The mandate is being phased in with smaller businesses that have 100 or more employees required to use the database starting July 1, and companies with more than 10 employees to start using E-verify by July 2013.
Employers with 10 or few employees are exempt from this requirement.
The law's sponsor and supporters said they wanted to deter illegal immigrants from coming to Georgia by making it tougher for them to work in the state. Already, any company with a federal contract is required to use E-Verify, and Georgia has required state and local government agencies and their contractors to use the database since 2007.
But the new law could cause trouble for many businesses, experts say.
``Many Georgia businesses are confused with respect to the provisions of the law that have to do with E-Verify,'' said Atlanta lawyer Teri A. Simmons, who advises businesses on immigration and employment matters. ``Within most businesses, human resources professionals are already dealing with so much that it's hard to also fit in E-Verify training and administration.''
When Georgia's governor signed the law in May, Georgia joined Arizona and several other states that have recently enacted tough laws taking aim at illegal immigration. Federal judges have since blocked all or parts of the various laws, and Arizona's is headed to the U.S. Supreme Court next year.
Also taking effect Jan. 1 is a provision that any agency administering public benefits must require each applicant to provide at least one ``secure and verifiable document.'' A list of acceptable documents was provided by the attorney general's office over the summer.
The new law also instructs the state agriculture department to submit a report to the governor and the heads of each chamber of the state Legislature by Jan. 1. The department was tasked with examining the effect of immigration on the state's agriculture industry and providing suggestions to reform a federal guest worker program. The department also was supposed to evaluate the feasibility of a state guest worker program.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2011/12/244578