FTC Commissioner Announced

POSTED: 08/3/11 10:24 AM
CATEGORY: Announcements, Industry News

 The White House announced last week that President Barack Obama intends to nominate Maureen K. Ohlhausen to the post of Commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission.   

 Maureen K. Ohlhausen is an attorney at Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP, where she is a partner in the firm’s privacy, data protection, and cybersecurity practice.  Previously, she worked at the Business Software Alliance as Technology Policy Council.   

 From 1997 to 2008, she served at the Federal Trade Commission in a number of leadership roles, including as Director of the Office of Policy Planning and, earlier, as an attorney advisor for Commissioner Orson Swindle.  Earlier in her career, Ms. Ohlhausen worked at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit as a law clerk for Judge David Sentelle and clerked for Judge Robert Yock of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.  She is also a senior editor of the American Bar Association Antitrust Law Journal and has taught privacy law and unfair trade practices as an adjunct professor at George Mason University School of Law. Ms. Ohlhausen received a B.A. from the University of Virginia and a J.D. from George Mason University School of Law.

EEOC Press Release Regarding Hiring People with criminal arrests and records

POSTED: 08/3/11 10:14 AM
CATEGORY: Announcements, Industry News

Click here to view the complete EEOC Press Release – 7/26/11.

Employers often refuse to hire people with arrest and conviction records even years after they have completed their sentences, leading to recidivism and higher social services costs, experts told the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) at a meeting Tuesday, July 26 at agency headquarters. The meeting was part of a series convened by the EEOC to examine the implications of various hiring practices. In addition to laying out the scope of the issue, the meeting was designed to identify and highlight employers’ best practices, ways in which arrest and conviction records have been used appropriately, and current legal standards.

* For additional details on the July 26 EEOC hearing, including written statements and bios of the witnesses, click here. 

 *Read what the Wall St. Journal has to say.

Let Freedom Ring!

POSTED: 06/30/11 11:32 AM
CATEGORY: Announcements

Happy Independence Day from the True Hire Staff! In observance of the upcoming 4th of July Holiday, True Hire will be closed on Monday, July 4, 2011. We will resume our regular business hours of operation on Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Social Security Administration ceases using numerical sequencing

POSTED: 06/29/11 12:26 PM
CATEGORY: Announcements, Industry News

The last day the Social Security Administration (SSA) assigned a Social Security Number (SSN) based on the numeric order within a state’s allocation of the first 5 digits was 6/24/11. All unassigned numbers within the numeric sequence have now been placed in a random pool. Effective 6/27/11, the assignment of a new SSN is much like a lottery; a random number is drawn from the unassigned pool of 420 million numbers available for assignment.

For example, the Series of 048-15-xxxx was assigned to CT and was used to issue new SSNs. Effective 6/27, all of the possible unassigned numbers within that Series have been assigned to the random pool. Therefore someone in any state or an immigrant coming into the country could be assigned an SSN in the 048-15 series this year or any year in the future. There are 755 Series groups that were in the process of being assigned as of June 2011. There are over 75,000 groups have had all possible numbers within the group previously assigned.

For years we have used software with the assigned SSN groups and corresponding state/date range to validate the state and year of issuance an SSN. The fact that the SSA will no longer provide the ability to validate newly issued numbers has upset quite a few businesses and employers. However, these validations will still be useful, although they will diminish in value over time. Most people entering the workforce were assigned an SSN well before June 27, 2011. The primary people entering the workforce with a new randomly assigned SSN will be immigrants.

The Social Security Administration will continue to provide opportunities for direct name based SSN verification. Internet based verification services include:
• The Social Security Number Verification Service (SSNVS) which is free to use for wage reporting purposes
• eVerify
• Consent-Based SSN Verification Service (SBSV)
There are stipulations. For example, the cost for SBSV is $5,000 to sign-up and $5.00 per verification.

For questions about the randomization process, email ssn.randomization@ssa.gov or visit www.ssa.gov/employer/randomization.html

New Bill Proposed in the House of Representatives Would Require All U.S. Employers to Use E-Verify

POSTED: 06/22/11 9:13 AM
CATEGORY: Announcements, Industry News

On June 15, a legislative hearing took place in the U.S. House Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement regarding the requirement of all U.S. companies to use E-Verify, the federal government’s electronic employment verification system. Bill H.R. 2164, known as the Legal Workforce Act, would replace the paper-based Form I-9, making employment eligibility verification more efficient and secure for employers. The electronic system also provides an ease of use for companies and helps them maintain compliance with ever-changing state and federal regulations.

A CLOSER LOOK: BILL H.R. 2164
An issue update released last week by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) shares the provisions included in Bill H.R. 2164. The Legal Workforce Act would:

Establish a fully electronic system—H.R. 2164 would eliminate the current paper-based Form I-9 process and replace it with a completely electronic work eligibility system.
Pre-empt state employment verification laws—H.R. 2164 would underscore that the federal government, not the states, is the appropriate entity to make and enforce immigration law in the workplace. However, it would allow states to use “business licensing and similar laws” to penalize employers for not participating in E-Verify.

Create a safe harbor for employers—H.R. 2164 would provide employers a safe harbor from prosecution if they use E-Verify in good faith and, through no fault of their own, receive an incorrect notice of work authorization from the system.

Not require verification of existing employees—H.R. 2164 would require most employers to verify the work authorization of new hires only. However, organizations with staff assigned to critical infrastructure sites would be required to reverify the workers.

Phase in the mandate—H.R. 2164 would require most employers to enroll in the E-Verify system according to the following timeline from the date the bill is signed into law
Employers with more than 10,000 employees must enroll in E-Verify within six months
Employers with more than 500 employees must enroll within a year
Employers with more than 20 employees must enroll within 18 months
Employers with fewer than 20 employees must enroll within two years
Agricultural employers must enroll within three years

WANT TO LEARN MORE?
Proposed by Representative Lamar Smith, H.R. 2164 will likely be voted on sometime next month. For more information on E-Verify and the I-9 paperless process, take a look at Form I-9 —the easy, secure, and electronic solution to employment eligibility verification and Form I-9 compliance that integrates seamlessly with E-Verify. Please contact Mike Barnhart at True Hire for more information at 1-800-262-7301 or email mbarnhart@true-hire.com.