Employers Responsibilities when using E-Verify

Employer Responsibilities – E-Verify

As an employer who uses E-Verify, it is important to comply with all of the requirements agreed to when you were given access. If you fail to do so, you might wrongly terminate, suspend, or otherwise unlawfully discriminate against an employee.

Employers Must

• Inform all applicants of your participation in E-Verify.
• Use E-Verify without regard to national origin or citizenship status.
• Provide the E-Verify written notice to every employee who receives a tentative nonconfirmation (TNC).
• Provide the E-Verify referral letter to every employee who contests the TNC.
• Give the employee eight federal work days to initiate contact with the appropriate federal agency to begin resolving the TNC.
• Secure the privacy of the employee’s personal information and the password used to access E-Verify.

Employers Must Not

• Use E-Verify to verify applicants.
• Use E-Verify to verify existing employees.*
• Use E-Verify in a discriminatory manner (e.g., using it to verify only new employees “suspected” of not being authorized to work). 
• Terminate; suspend; or withhold training, hours, or pay because an employee contests a tentative nonconfirmation (TNC). 
• Take any adverse action against an employee who timely contests a TNC, even if the resolution of the TNC takes the government more than eight days.
• Discourage employees from contesting TNCs.

Employer Responsibilities – E-Verify Tentative Nonconfirmation

When an employee receives a tentative nonconfirmation (TNC), either from Social Security Administration (SSA) or U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), it is the employer’s responsibility to explain the TNC process and to provide the employee with information about how to challenge the TNC.

Employers Must

• Promptly inform the employee when E-Verify issues a TNC.
• Inform the employee about the TNC in a manner that respects the employee’s privacy.
• Provide the employee with the written TNC notice.
• Provide the employee with the opportunity to contest the TNC.
• Provide the employee with the E-Verify referral letter if the employee contests the TNC; the letter contains specific instructions and contact information.
• Provide the employee with eight federal work days to contact the appropriate federal agency to begin contesting the TNC.
• Allow the employee who receives an SSA TNC to visit an SSA field office to update the employee’s records.

Employers Must Not

• Discourage an employee from contesting a tentative nonconfirmation.
• Take any adverse action against the employee, even if it takes more than eight federal government work days to resolve.
• Terminate; suspend; withhold training, hours, or pay; or otherwise limit or infringe upon employment unless and until a final nonconfirmation is issued.
• Treat employees differently based upon national origin or citizenship/immigration status.

More information for Employers

Department of Homeland Security

E-Verify Program
Phone:  1-888-464-4218
Email: E-Verify@dhs.gov

• If you are a company’s E-Verify Employer Agent, please email us at: DAsupport@dhs.gov
• Our normal response time for email inquiries is two business days.

Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

If you have concerns about the civil rights or civil liberties implications of the E-Verify program, contact:

U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Toll Free: 1-866-644-8360
Local: 1-202-401-1474
TTY: 1-202-401-0470

Department of Justice
Office of Special Counsel

If you have questions about unfair or discriminatory employment practices related to E-Verify, Form I-9 verification, or the employment of work-authorized aliens, contact:

Worker Hotline: 1-800-255-7688
1-800-237-2515 (TDD)
Employer Hotline: 1-800-255-8155
1-800-362-2735 (TDD)
Direct Office Line: 1-202-616-5594
1-202-616-5525 (TDD)

Social Security Administration

For more information about Social Security numbers or Social Security Administration, please refer to:

Phone:  1-800-772-1213/1-800-325-0778 (TTY)
Monday – Friday - 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM

* For federal contractor provisions related to E-Verify, please call 1-888-464-4218.