Federal

Legal Workforce Act

Source: Congress.gov · 13,434 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill requires employers to use an electronic employment verification system to check that workers are allowed to work in the United States. The system will compare worker information against Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security records. The bill makes this verification system mandatory for all employers with a phased timeline based on company size. ##

Who It Affects

- All employers in the United States who hire, recruit, or refer workers - Job applicants and employees - The Social Security Administration (will help verify worker information) - The Department of Homeland Security (will operate the verification system) - States and localities (can enforce using business licensing rules) - Federal contractors and federal employees ##

Key Provisions

- Employers must use an electronic verification system to check new hires within three business days of employment, with different deadlines based on company size: large employers (10,000+ employees) start in 6 months, mid-sized employers in 12-18 months, and small employers (1-19 employees) in 24 months (Sec. 2) - The verification system will respond to employer inquiries about worker eligibility within 3 working days, or provide a tentative nonconfirmation that workers can dispute within 10 working days (Sec. 3) - Employers must reverify workers whose work authorization has expired, on the same phased timeline as initial verification (Sec. 2) - Employers can face civil penalties ranging from $2,500 to $25,000 per violation, with increased criminal penalties up to $5,000 per unauthorized worker and up to 18 months in prison for pattern violations (Sec. 8) - Employers who made good faith efforts to verify worker eligibility are protected from liability under federal, state, and local law (Sec. 5) ##

What Changes

The bill creates a mandatory nationwide employment verification system replacing the current voluntary E-Verify program. Employers will be required by law to verify every new worker's eligibility, rather than having the option to participate voluntarily. Workers will need to provide social security numbers or passport information, and employers must check this information against government databases before hiring. States can still enforce the system through business licensing rules but cannot create separate state employment verification requirements. The bill increases penalties for employers who knowingly hire unauthorized workers and for falsifying identity documents related to employment. ##

Important Definitions

- **Unauthorized alien**: Not defined in the bill text - **Verification system**: An electronic system operated by the Department of Homeland Security (or a designee) that responds to employer inquiries about worker eligibility through telephone and electronic means (Sec. 3) - **Date of hire**: The date when actual work for wages or remuneration begins (Sec. 2) - **Verification period** (for hiring): The period from when a job offer is made until three business days after the employee starts work (Sec. 2) - **Recruitment**: Soliciting a person in the United States and referring them to another for employment purposes, done only by entities receiving payment or union hiring halls (Sec. 4) - **Referral**: Sending or directing a person to another with intent of obtaining employment, done only by entities receiving payment, union hiring halls, or labor service agencies (Sec. 4) - **Agricultural labor or services**: Includes activities like planting, harvesting, processing agricultural commodities and handling fish or shellfish facilities, as defined by the Secretary of Agriculture (Sec. 2) ##

Effective Date

The bill takes effect on different dates depending on the provision: - Hiring verification requirements begin 6 months after enactment for employers with 10,000+ employees; 12 months for 500-9,999 employees; 18 months for 20-499 employees; and 24 months for 1-19 employees (Sec. 2) - Recruitment and referral requirements begin 12 months after enactment (Sec. 2) - Agricultural workers receive a 30-month grace period before verification applies to them (Sec. 2) - Previously hired employee verification must begin within 6 months for certain federal employees and workers with security clearances (Sec. 2) - Employer recruitment and referral definitions take effect 1 year after enactment, except continuation of employment rules take effect 6 months after enactment (Sec. 4) - The old E-Verify program is repealed 30 months after enactment (Sec. 7)

