Early last month, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed HB 1853 into law and when he did, the threshold for mandatory use of the E-Verify system by private employers in the Volunteer State dropped from 50 to 35 employees. Effective on January 1, 2023, all employers in Tennessee with 35 or more employees will be required to use the federal electronic database to confirm that documentation provided by new hires is valid and they are employment eligible. Furthermore, those who use E-Verify can be protected from state claims of wrongful or retaliatory discharge if the employee authorization is invalid. Tennessee first mandated E-Verify back in 2012 (for employers with more than 500 employees phasing down over the past decade) and is now one of eight states that require its use by private employers. The others include Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Mississippi, North and South Carolina as well as Utah.