Employer guideUpdated September 2026
E-Verify Requirements by State: Who Actually Has to Enroll
Nine states require private employers to use E-Verify, and no two of them define “employer” the same way. Alabama, Arizona, Mississippi and South Carolina require it of every private employer. Florida sets the line at 25 employees, North Carolina at 25, Tennessee at 35 full-time equivalents, Georgia at more than 10 — counting only people who work 35 hours a week or more — and Utah at 150. Ohio joined on March 19, 2026 for nonresidential construction only. Everywhere else the obligation reaches public employers and state contractors, not the general employer. This page cites the statute for each one.
Why every list you find says something different
Search this question and you will get a dozen tables that do not agree with each other. They are not sloppy so much as flattened: they compress four legally distinct obligations into a single yes-or-no column.
| The obligation | What it actually means | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Universal private mandate | Every private employer enrolls, whatever its size | AL, AZ, MS, SC |
| Threshold mandate | Private employers above a headcount, defined differently in each state | FL, GA, NC, TN, UT |
| Sector mandate | One industry, regardless of size | OH (nonresidential construction) |
| Public and contractor mandate | Government employers and firms bidding for state work | IN, MI, MN, MO, NE, OK, PA, TX, VA, WV and the contractor arms of the states above |
| Choose-one safe harbor | Not a mandate at all: E-Verify or keep document copies | LA |
Louisiana is the clearest example of the problem
Louisiana appears on plenty of “states requiring E-Verify” lists. Read the statute and it is an election, not a requirement: R.S. 23:995 lets a private employer either run E-Verify or take and keep copies of specified identity documents. Choosing E-Verify buys something real — the employer is “presumed to have been in good faith” and escapes penalty for relying on the system — but an employer that keeps document copies instead has complied with Louisiana law.
The nine states that reach private employers
| State | Who must enroll | Since | Statute |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Every business entity or employer in the state | April 1, 2012 | Ala. Code § 31-13-15 |
| Arizona | Every employer, after hiring an employee | After December 31, 2007 | A.R.S. § 23-214 |
| Mississippi | Every employer, phased in by size | All employers by July 1, 2011 | Miss. Code § 71-11-3 |
| South Carolina | All private employers required to complete Form I-9 | Case within 3 business days of hire | S.C. Code § 41-8-20 |
| Florida | Private employers with 25 or more employees | July 1, 2023 | Fla. Stat. § 448.095 |
| North Carolina | Employers with 25 or more employees in the state | — | N.C.G.S. §§ 64-25, 64-26 |
| Tennessee | Private employers with 35 or more full-time equivalent employees | January 1, 2023 | Tenn. Code § 50-1-703 |
| Georgia | Private employers with more than ten employees | Phased in to July 1, 2013 | O.C.G.A. § 36-60-6 |
| Utah | Private employers with 150 or more employees | May 4, 2022 | Utah Code § 13-47-201 |
| Ohio | Nonresidential construction contractors, subcontractors and labor brokers, no size threshold | March 19, 2026 | E-Verify Workforce Integrity Act |
Look up a state
The threshold is a definition, not a headcount
This is the part the tables lose, and it is the part that decides whether the rule applies to you. Five states set a number. All five count to it differently, and three of them exclude exactly the kind of worker a frontline employer has most of.
| State | The number | What the statute counts |
|---|---|---|
| Georgia | More than 10 | Only employees working not less than 35 hours per week, measured on January 1 of the year the affidavit is submitted |
| North Carolina | 25 or more | Employees in the state, excluding anyone whose employment term is under nine months in a calendar year |
| Tennessee | 35 or more | Full-time equivalent employees, not headcount |
| Florida | 25 or more | The statute sets the number and states no counting method |
| Utah | 150 or more | Employees, with foreign nationals on employer-petitioned H-2A or H-2B visas outside the rule |
Read across that table and the consequence is plain. A restaurant group with forty people on the payroll, half of them working twenty-five hours a week, is over the line in North Carolina and under it in Georgia. A packing operation that runs eight months of the year may employ two hundred people and count as none of them in North Carolina. A hotel counting heads in Tennessee is counting the wrong unit entirely.
