Utah E-Verify & Work Authorization

Private employers at or above the statutory headcount — 150 employees (raised from 15 by HB 252 in 2022; confirm the current threshold) — must register with and use a status-verification system such as E-Verify for new hires (Utah Code § 13-47-201). Public employers and public contractors must verify regardless of size.

Compliance confers a rebuttable presumption that the employer did not knowingly hire an unauthorized worker. Unlike Arizona, Utah does not revoke business licenses for non-use — the incentive is liability protection, not punishment.

Every employer — regardless of the state threshold — must still complete the federal Form I-9 (edition 01/20/2025) for each new hire. That duty (8 U.S.C. § 1324a) has no size threshold at all. § 1324b is a separate statute and its coverage is split. The Justice Department's Immigrant and Employee Rights Section treats unfair documentary practices (§ 1324b(a)(6)) and retaliation (§ 1324b(a)(5)) as reaching an employer of any size. But the bar on citizenship-status and national-origin discrimination in hiring and discharge (§ 1324b(a)(1)) starts at four employees — § 1324b(a)(2)(A) excepts an entity that “employs three or fewer employees,” and national-origin claims against employers with 15 or more go to the EEOC under Title VII instead. Being under four is not a safe harbour: 42 U.S.C. § 1981 reaches ancestry and ethnicity discrimination at any size.

Confirm your headcount against the current statutory threshold, register for E-Verify if you're covered (or voluntarily, for the safe harbor), complete I-9s for everyone, and apply verification uniformly. Don't pre-screen applicants through E-Verify before hire.