02 Oct Government Shutdown – Now What?

Originally posted October 02, 2013 by United Benefit Advisors (UBA)

The failure of the U. S. Senate and House of Representatives to agree on a new budget for the Fiscal Year (beginning October 1) is resulting in a furlough of more than 800,000 federal workers and government agencies temporarily closing or cutting back the operations of numerous federal facilities and the suspension of many services. This is the first government shutdown in 17 years.

Employers participating in E-Verify may be the first to notice the effects of the government shutdown.  Those attempting to login to their administrative account will find the following message:

“E-Verify is currently unavailable due to a government shutdown.”

While E-Verify is unavailable, you will not be able to access your E-Verify account. As a result, you will be unable to:

• Enroll any company in E-Verify
• Verify employment eligibility
• View or take action on any case
• Add, delete or edit any User ID
• Reset passwords
• Edit your company information
• Terminate an account
• Run reports
• View ‘Essential Resources.’ Please note that all essential resources may be found by visiting www.dhs.gov/e-verify.”

During the shutdown, employers will be unable to participate in the initial verification process, and, more importantly, employees who recently received Tentative Nonconfirmations (TNCs) will be unable to resolve them. The time during which employees may resolve TNCs (by going to the Social Security Administration or contacting DHS) will be extended by the days the federal government is closed.

The government shutdown does NOT affect employers’ obligation to complete the Form I-9 no later than the third business day after an employee starts work for pay.

Those with business with the government, including federal contractors complying with the federal contractor rule, should check with legal counsel or the particular government entity with whom they work for information about their specific case.