Count your own workforce the way each statute counts it
What non-compliance actually costs
The federal I-9 penalty is a fine. Most state E-Verify penalties are not: they run at your license to trade. That is a different order of risk, and it is why these statutes sit with the operations team rather than with payroll.
| State | What happens |
|---|---|
| Alabama | First violation: terminate the unauthorized workers, three years of probation with quarterly employee reports, and licenses and permits suspended for up to 10 business days. Second: permanent revocation at that location. Beyond that: statewide suspension. |
| Florida | Three violations in 24 months brings a fine of $1,000 per day until the employer proves the noncompliance is cured, and noncompliance is grounds for suspension of all licenses. Verification records kept three years. |
| Mississippi | Cancellation of any state or public contract with up to three years of ineligibility, loss of any license or permit for up to a year, or both. |
| South Carolina | Failure to comply is a violation of the employer’s licenses. |
| Ohio | $250 for an initial violation rising to $25,000 for continued employment after a final nonconfirmation. The Attorney General investigates and issues the notice; the employer has 10 calendar days to request a hearing. |
| Louisiana | Failing both options: $500 per unauthorized worker, then $1,000, then $2,500 with license suspension of 30 days to six months. |
Two things changed in 2026, and one of them did not
Ohio is new and it is live. The E-Verify Workforce Integrity Act took effect on March 19, 2026 and covers nonresidential construction contractors, subcontractors and labor brokers with no minimum size. Covered employers create cases for new hires, keep records for three years from hire or one year from termination, whichever is later, and terminate anyone who receives a final nonconfirmation. Residential building, manufactured and mobile homes, industrialized units and agricultural structures are outside it.
Florida did not change. House Bill 197 would have removed the 25-employee threshold and reached every private employer from July 1, 2026. It passed the Florida House 80 to 30 on January 15, 2026 and then died in Rules on March 13, 2026. Florida’s threshold is still 25. Any page telling you Florida is about to cover everyone was written between those two dates and never updated.
And one quiet expiry worth diarizing
Utah’s private-employer requirement is written to repeal itself. Section 13-47-201 stands repealed on the earlier of July 1, 2027 or 120 days after the governor makes a finding described in Utah Code 63G-12-202(3)(a). Employers at or above 150 people in Utah are complying with a rule that currently has an end date on it.
Public employers and state contractors
Outside the states above, the obligation generally attaches to government employment or to bidding for government work rather than to employing people. These are listed as reported rather than re-read at statute, because the trigger in each case is a contract you would be reading anyway.
| State | Reach |
|---|---|
| Indiana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas | Public employers and state contractors |
| Minnesota | State contracts over $50,000 |
| Missouri | Public employers, state contracts over $5,000, and recipients of tax credits or abatements |
| Pennsylvania | Construction businesses, and public works contracts of $25,000 or more |
| Virginia | Public employers, and state contractors with more than 50 employees |
| Michigan | State transportation contractors, plus county-level requirements |
| West Virginia | Service providers at the State Capitol Complex |
Hiring in more than one state
The obligation follows the worksite, not the head office. An employer headquartered in a state with no mandate that opens a location in Alabama, Arizona, Mississippi or South Carolina is enrolled from its first hire there, and one crossing 25 people in Florida or North Carolina crosses into the mandate without anyone filing anything. Remote hiring makes this sharper: a company with no premises in a mandate state can still acquire the obligation by employing people who live there.
The practical reading is that E-Verify enrollment is a function of your hiring plan rather than of your current footprint. If a market you are advertising into is in one of the nine, the question is settled before the first application arrives, not after the first offer.
