Publications + Presentations

Summary

• Ohio’s E-Verify Workforce Integrity Act takes effect March 19, 2026, impacting most nonresidential construction projects.
• Contractors, subcontractors, and labor brokers must verify employment eligibility through the federal E-Verify program.
• The Attorney General can investigate violations, impose fines up to $10,000, and disqualify repeat offenders from state contracts for up to two years.
• Employers may request a hearing to contest violations; isolated technical errors are exempt.
• Compliance is mandatory—failure to act could lead to significant penalties and loss of future work.

The E-Verify Workforce Integrity Act was recently signed by Governor DeWine and will become effective on March 19, 2026. The Act applies to contractors, subcontractors, and labor brokers on most nonresidential construction projects and requires the verification of employment eligibility through the E-Verify program administered by the Federal Government. Importantly, the Act also applies to those in the private-sector workforce on nonresidential construction projects.

As part of the Act, employers are to confirm the identity and legal working status of each employee. The Act also requires that an employer cannot continue to employ an individual after receiving notice of final confirmation for that individual from the E-Verify program.

The Attorney General has the authority to enforce the Act with fines starting out at $250 depending on the type of violation, which can increase to $10,000 if there is a pattern of repeated violations over the preceding three years. Also, if the Attorney General determines whether there have been two or more willful violations, the Attorney General is to issue a notice of violation that disqualifies the contractor, subcontractor or labor broker from participating in any future state contract for a period not to exceed two years.

The Act does allow employers to request a hearing before the Director of Commerce if it disagrees with the Attorney General’s findings. The Act exempts those violations that the result of an “isolated technical error” or malfunction of the E-Verify program.