This Ford & Harrison, LLP memorandum covers California's recent enaction of The Employment Acceleration Act of 2011. The new law prohibits California state and local governments from requiring employers to use the federal E-Verify program to check the employment eligibility of new employees. Despite the new law, California employers must continue to comply with the federal Employment Eligibility Verification (form I-9) process as well as the federal E-Verify requirements for federal contractors. Employers are also free to use the E-Verify program voluntarily.