Two new states have just passed laws requiring employers to participate in the federal government’s E-Verify program. Both Utah and Virginia recently passed laws that would mandate employers to verify the identity and employment eligibility status of all new hires starting in 2010.

The Utah law, the Private Employer Verification Act, will require all private employers who employ 15 or more employees as of July 1, 2010 to register with and use E-Verify to verify the employment eligibility status of their new hires, in accordance with the requirements of the federal verification system. The law does not, however, apply to private employers of foreign nationals, in cases where the foreign national holds an H-2A or H-2B visa.

The Virginia law, the E-Verify Program (HB 737), requires only state agencies to enroll in and use the E-Verify program to verify the employment eligibility status of their new hires by December 1, 2012. This bill, in its original form, would have required all public contractors, local municipalities and private companies with 15 or more employees to additionally register with and use the E-Verify program; those measures were removed from the bill via amendments introduced in the State Senate. The State Senate additionally shifted the implementation date from December 1, 2010 to December 1, 2012.