To help Springfield business owners protect their companies from interruptions, city officials have released a letter detailing requirements of the employment-verification system.
Registering to use the free federal E-Verify software at
USCIS.gov is an important first step, but it is not the only thing business owners and administrators need to know about the new hiring rules in place in the city, according to City Manager Greg Burris.
The city plans to begin enforcement of the voter-approved ordinance June 4, according to the letter distributed during an April 17 Springfield City Council luncheon. The letter was drafted for up to 25,000 city businesses, individuals and nonprofits that may hire workers.
“The purpose is to provide guidance,” Burris told council members at the meeting. “This ordinance applies to any organization in the city that hires people.”
According to the ordinance, all employers in the city are required to use the E-Verify program during the hiring process. Failure to comply can result in suspension of a business license or closure.
Entities that already have been issued business licenses this year must submit their initial E-Verify Annual Affidavit forms to the licensing division of the Finance Department starting with their business license renewals in January 2013, Burris said.
Business owners who apply for new business licenses after June 4 will be required to submit the annual affidavit forms pledging to use the E-Verify system in hiring workers. Interested parties can download the form online and pick up hard copies at the city licensing office in the Busch Municipal Building, according to the letter.
Burris said the ordinance applies to an estimated 14,000 businesses in the city and another 6,000 to 11,000 nonprofits, churches or other individuals, such as physicians. Organizations and individuals that are not required to obtain a business license through the city must submit their affidavit forms annually by July 1, the start of the city’s fiscal year.
If a business has a complaint filed against it, the city has three business days to notify the organization or individual accused of a violation. That business entity must then provide proof within three days of receiving notification of a complaint that the employees in question are legally able to work in the U.S. If a company does not respond in time with proof, the ordinance requires the city either temporarily or permanently shut down the business or organization, depending on its number of previous violations.
Burris noted the ordinance does not come with a “reset” provision that would wipe the slate clean for new owners of a business with previous E-Verify violations.
“They’d inherit the sins of the father,” Burris told council members.
E-Verify guidelines, including the letter to businesses, the complaint form and the affidavit, are posted to
SpringfieldMo.Gov/everify.