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 319 To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to make mandatory and permanent requirements relating to use of an electronic employment eligibility verification system, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 12, 2023 Mr. CALVERT (for himself, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. NEHLS, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mrs. LESKO, and Mr. WOMACK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, and Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speak- er, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the ju- risdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to make mandatory and permanent requirements relating to use of an electronic employment eligibility verification sys- tem, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Legal Workforce Act’’. 4 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Jan 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H319.IH H319 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 319 IH SEC. 2. EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION PROC- 1 ESS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 274A(b) of the Immigra- 3 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(b)) is amended 4 to read as follows: 5 ‘‘(b) EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION 6 PROCESS.— 7 ‘‘(1) NEW HIRES, RECRUITMENT, AND REFER- 8 RAL.—The requirements referred to in paragraphs 9 (1)(B) and (3) of subsection (a) are, in the case of 10 a person or other entity hiring, recruiting, or refer- 11 ring an individual for employment in the United 12 States, the following: 13 ‘‘(A) ATTESTATION AFTER EXAMINATION 14 OF DOCUMENTATION.— 15 ‘‘(i) ATTESTATION.—During the 16 verification period (as defined in subpara- 17 graph (E)), the person or entity shall at- 18 test, under penalty of perjury and on a 19 form, including electronic and telephonic 20 formats, designated or established by the 21 Secretary by regulation not later than 6 22 months after the date of the enactment of 23 the Legal Workforce Act, that it has 24 verified that the individual is not an unau- 25 thorized alien by— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Jan 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H319.IH H319 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 319 IH ‘‘(I) obtaining from the indi- 1 vidual the individual’s social security 2 account number or United States 3 passport number and recording the 4 number on the form (if the individual 5 claims to have been issued such a 6 number), and, if the individual does 7 not attest to United States nationality 8 under subparagraph (B), obtaining 9 such identification or authorization 10 number established by the Depart- 11 ment of Homeland Security for the 12 alien as the Secretary of Homeland 13 Security may specify, and recording 14 such number on the form; and 15 ‘‘(II) examining— 16 ‘‘(aa) a document relating to 17 the individual presenting it de- 18 scribed in clause (ii); or 19 ‘‘(bb) a document relating to 20 the individual presenting it de- 21 scribed in clause (iii) and a docu- 22 ment relating to the individual 23 presenting it described in clause 24 (iv). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Jan 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H319.IH H319 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 319 IH ‘‘(ii) DOCUMENTS EVIDENCING EM- 1 PLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION AND ESTAB- 2 LISHING IDENTITY.—A document de- 3 scribed in this subparagraph is an individ- 4 ual’s— 5 ‘‘(I) unexpired United States 6 passport or passport card; 7 ‘‘(II) unexpired permanent resi- 8 dent card that contains a photograph; 9 ‘‘(III) unexpired employment au- 10 thorization card that contains a pho- 11 tograph; 12 ‘‘(IV) in the case of a non- 13 immigrant alien authorized to work 14 for a specific employer incident to sta- 15 tus, a foreign passport with Form I– 16 94 or Form I–94A, or other docu- 17 mentation as designated by the Sec- 18 retary specifying the alien’s non- 19 immigrant status as long as the pe- 20 riod of status has not yet expired and 21 the proposed employment is not in 22 conflict with any restrictions or limita- 23 tions identified in the documentation; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Jan 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H319.IH H319 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 319 IH ‘‘(V) passport from the Fed- 1 erated States of Micronesia (FSM) or 2 the Republic of the Marshall Islands 3 (RMI) with Form I–94 or Form I– 4 94A, or other documentation as des- 5 ignated by the Secretary, indicating 6 nonimmigrant admission under the 7 Compact of Free Association Between 8 the United States and the FSM or 9 RMI; or 10 ‘‘(VI) other document designated 11 by the Secretary of Homeland Secu- 12 rity, if the document— 13 ‘‘(aa) contains a photograph 14 of the individual and biometric 15 identification data from the indi- 16 vidual and such other personal 17 identifying information relating 18 to the individual as the Secretary 19 of Homeland Security finds, by 20 regulation, sufficient for purposes 21 of this clause; 22 ‘‘(bb) is evidence of author- 23 ization of employment in the 24 United States; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Jan 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H319.IH H319 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 319 IH ‘‘(cc) contains security fea- 1 tures to make it resistant to tam- 2 pering, counterfeiting, and fraud- 3 ulent use. 4 ‘‘(iii) DOCUMENTS EVIDENCING EM- 5 PLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION.