E-Verify system works, Pickens County officials say

Vince Jackson/Special to the Independent-Mail
Sunday, January 25, 2009

PICKENS COUNTY — Some legal measures that took effect Jan. 1 in South Carolina place added restrictions on illegal workers, because employers now are required to use E-Verify or other federal work authorization programs.

A state law now requires all public employers and public contractors employing more than 500 people to electronically check and verify the employment eligibility of new employees by accessing a federal database.

The Pickens County Council voted last year to require that all new county employees be documented as legal workers. The county also required that all vendors doing business with Pickens County certify that they are not knowingly using illegal workers on any county projects.

Margaret Thompson, a Pickens County resident who supported the state law, said information she has received from county officials indicates that it works.

“Pickens County decided last summer to go beyond the state requirements and immediately require anyone working for and doing business with this county refrain from using illegal workers,â€