The National Association of Home Builders recently offered several recommendations to Congress on how to make a national E-Verify employment verification system usable for small businesses, including those in the residential construction industry.
On behalf of NAHB, Chris Gamvroulas, president of Salt Lake City-based Ivory Development, testified before the House Education and Workforce Subcommittee on Workforce Protections. He told lawmakers that to successfully adopt a nationwide E-Verify mandate, Congress must ensure that the requirements are achievable for businesses of all sizes.
“Approximately 80% of NAHB members have fewer than 10 employees and often lack human resources, legal departments and even office-based hiring processes,” said Gamvroulas. “Therefore, NAHB believes that any legislation which mandates the use of E-Verify nationwide must work for the smallest employer as well as it works for the largest.”
In order for NAHB to get behind the national E-Verify system, Gamvroulas said that the legislation should include the following provisions to protect employers and employees:
- Maintains an employer’s responsibility for only verifying the identities of direct employers, meaning that home builders would not be required to verify their subcontractors or subcontractors’ workers.
- Provides employers safe harbors for good-faith use of the E-Verify system, including identity fraud.
- Expedites the verification process closer to an employee’s hiring date.
- Ensures that all systems requirements are accessible to small business operators, including by telephone.
Additionally, “If employers are required to use the federal E-Verify program, they must be assured there is only one set of rules for compliance,” said Gamvroulas.
At a time when the broader construction industry is facing labor shortages, Gamvroulas urges lawmakers to make the E-Verify mandate as workable as possible for large and small businesses alike, so as to not exacerbate current hiring conditions.
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