—A document 6 described in this subparagraph is an indi- 7 vidual’s social security account number 8 card (other than such a card which speci- 9 fies on the face that the issuance of the 10 card does not authorize employment in the 11 United States). 12 ‘‘(iv) DOCUMENTS ESTABLISHING 13 IDENTITY OF INDIVIDUAL.—A document 14 described in this subparagraph is— 15 ‘‘(I) an individual’s unexpired 16 State issued driver’s license or identi- 17 fication card if it contains a photo- 18 graph and information such as name, 19 date of birth, gender, height, eye 20 color, and address; 21 ‘‘(II) an individual’s unexpired 22 U.S. military identification card; 23 ‘‘(III) an individual’s unexpired 24 Native American tribal identification 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Jan 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H319.IH H319 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 319 IH document issued by a tribal entity rec- 1 ognized by the Bureau of Indian Af- 2 fairs; or 3 ‘‘(IV) in the case of an individual 4 under 18 years of age, a parent or 5 legal guardian’s attestation under 6 penalty of law as to the identity and 7 age of the individual. 8 ‘‘(v) AUTHORITY TO PROHIBIT USE OF 9 CERTAIN DOCUMENTS.—If the Secretary of 10 Homeland Security finds, by regulation, 11 that any document described in clause (i), 12 (ii), or (iii) as establishing employment au- 13 thorization or identity does not reliably es- 14 tablish such authorization or identity or is 15 being used fraudulently to an unacceptable 16 degree, the Secretary may prohibit or place 17 conditions on its use for purposes of this 18 paragraph. 19 ‘‘(vi) SIGNATURE.—Such attestation 20 may be manifested by either a handwritten 21 or electronic signature. 22 ‘‘(B) INDIVIDUAL ATTESTATION OF EM- 23 PLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION.—During the veri- 24 fication period (as defined in subparagraph 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Jan 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H319.IH H319 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 319 IH (E)), the individual shall attest, under penalty 1 of perjury on the form designated or established 2 for purposes of subparagraph (A), that the indi- 3 vidual is a citizen or national of the United 4 States, an alien lawfully admitted for perma- 5 nent residence, or an alien who is authorized 6 under this Act or by the Secretary of Homeland 7 Security to be hired, recruited, or referred for 8 such employment. Such attestation may be 9 manifested by either a handwritten or electronic 10 signature. The individual shall also provide that 11 individual’s social security account number or 12 United States passport number (if the indi- 13 vidual claims to have been issued such a num- 14 ber), and, if the individual does not attest to 15 United States nationality under this subpara- 16 graph, such identification or authorization num- 17 ber established by the Department of Homeland 18 Security for the alien as the Secretary may 19 specify. 20 ‘‘(C) RETENTION OF VERIFICATION FORM 21 AND VERIFICATION.— 22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—After completion 23 of such form in accordance with subpara- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Jan 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H319.IH H319 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 319 IH graphs (A) and (B), the person or entity 1 shall— 2 ‘‘(I) retain a paper, microfiche, 3 microfilm, or electronic version of the 4 form and make it available for inspec- 5 tion by officers of the Department of 6 Homeland Security, the Department 7 of Justice, or the Department of 8 Labor during a period beginning on 9 the date of the recruiting or referral 10 of the individual, or, in the case of the 11 hiring of an individual, the date on 12 which the verification is completed, 13 and ending— 14 ‘‘(aa) in the case of the re- 15 cruiting or referral of an indi- 16 vidual, 3 years after the date of 17 the recruiting or referral; and 18 ‘‘(bb) in the case of the hir- 19 ing of an individual, the later of 20 3 years after the date the verifi- 21 cation is completed or one year 22 after the date the individual’s 23 employment is terminated; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Jan 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H319.IH H319 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 319 IH ‘‘(II) during the verification pe- 1 riod (as defined in subparagraph (E)), 2 make an inquiry, as provided in sub- 3 section (d), using the verification sys- 4 tem to seek verification of the identity 5 and employment eligibility of an indi- 6 vidual. 