in large fines and even jail time for the employer. With more than three decades of experience in immigration law, the Tampa immigration lawyers at Maney | Gordon, P.A. have consulted with a wide range of clients about employment eligibility verification, saving them money and liability in the hiring process.

The US government uses a few different methods to enforce employment eligibility verification in workplaces nationwide. Some of the ways the government may check for hiring compliance in the Tampa Bay, Florida area and across the country include the I9 form, E-Verify, and worksite enforcement.

By law, Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification must be completed by every employee and employer in the USA. On Form I9, the employee fills out his or her name, address, Social Security number, and date of birth. The employee also checks a box denoting whether he or she is a US citizen, lawful permanent resident, or has a valid work visa. After the employee fills out Form I9, the employer must ask for certain identification documents from the employee. Acceptable documents are listed on the I9 form; they typically include a passport, drivers license, voter registration, birth certificate, green card, work visa, or Social Security card. Employers do not file I9 forms with any agency. Instead, I9 forms for present and past employees must be kept on file at the place of employment. Employers keep these completed forms on file so that they may be presented to, and inspected by, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Department of Labor, and other government agencies upon request.

E-Verify is another tool employers and the government may use for employment eligibility verification. E-Verify provides employers with a website where they can electronically verify whether their newly hired employees may legally work in the US. The E-Verify system is able to determine the employment eligibility of both US citizens and non-citizens, as well as the validity of Social Security Numbers. Use of the E-Verify website is free for everyone and voluntary for most employers. Federal contractors and subcontractors, however, are required by law to use E-Verify as of January 15, 2009. Due to its ease of use, the E-Verify program has grown by leaps and bounds over the years; more than 100,000 employers have registered to use E-Verify so far. You can learn more about E-Verify at www.dhs.gov/E-Verify.

Finally, worksite enforcement focuses on enhancing national security, reducing the threat of terrorist attacks, and uncovering the most egregious illegal hiring offenses and abuses in the United States. Developed by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), worksite enforcement involves aggressive investigations of illegal hiring at sensitive sites such as airports, seaports, chemical plants, defense facilities, nuclear power plants, and other places that could pose serious national security threats. Other worksite enforcement investigations involve worker exploitation, alien smuggling, alien harboring, document fraud, and additional cases in which employers take advantage of illegal workers.

For more information about employment eligibility verification, Form I9 compliance, E-Verify, worksite enforcement, and other hiring compliance issues in the greater Tampa Bay, Florida area, please contact a Tampa immigration lawyer at Maney | Gordon, P.A. for a free initial consultation.