Where our own numbers stop
We can tell you what it costs to reach candidates in these markets, because we measure that. Across the 891 campaigns in our 2026 social job advertising benchmark the median campaign cost $13.88 per applicant, with warehouse and production roles at $9.83 and CDL drivers at $26.86. We have no data at all on E-Verify enrollment rates, tentative nonconfirmation rates, or how long a case takes to resolve, and we are not going to estimate any of them. What we would say is that the enrollment question belongs with the decision to hire in a state, not with the paperwork after it — the same argument we make about Form I-9 requirements, where the clock also starts at the hire.
Frequently asked questions
Which states require E-Verify for private employers?
Nine. Alabama, Arizona, Mississippi and South Carolina require it of every private employer. Florida requires it at 25 or more employees, North Carolina at 25 or more, Tennessee at 35 or more full-time equivalents, Georgia at more than ten, and Utah at 150 or more. Ohio requires it of nonresidential construction contractors, subcontractors and labor brokers with no size threshold, from March 19, 2026. Everywhere else the requirement reaches public employers and state contractors rather than employers generally.
Is E-Verify mandatory in Louisiana?
No. Louisiana R.S. 23:995 gives a private employer a choice: verify through E-Verify, or take and keep copies of specified identity and work authorization documents for each employee. Using E-Verify carries a benefit, since the employer is presumed to have acted in good faith and is not penalized for relying on the system, but an employer that keeps the document copies has complied. Louisiana is often listed as a mandate state and is not one.
How does Georgia count employees for its E-Verify threshold?
Georgia applies to private employers with more than ten employees, and counts only people employed to work not less than 35 hours per week. The count is taken on January 1 of the year the affidavit is submitted, and proof of E-Verify use is required before a business license or occupational tax certificate is issued. A business with thirty part-time staff working under 35 hours a week and eight full-time staff is under the threshold.
Do seasonal workers count toward the North Carolina threshold?
Generally not. North Carolina applies to employers with 25 or more employees in the state, and its definition of employee excludes an individual whose term of employment is less than nine months in a calendar year. A seasonal operation can employ a large workforce for part of the year and remain below the threshold, while a year-round employer of the same size is covered.
What is the Florida E-Verify threshold in 2026?
Twenty-five or more employees, unchanged. House Bill 197 would have extended the requirement to all private employers from July 1, 2026. It passed the Florida House on January 15, 2026 by 80 votes to 30 and then died in Rules on March 13, 2026. Private employers below 25 employees still verify each new hire within three business days using Form I-9 rather than E-Verify.
What are the penalties for not using E-Verify where it is required?
Mostly licensing rather than fines. Florida imposes $1,000 per day after three violations in 24 months and treats noncompliance as grounds to suspend all licenses. Alabama suspends licenses for up to ten business days on a first violation and revokes them permanently on a second. Mississippi can cancel public contracts with three years of ineligibility and withdraw a license for a year. Ohio runs from $250 to $25,000, enforced by the Attorney General.
Does Ohio require E-Verify?
For one sector, since March 19, 2026. The E-Verify Workforce Integrity Act covers nonresidential construction contractors, subcontractors and labor brokers working in Ohio, with no minimum employee count. Covered employers create cases for new hires, keep records for three years from the date of hire or one year after employment ends, whichever is later, and end the employment of anyone who receives a final nonconfirmation. Residential construction, manufactured homes and agricultural structures are excluded.
If I hire remote workers, whose state rules apply?
The state where the work happens, which for a remote worker is generally where they live rather than where the company is. An employer with no premises in a mandate state can acquire the obligation simply by employing people there, and an employer already in Florida or North Carolina can cross the 25-employee line without filing anything. Settle the question before advertising into a market rather than after making an offer.
Know the rule before you know the candidate
Bring the states you are hiring into and the roles you are filling. We will show you what applicant flow costs in those markets, so the enrollment question and the hiring plan get settled in the same conversation.
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