The Florida Legislature has passed SB 1718 and Governor DeSantis has signed this immigration bill into law. The bill affects employers in various ways, including making significant modifications to Section 448.095, Fla. Stat. In this regard: 

Beginning on July 1, 2023, a private employer with 25 or more employees shall use the E-Verify system to verify a new employee’s employment eligibility… 

The law is effective July 1, 2023, and the major penalty provisions for violating this new law, while not effective until July 1, 2024, are severe. The law provides: 

  1. …beginning on July 1, 2024, if the Department of Economic Opportunity determines that an employer failed to use the E-Verify system to verify the employment eligibility of employees as required under this section, the department must notify the employer of the department’s determination of noncompliance and provide the employer with 30 days to cure the noncompliance. 
  1. If the Department of Economic Opportunity determines that an employer failed to use the E- Verify system as required under this section three times in any 24-month period, the department must impose a fine of $1,000 per day until the employer provides sufficient proof to the department that the noncompliance is cured. Noncompliance constitutes grounds for the suspension of all licenses issue[d] by a licensing agency subject to chapter 120 until the noncompliance is cured. 

For companies who have 25 or more employees, there is also a certification that your Company must supply each calendar year to the State, certifying that your Company is in compliance with its E-Verify obligations. 

GenesisHR will assist your Company in its understanding of and in its compliance with Section 448.095. However, it is your Company’s sole and exclusive obligation, not that of GenesisHR, for compliance with this law and it is your Company’s sole and exclusive obligation to verify employment eligibility of any new employee of your Company, as required by this law, whether or not these new employees are to be in a PEO relationship. 

Any fines or other penalties resulting from your Company’s failure to follow proper immigration, I-9, or E-Verify procedures and processes will be solely your Company’s responsibility.