Earlier this year, Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman signed into law a bill that would require public employers, including state agencies, and contractors working for public employers to use the federal government’s E-Verify program to determine the employment eligibility of all new hires. This law went into effect October 1. As of October 1, all public employers must include in their contract with a contractor the provision that the contractor use the E-Verify system to determine all new hires’ employment eligibility. Additionally, for two years, Nebraska’s Department of Labor will have available information about E-Verify for private employers and will encourage the use of the program by private employers.

Nebraska is the latest state to require the use of the E-Verify system for public employers and their contractors. E-Verify is also required in some form in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Utah.