Government Shutdown and the Impact on Workforce Screening

This is a guest blog post by Vice President of Business Development at Credential Check Corporation, Dawn Standerwick. You can connnect with Dawn on LinkedIn. 

The Federal government is shutting down today. Many companies are wondering how this will affect them and their workforce screening programs.

The biggest impact we foresee will be upon companies utilizing E-Verify. E-Verify has officially ground to a halt. The majority of other background screening services should not be impacted.

During the time that E-Verify is unavailable, employers will not be able to access their E-Verify account. This will also impact companies who utilize E-Verify through a designated agent (background screening company and other 3^rd party solution provider). Perhaps one of the biggest impacts is that employees will not be able to resolve Tentative Nonconfirmations (TNCs).

As a result, the ‘three-day rule’ for E-Verify cases is suspended for cases affected by the shutdown. USCIS will provide additional guidance once this federal office is reopened.

Employers may not take any adverse action against an employee because of an E-Verify interim case status, including while the employee’s case is in an extended interim case status due to a federal government shutdown.

• The time period during which employees may resolve TNCs will be extended. Days the federal government is closed will not count towards the eight federal government workdays the employee has to go to SSA or contact DHS. We will provide additional time once we reopen.
• Federal contractors complying with the federal contractor rule, please contact your contracting officer to inquire about extending deadlines.

Employers should note that this will NOT affect the Form I-9 requirement— employers must still complete the Form I-9 no later than the third business day after an employee starts work for pay.

In addition to the below E-Verify functions, E-Verify Customer Support will also be unavailable.

• 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

Aside from E-Verify, many regulatory offices will be closed, suspending their current activities. The highly anticipated look into the role background checks played in the Navy Yard tragedy by that was to take place today by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will be postponed.

We will continue to monitor this situation and keep our clients apprised of any changes.

If your organization has any questions or concerns about how the government shutdown will affect you, please contact our offices at (888) 689.2000 or email us at info@credentialcheck.com.