On January 1, the Public Works Employment Verification Act went into effect in Pennsylvania. Signed into law last July, the act requires all Pennsylvania public works contractors and subcontractors involved in projects of more than $25,000 to utilize E-Verify or lose the right to contract with Pennsylvania. With passage of the act, Pennsylvania joins a growing number of states with E-Verify requirements, including Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah, where E-Verify is required for all employers; and Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri and Oklahoma, where E-Verify is required for state contractors.
E-Verify is a free, Internet-based verification system that is administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The system requires employers to input employee information from I-9 forms. This information is then compared to that contained in DHS and Social Security Administration databases to determine if an employee is authorized to work in the United States.
