Online Update: E-Verify Rule To Take Effect in September Most federal contractors must begin verifying their employees’ eligibility to work on Sept. 8. The Obama administration announced it will go ahead with the rule requiring contractors to use the E-Verify system to confirm employees’ immigration status. The requirement will be added to solicitations and awards beginning on the effective date. “E-Verify is a smart, simple and effective tool that reflects our continued commitment to working with employers to maintain a legal workforce,” Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a statement. “Requiring those who seek federal contracts to use this system will create a more reliable and legal workforce.” Verification will be required on contracts worth more than $100,000 or lasting more than 120 days, according to the final rule issue by the Bush administration in November. The rule was delayed four times while the new administration studied it. People working on contracts for commercial off-the-shelf items will be exempt from verification. So will contractor employees who hold security clearances or federal smart ID cards, which require a background check. Verification will be required for workers on subcontracts for services and construction that are worth more than $3,000. A lawsuit aimed at blocking the rule is pending in federal court in Maryland. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business organizations sued, claiming the rule put an unfair burden on federal contractors and violated the intent of Congress. Use of the E-Verify system is now voluntary for employers, except in about a dozen states that have made it mandatory for some or all companies. One of those states is Arizona; Napolitano signed the law when she was governor. While critics have said the E-Verify program is error-prone, Government Accountability Office investigators estimated it was more than 96% accurate. Napolitano said DHS will “continue to work to improve E-Verify.” DHS says more than 134,000 employers now use the system, which checks workers’ names against Social Security, naturalization and passport databases. The new rule will affect an estimated 170,000 federal contractors, some of whom may already by using E-Verify. Napolitano also announced that the administration will rescind the “no-match” rule, which would require companies to fire workers whose eligibility could not be confirmed by Social Security records. That rule has been blocked by a federal judge.