7 ‘‘(ii) CONFIRMATION.— 8 ‘‘(I) CONFIRMATION RE- 9 CEIVED.—If the person or other entity 10 receives an appropriate confirmation 11 of an individual’s identity and work 12 eligibility under the verification sys- 13 tem within the time period specified, 14 the person or entity shall record on 15 the form an appropriate code that is 16 provided under the system and that 17 indicates a final confirmation of such 18 identity and work eligibility of the in- 19 dividual. 20 ‘‘(II) TENTATIVE NONCONFIRMA- 21 TION RECEIVED.—If the person or 22 other entity receives a tentative non- 23 confirmation of an individual’s iden- 24 tity or work eligibility under the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Jan 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H319.IH H319 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 319 IH verification system within the time pe- 1 riod specified, the person or entity 2 shall so inform the individual for 3 whom the verification is sought. If the 4 individual does not contest the non- 5 confirmation within the time period 6 specified, the nonconfirmation shall be 7 considered final. The person or entity 8 shall then record on the form an ap- 9 propriate code which has been pro- 10 vided under the system to indicate a 11 final nonconfirmation. If the indi- 12 vidual does contest the nonconfirma- 13 tion, the individual shall utilize the 14 process for secondary verification pro- 15 vided under subsection (d). The non- 16 confirmation will remain tentative 17 until a final confirmation or noncon- 18 firmation is provided by the verifica- 19 tion system within the time period 20 specified. In no case shall an employer 21 terminate employment of an individual 22 because of a failure of the individual 23 to have identity and work eligibility 24 confirmed under this section until a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Jan 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H319.IH H319 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •HR 319 IH nonconfirmation becomes final. Noth- 1 ing in this clause shall apply to a ter- 2 mination of employment for any rea- 3 son other than because of such a fail- 4 ure. In no case shall an employer re- 5 scind the offer of employment to an 6 individual because of a failure of the 7 individual to have identity and work 8 eligibility confirmed under this sub- 9 section until a nonconfirmation be- 10 comes final. Nothing in this subclause 11 shall apply to a recission of the offer 12 of employment for any reason other 13 than because of such a failure. 14 ‘‘(III) FINAL CONFIRMATION OR 15 NONCONFIRMATION RECEIVED.—If a 16 final confirmation or nonconfirmation 17 is provided by the verification system 18 regarding an individual, the person or 19 entity shall record on the form an ap- 20 propriate code that is provided under 21 the system and that indicates a con- 22 firmation or nonconfirmation of iden- 23 tity and work eligibility of the indi- 24 vidual. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Jan 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H319.IH H319 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 13 •HR 319 IH ‘‘(IV) EXTENSION OF TIME.—If 1 the person or other entity in good 2 faith attempts to make an inquiry 3 during the time period specified and 4 the verification system has registered 5 that not all inquiries were received 6 during such time, the person or entity 7 may make an inquiry in the first sub- 8 sequent working day in which the 9 verification system registers that it 10 has received all inquiries. If the 11 verification system cannot receive in- 12 quiries at all times during a day, the 13 person or entity merely has to assert 14 that the entity attempted to make the 15 inquiry on that day for the previous 16 sentence to apply to such an inquiry, 17 and does not have to provide any ad- 18 ditional proof concerning such inquiry. 19 ‘‘(V) CONSEQUENCES OF NON- 20 CONFIRMATION.— 21 ‘‘(aa) TERMINATION OR NO- 22 TIFICATION OF CONTINUED EM- 23 PLOYMENT.—If the person or 24 other entity has received a final 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Jan 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H319.IH H319 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 14 •HR 319 IH nonconfirmation regarding an in- 1 dividual, the person or entity 2 may terminate employment of the 3 individual (or decline to recruit 4 or refer the individual). If the 5 person or entity does not termi- 6 nate employment of the indi- 7 vidual or proceeds t [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]

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