September 23 Tip of the Week

“Status Change Reports”

When hiring new employees, employers must complete an I-9 Form verifying that the individual is authorized to work in the United States.  Some employers complete the forms on paper, while others use the E-Verify System created by USCIS.  Regardless of the manner in which an employer completes this verification process, recent developments at the federal level have created new obligations and uncertainties for employers.  For example, some employees who were granted employment eligibility based on membership in certain groups of immigrants – often considered temporary parole – may have had their status revoked.  When that revocation occurs, employers must conduct another review of the employee’s status to confirm the individual’s eligibility to work in the United States.  In the past, employers using E-Verify relied on that system to notify them of any changes in the employee’s status and that reminder would trigger the employer to check the employee’s status and re-verify the employee’s eligibility.  Employers can no longer rely on this type of communication from the system. 

Over the last few weeks, E-Verify has issued guidance to employers notifying them of their obligation to run regular status change reports to ensure that their employees have not had their employment eligibility affected by any revocations of certain types of immigration status.  The most recent version of this guidance can be found here:  https://www.e-verify.gov/ead-revocation-guidance-for-e-verify-employers. 

Pursuant to this guidance, employers must keep the following in mind: 

• While employees with temporary work status are notified of any change in their status, employers are not routinely given such notification and must, instead, run a status change report to ensure that none of their employees have lost their eligibility to work in the United States based on changes in immigration policy
• Even if someone’s temporary status has been revoked, an employer must still attempt to re-verify the employee’s eligibility to work in the United States and cannot simply rely on the status change report to deem them ineligible
• When someone’s status has changed, a new I-9 form is not required, an employer must use Form I-9, Supplement B to re-verify the employee’s eligibility
• It is the employer’s obligation to ensure the eligibility of their workforce to work in the United States and employers may be found liable for retaining ineligible employees if they do not properly run status change reports and monitor immigration developments that may impact the status of their employees

More information regarding this obligation, including an FAQ section, is available from the USCIS website at the link provided above.