Well, despite two phone calls from reputable Chamber of Commerce folks in key Arizona cities, I resisted the urge to report on their stories of employers "playing ostrich" and simply ignoring the new mandate on electronic verification of new hires. I verified the two opinions with a couple of other contacts in the state, yet I didn't write anything, because it all sounded so…I don't know…tabloid???
Well, I got scooped by the Associated Press, and it is official:
"An immigration official says a large percentage of Arizona
businesses aren't using a federal database to check the work eligibility of
their employees, as they are required to do by state law."
Do you suppose that has anything to do with the fact that Congress has yet to give our friends at E-Verify the money they need to continue refining the user-friendliness of their powerful tool, much less to educate U.S. employers on the what is actually REQUIRED to be in compliance? It is supremely ironic that, in their quest to act when the feds haven't, states such as Arizona are simply socking it to employers without solving the underlying compliance issues.
Arizona's tough-talking legislatures are already responding to this "ostrich syndrome" and a Chertoff-like promise of increased enforcement is all we are hearing.
If you are an Arizona employer still trying to figure out how your new state mandate "helps" you, stop hiding your head under the beautiful desert sand and call Terry at www.i9advantage.com and let him demo our amazing solution.
We are — sorry, I can't resist — RAISING ARIZONA to a state of I9 compliance one employer at time, and we have the solution you need!
Jose
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