Employment Verification

'HR Initiative' Coalition Urges Congress to Keep Basic Pilot Voluntary for Federal Contractors

Federal contractors, beware! Buried within four House-passed 2008 funding bills for numerous federal agencies are provisions that would mandate federal contractors to participate in the government's electronic employment verification system known as 'Basic Pilot'. The four bills cover programs in the following areas: Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration (H.R. 3161); Commerce, Justice, Science (H.R. 3093); Labor, Health and Human Services, Education (H.R. 3043); and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (H.R.3074).

In a letter to the U.S. Senate this week, the SHRM-led HR Initiative for a Legal Workforce coalition, joined by seven higher-education associations, called for the removal of the 'Basic Pilot" mandates in these four bills. The coalition stated, "We endorse the concept of a secure, reliable electronic employment verification system. However, Basic Pilot is not ready to meet the challenge of immediately increasing its participant level to include an estimated 200,000 federal contractors -- more than a 10-fold increase over current usage."

The government estimates that approximately 20,000 employers currently participate in the voluntary system. If the mandates were to become law, more than 200,000 federal contractors would be required to participate in the 'Basic Pilot' system. As currently drafted, federal contractors would be required to check each new employee's work eligibility using the system. In addition, contractors would be required to continue to attest on Form I-9 that they had examined the new hire's employment and identification documents to ensure authenticity of the documents.

The HR Initiative for a Legal Workforce coalition is continuing to advise Congress that the 'Basic Pilot' is unreliable and susceptibility to identity fraud by individual using authentic (but stolen) documents to circumvent the system. As an alternative, the coalition has urged Congress to improve the 'Basic Pilot' system by incorporating state-of-the-art technologies that would ensure that only work-authorized individuals can gain employment in the US.

Also, you can read SHRM's CEO and President Susan Meisinger's op-ed article on this issue HERE.