Other articles by Becky Pallack:

Tucson teen Gloria a high-caliber performer Sky is the limit for Caballeros' Schultz Sabino's Nelson receiving double-digit offers Cabs star Koch will take game to Phoenix Green Fields Six hitting on all cylinders heading into regional Palo Verde's Price decides to swim for Texas Christian Ironwood Ridge junior Magnuson cuts down time at a 'scary' pace Watkins sets, ties Dorados records Sahuaro, Salpointe athletes choose colleges Santa Rita star Stoglin commits to Terps

Health Care
Sierra Tucson
Eating Disorders Program Coordinator Trades/Construction
RANCHO RESORT
MAINTANANCE POSITION General
A1 Communications
Cable Techs

As businesses begin to hire employees in the new year, they are required under a new state law to check the work eligibility of new hires in a federal database.

E-Verify, an otherwise voluntary online program, is mandatory for all Arizona employers under a state law that took effect Jan. 1.

The new law, the Legal Arizona Workers Act, makes it illegal to knowingly or intentionally hire an illegal immigrant, and includes sanctions such as revoking business licenses.

There are a few common misconceptions about E-Verify. Here are five things you need to know. Learn more and sign up at www.dhs.gov/e-verify.

"I don't think people understand that every employer in the state is required to sign up, as long as you have a business license, even a mom-and-pop business," said Daniel Jurkowitz, the deputy Pima County attorney assigned to enforce the new law.

More than 43,000 employers are currently enrolled in the program — with an average of 1,000 joining each week, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. But there are around 145,000 employers in Arizona, according to the Arizona Department of Revenue.

It's free, although there may be indirect expenses, including employee time or the cost of Internet access, Jurkowitz said.

Once you register, you wait to get login information, and then you have to take an online tutorial and quiz before you're allowed to use the system, said John Messing, a Tucson immigration employment attorney.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is extending hours and taking calls more quickly for its E-Verify help line, (888) 464-4218, after a surge in the number of calls last month, said agency spokeswoman Marie Sebrechts.

The database check is a "relatively painless process that doesn't take that long" and uses the same information a new hire submits on an I-9 form, Jurkowitz said.

Information required for a check includes the worker's name and birth date, Social Security number, citizenship status and a document, such as an ID card, that the worker provided.

But if E-Verify reports a tentative non-confirmation, then the employer follows a different process designed to protect the employee's rights, Messing said.

A lot of the I-9 and E-Verify processes can be legally outsourced, Messing said.

Employers can hire an approved contractor, called a designated agent, who has signed a memorandum of understanding with federal agencies.

Designated agents often are experts in the ins and outs of the database system and immigration laws, said Messing, who is a designated agent. That makes the process less cumbersome for businesses, he said.

E-Verify can be used to check the work eligibility only of new hires. The check must be started within three business days after the new hire starts work.

The program can't legally be used to go back and check workers hired before the company signed up to use E-Verify. A separate database, the Social Security Number Verification Service, may be used to check existing employees, but only for annual wage-reporting purposes. Find more information about it online at www.ssa.gov/employer/ssnv.htm.