Missing I-9? What To Do

Yesterday, we looked at some of the key aspects of the I-9 rules. Today, the penalties you face if you get it wrong—plus an answer to the question of what to do if you discover that you’re missing I-9s for one or more employees.

The info below is courtesy of Dora V. Lane and Anthony L. Hall of Holland & Hart.

For yesterday’s installment, click here.

Penalties

Failure to comply with the IRCA’s I-9 rules can result in significant fines, loss of access to government contracts, and highly negative publicity for your company. Penalties can be imposed for hiring unauthorized workers as well as for simply committing paperwork violations, even if all of your workers are authorized to work.

Employment of unauthorized workers may result in fines up to $16,000 and six months’ imprisonment. Employers that knowingly hire or continue to employ unauthorized aliens can be barred from competing for government contracts for a year. 

Paperwork violations can also result in significant fines. Each mistake or missing item on a form can result in a $110 penalty, topping out at $1,100 for each form. A missing form would automatically be assessed at $1,100.

In addition, an individual who knowingly commits or participates in document fraud may be fined between $375 and $3,200 per document for the first offense and between $3,200 and $6,500 per document for subsequent offenses. 

I-9s, E-Verify, and More: 2012 Immigration Update for California Employers—webinar coming this Friday!

What to Do About Missing I-9s 

If you discover that you don’t have an I-9 form on file for an employee, you must immediately ask him to complete an I-9 and submit supporting documentation. The new form should be dated when it’s completed and never backdated. 

If an employee cannot provide acceptable documentation, you are on notice of his ineligibility to work. You may be subject to penalties for “knowingly” continuing to employ a worker under those circumstances. As always, you should contact your attorney about how to handle such a situation.

I-9s, E-Verify, and More: 2012 Immigration Update for California Employers 2011 was a challenging year for immigration issues in the workplace, and 2012 isn’t shaping up to be much better:

* Federal inspectors are turbo-charging their audits of immigrant hiring practices and paperwork, inspecting thousands of companies across the country. What’s worse, they’re now targeting employers in these investigations, not illegal workers.

* After a major court battle, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has resumed sending “no-match” letters to employers when the information provided by employees to verify U.S. work eligibility doesn’t match the data in SSA’s files. They’re different than previous “no-match” letters, and they’re causing lots of headaches for employers.

* Regulators have begun revising (again!) the confusing, dreaded I-9 form because the current version raises lots of questions in practice (from the types of identification documents employees must present to the deadline for employers to complete the form for new hires).

* E-Verify—the federal system for determining work eligibility—continues triggering lots of complaints, from “false positives” that incorrectly flag workers as ineligible to legal concerns about the system’s photo screening tool.

Plus, the USCIS has “stepped up” its fraud investigations, and DOL and ICE have increased their wage/hour and I-9 audits. Understandably, employers aren’t completely clear on what to do if they undergo an investigation—particularly since they can now be hit on multiple fronts at once.

Participate in our interactive and timely webinar tomorrow and learn:

* Best practices for bulletproofing your I-9 procedures—from filling out, verifying, filing, and destroying the forms to auditing your I-9s and dealing with workers who refuse to submit them
* The documentation employees are allowed to submit for I-9 verification—and why you shouldn’t collect more than is legally required
* What to do if you receive a no-match letter—and what you should never do
* The latest updates on E-Verify, including tips for handling “tentative non-confirmations” properly and giving your employees notice that you’re using the system
* Practical guidelines for avoiding the most common bias claims related to immigration issues
* How you should handle federal immigration records requests, audits, and on-site inspections
* The industries that are particularly vulnerable to DOL and ICE audits, inspections, and raids

In just 90 minutes, you’ll learn everything you need to know about shoring up your policies and procedures relating to I-9s, E-Verify, and more to make your organization resistant to lawsuits and government audits. Register now for this timely event risk-free.

Can’t make it tomorrow? No problem. Just order the CD and learn at your leisure.

Download your free copy of 20 Must-Have Employee Handbook Policies today!