Senate Applauded for Effort to Keep “Basic Pilot” Voluntary for Federal Contractors

Washington, D.C. – The Human Resource Initiative for a Legal Workforce today applauded the Senate for not including a proposed mandate that all private vendors holding contracts with the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education participate in the “Basic Pilot” employment verification system. 

The HR Initiative represents the nation’s leading human resource organizations, including hundreds of thousands of HR professionals and thousands of U.S. employers from every sector of the economy.  The HR experts have been critical of the provision as Basic Pilot’s significant “non-confirmation” rate would result in the erroneous rejection of significant numbers of U.S. citizens and permanent residents, resulting in a lengthy bureaucratic ordeal and potential job loss for many – while adding an enormous burden on the Social Security Administration.

The HR Initiative called for the Senate to remove similar Basic Pilot mandate riders from the following appropriations bills:

– Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration
– Commerce, Justice, Science
– Transportation, Housing and Urban Development

“Congress needs to fix Basic Pilot before it mandates its use,” said Mike Aitken, Director of Governmental Affairs, Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).  “The appropriations process circumvents normal legislative procedure, which is clearly necessary if Congress is to craft an employment verification system that can work for all U.S. employers.” 

Aitken urged that House/Senate conferees strike all Basic Pilot appropriations riders from previously approved House legislation.