Fact of the Week: 3/4/08

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

 

It’s Time for Congress to Create an Employment Verification System That Works

 

Fact Check

 

Document fraud and identity theft are tactics widely used by unauthorized workers to obtain jobs illegally.

Did you know that the New Employee Verification Act (NEVA – H.R. 5515) is the only proposal to provide an employment verification system that protects a worker’s identity?

  • Stolen Social Security numbers and counterfeit identity documents are often all it takes for an unauthorized worker to get a job.
  • E-Verify, the federal government’s pilot employment verification system, is unable to detect document fraud and identity theft, leaving employers vulnerable to sanctions through no fault of their own.
  • NEVA will require the use of fewer, more secure identity documents to be used in the verification process.
  • NEVA will require mandatory participation by all U.S. employers in a fully electronic federal verification system for all newly hired employees.
  • NEVA will authorize an optional system for employers to authenticate and secure the identity of their employees using background checks and biometric identifiers.

 

The New Employee Verification Act will mandate a national employment verification system that is reliable, efficient and secure.

 

With E-Verify Set to Expire in 2008, Now is the Time for the Next Generation of Employment Verification.

 

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The Human Resource Initiative for a Legal Workforce (www.legal-workforce.org) represents human resource professionals in thousands of small and large U.S. employers representing every sector of the American economy.  The HR Initiative and its members are seeking to improve the current process of employment verification by creating a secure, efficient and reliable system that will ensure a legal workforce and help prevent unauthorized employment, a root cause of illegal immigration.