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Mandatory Federal Employment Verification System

The Human Resource Initiative for a Legal Workforce is applauding the introduction of legislation considered critical to strengthening the nation's broken employment verification system and to helping prevent unauthorized employment. According to the HR Initiative, the New Employee Verification Act (NEVA) is designed to provide a superior, user-friendly electronic employment verification system for verifying employment eligibility. "With authorization for E-Verify scheduled to expire at the end of 2008, now is the time for Congress to establish a more advanced, reliable and effective employment verification system," says Susan R. Meisinger, president and CEO, Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). "With this legislation, Congress now has a clear choice: enact a system that can end document fraud and illegal employment, or continue to fund the flawed E-Verify employment verification system." NEVA would introduce a new paperless Electronic Employment Verification System (EEVS), requiring employers to confirm eligibility by entering employee identification data through their state's "new hire" reporting program - an electronic portal they already use to enhance child support enforcement. The HR Initiative notes that the new program would be entirely electronic and would streamline verification processes. Work authorization for citizens would be conducted through the Social Security Administration (SSA) and for non-citizens through the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The bill also bolsters enforcement through enhanced employer penalties and by sharing with DHS information on employers with significant employee name/Social Security number mismatches. As an added level of security, the legislation would also create a voluntary Secure Electronic Employment Verification System (SEEVS) that employers may choose to use in the verification process. This system would include a standard background check and the collection of a "biometric" characteristic - such as a thumbprint - to secure an employee's identity and prevent future fraudulent use of a Social Security number for the purposes of illegal employment.