BACK TO NACUANOTEFN25. Although the
regulation states that a contractor may elect to verify all employees hired after November
6, 1986 and shall initiate verification of all such existing employees within 180
calendar days of (i) Enrollment in the E-Verify Program; or (ii) Notification to E-Verify
Operations of the Contractors decision to exercise this option
(48
C.F.R. § 52.222-54(b)(4)), the October 21, 2009 Supplemental Guide for Federal
Contractors (Supplemental Guide) suggests that the choice must be made at
enrollment: NOTE: If you choose to verify
your entire existing workforce in E-Verify, you must verify all of your existing employees
except those that are exempt . . .. Once you decide either to verify the entire workforce
or to verify only those employees assigned to a contract with the FAR E-Verify clause, you
are not permitted to change that decision. USCIS, E-Verify Supplemental Guide
for Federal Contractors (M-574A) 16 (Oct. 21, 2009) (emphasis added). The Supplemental Guide can be found at this link. Various groups are seeking clarification and/or
modification of this guidance as it is not only inconsistent with the regulations, but it
is inconsistent with the rationale underlying the 180 day optionto allow contractors
that find it difficult to identify those assigned to the contract the option of querying
the entire workforce. |