In a letter to a key legislator, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is urging Congress to pass a law to improve the federal government’s electronic employment verification system.
SHRM has long advocated for a truly electronic federal system that provides U.S. employers with a reliable method to confirm the work eligibility of potential employees. To achieve this goal, SHRM believes, the federal government must develop a more efficient, foolproof approach to employment verification that strengthens E-Verify.
In a Sept. 15, 2011, letter to Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, SHRM says it strongly supports H.R. 2885, The Legal Workforce Act, which the letter says “creates a fully integrated, federal, electronic employment verification system.”
Signed by SHRM President and CEO Henry G. Jackson, CPA, the letter notes that “HR professionals are on the front lines of employment verification and are fully committed to only hiring work-authorized individuals. We also recognize, however, that the current employment verification system is in need of real reform.
According to Mike Aitken, SHRM’s director of government affairs, the Society supports the legislation because it is consistent with a number of SHRM’s public policy principles in that the Legal Workforce Act would:
- Replace Form I-9 with a truly electronic verification system.
- Preempt state employment verification laws and create a truly federal system.
- Allow employers to complete the employment verification process prior to a new employee beginning work.
- Create a biometric pilot program to address the fraud and identity theft issues of the current E-Verify system.
Atiken noted that “although SHRM is strongly supportive of the Legal Workforce Act, we look forward to continuing to work with members of Congress to improve the legislation in cooperation with other stakeholders as the bill proceeds to House consideration.”
Read more on this at the SHRM site
