How do you know if you’re a federal contractor?

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This week’s Ask a Question concerns one of the most vexing problems for employers: how do I determine whether I have (or can expect to have) a federal contract that will subject my organization to the E-Verify mandate?  The recently released Federal contractor supplement guide attempts to answer this question as follows:
Your government contracting official, not the E-Verify program, will decide whether your Federal contract qualifies for the E-Verify clause if it meets the following criteria:
The contract was awarded on or after the Federal contractor rule effective date of September 8, 2009 and includes the FAR E-Verify clause.
The contract has a period of performance that is more than 120 days.
The contract’s value exceeds the simplified acquisition threshold of $100,000.
At least some portion of the work under the contract is performed in the United States.
While instructive, this answer still poses a problem for HR and I-9 Managers in large organizations that are not likely to be in contact with government contracting officials. How do you get the word out to the right people in your organization? One method that we recommend is to draft a memo to internal stakeholders explaining these new worker verification requirements and actions which must be taken for new and amended contracts with the federal government. You should also send them a copy of the “E-Verify Clause” so that all contracts can be analyzed for this important language. The E-Verify clause is available in the amended Federal Acquisition Regulation at section 52.222-54. For your convenience, we’re including a copy of the relevant section below.

We just got this question about one of the most vexing problems for employers: how do I determine whether I have (or can expect to have) a federal contract that will subject my organization to the E-Verify mandate?  The recently released Federal contractor supplement guide attempts to answer this question in section 5.2  as follows:

Your government contracting official, not the E-Verify program, will decide whether your Federal contract qualifies for the E-Verify clause if it meets the following criteria:

  • The contract was awarded on or after the Federal contractor rule effective date of September 8, 2009 and includes the FAR E-Verify clause.
  • The contract has a period of performance that is more than 120 days.
  • The contract’s value exceeds the simplified acquisition threshold of $100,000.
  • At least some portion of the work under the contract is performed in the United States.

While instructive, this answer still poses a problem for HR and I-9 Managers in large organizations that are not likely to be in contact with government contracting officials. How do you get the word out to the right people in your organization? One method that we recommend is to draft a memo to internal stakeholders explaining these new worker verification requirements and actions which must be taken for new and amended contracts with the federal government. You should also send them a copy of the “E-Verify Clause” so that all contracts can be analyzed for this important language. The E-Verify clause is available in the amended Federal Acquisition Regulation at section 52.222-54. For your convenience, we’re including a copy of the relevant section here.

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