E-Verify

Definition

The federal check on whether a new hire is allowed to work here.

Why It Matters

It is voluntary under federal law and mandatory under several state laws, and which of those a business sits under is decided by the address and not by the industry. An asset purchase makes the buyer a new employer, so the retained staff need fresh forms, and in a state that mandates enrollment each of those hires becomes a case the buyer has to run. Ask two things in diligence: whether the seller is enrolled, and whether any case ever came back unresolved, because a workforce that has never been checked is a different risk from one that has been checked and cleared.

In numbers: The window is 3 business days from the first day of work, so a buyer rehiring the whole staff at closing opens every case inside the same 3 business days as everything else that week.