When companies seek to recruit the best candidates there are several factors in their decision-making process.
Of course, the employment screening professionals at PeopleFacts are trained to assist hiring managers during that process, to ultimately ensure that the candidate they choose is both experienced and fully qualified for the position.
One of the lesser known, and more important tools used in confirming a candidate’s qualifications is the federal, internet-based E-Verify system. Federal law requires employers to only hire individuals who are legally allowed to work in the United States, and the E-Verify system allows businesses to verify that candidates under consideration—regardless of other professional qualifications–are legally eligible to be employed.
In order to use the E-Verify system, a company must register online and submit basic information regarding the company’s operations. An employer must begin by going to the E-Verify website, and following the enrollment directions; most companies choose to use the website as the method of verifying a candidates’ eligibility. A company representative then must electronically sign an agreement and provide additional information regarding the nature of the company’s business, and location of its operations.
Once the registration is completed, the Department of Homeland Security—which has oversight of the E-Verify system—will send a confirmation email to the company’s email address stating that the registration was completed correctly; from that point on, the company should submit to the E-Verify system the names and information of any new job applicants under consideration for employment.
While there has been considerable discussion about the possibility of making E-Verify mandatory for all U.S. employers, as of now the system remains voluntary. Still, a growing number of companies have chosen to use the system in recent years, and enrollment in the system has grown by more than 400 percent since 2001.
One of the concerns raised about the E-Verify system is the issue of privacy.
However, the government makes a point of stating that the system is publicly ‘transparent’; the public is made aware of all information that is collected, and employers participating in the system must display notices at their worksites—in both English and Spanish—stating their participation. Other efforts of ensuring privacy include the use of only the “minimum amount of information” required to verify an individual’s eligibility to work; data encryption of all information shared between the government and employer; and user-specific, complex passwords that must be changed frequently in order to use the system.
PeopleFacts understands that employers both want—and need—qualified candidates to begin work within a reasonable timeframe.
That’s why we use our expertise to partner with employers using the E-Verify system to efficiently ensure that candidates under consideration for employment are both professionally—and legally—qualified for their potential position.
