Business reaction to E-Verify: OMG!!!

By GEOFF EARLE
New York Post
Posted: September 14, 2009

WASHINGTON -- New York business leaders worry that a new federal requirement forcing employers to verify the work status of their employees could raise costs and waste time, while some small businesses say they know almost nothing about how the system works.

"However you cut it, this will add costs to government contracts at times when the federal budget is already over the top," said Kathryn Wylde of the Partnership for New York City.

The program, called E-Verify, took effect last week, and requires any employer on a federal government contract to collect documents from their employees proving their eligibility to work, and run it through a database to match it with Social Security and other government records.

The plan is to weed illegal immigrants and those without proper work papers out of the system -- but it could also be a headache for business.

One business concern is that the rule can turn employers into an arm of immigration agents.

A wide range of New York employers do business with the federal government -- from construction firms to management consulting and high tech companies and defense contractors.

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