[poobear]

It took me nearly 40 minutes to check a SS number for a M. Martinez. Turns out the government employee said the number was legit. I asked her how many M. Martinez' there were, thousands she said. I asked how do I know this is the correct # for M. Martinez? She said there was no way of knowing for sure. Meanwhile, I let the guy go after 1 week. Caught him doing drugs while waiting for his first paycheck in the parking lot. Doh!

[oceanview]

the way I would structure the system is - there is zero barrier to initial hiring. because if there is, then you get into all kinds of civil suits against employers for discrimination.

the employer can hire person X on the spot, and submit the electronic authentication check over the web. If it comes back in two weeks and is invalid - the employer receives a warning. if they fail to act on that, or if some appeal to re-verify fails, then the fines start 2 months later.

this won't stop off-the-books hiring of course.