When the government cracks down, as it has been doing over I-9 and immigration procedures, it’s vital to ensure that your processes are correct. This checklist can help.
Yesterday’s Daily Advisor reported on government efforts to curtail illegal immigration by eliminating the principal lure that brings these immigrants here … jobs that, even for the most unpleasant work, still pay many times what foreign workers can earn back home.
This crackdown has U.S. employers in somewhat of a vise. On one hand, hiring illegal immigrants can hit employers with penalties and even criminal prosecution if the hiring was “knowingly” done. On the other hand, questioning jobseekers about their national origins, unless handled right, opens the door to charges of discrimination. What to do?
Answer: Make sure your procedures are correct every time. Here’s a quick immigration status checklist:
–Ask each jobseeker whether he/she is authorized to work in the United States. Do not ask about place of birth or national origin.
–Have each new hire fill out a Form I-9 within 3 days of starting work.
–Be sure the documents that confirm identity and authorization to work are included in the lists on the back of the I-9 form and that they appear genuine. Accept originals only. And though it’s required only in some states, keep copies of the documents with the I-9s.
–If corrections are needed, attach the corrected I-9 to the previous I-9. Never alter an I-9 already written.
–Store I-9s for current employees, in alphabetical order, in one place, and for terminated employees, in chronological order, in a separate place.
–Keep I-9s on file at least 3 years for current employees and for at least 1 year after an employee has left, whichever is longer.
–If Social Security issues a “no match” letter, take no action against the employee without first going through the error checking procedures the agency recommends.
–Consider joining programs that automate status checks, such as Basic Pilot.
–Investigate whether your state has tougher laws on hiring immigrants than the federal.
–Train certain staff to handle the I-9 process and let no one else do it.
–Conduct an annual I-9 audit. Have this done by a third-party firm or someone not involved in the day-to-day I-9 process.
The Power of the Checklist
If you found the above set of tips useful, you realize the value of the checklist. It’s a simple device, but one that channels your thinking and requires you to address things you might not have thought of on your own. Checklists also enforce consistency … the same procedure done the same way in all cases. That’s vital in the HR setting, where even a hint of discrimination can land you in court.
If you find checklists of value in HR, you may be interested in the BLR program, HR Audit Checklists.
Check out your HR program with HR Audit Checklists. Try it for 30 days! Click here.
Housed in a binder, the program contains dozens of extensive lists organized into reproducible packets for distribution to your line managers and supervisors. There’s a separate packet for each of the following areas:
–HR Administration (including communications, handbook content, and recordkeeping)
–Health and Safety (including OSHA responsibilities)
–Benefits and Leave (including health cost containment, COBRA, FMLA, workers’ compensation, and several areas of leave)
–Compensation (payroll and the Fair Labor Standards Act)
–Staffing and Training (incorporating Equal Employment Opportunity in recruiting and hiring, including immigration issues)
–Performance and Termination (appraisals, discipline, and termination)
Anatomy of a Checklist Packet
Because the items on checklists may make little sense unless viewed in context, each packet also contains a background summary of the key laws and issues revolving around that topic. Let’s take the packet on Employee Handbooks in the HR Management section as an example.
Don’t “just do it” … do it right. HR Audit Checklists show you how. Read more.
Before doing the checklists, the reader is informed on how a sloppily written handbook can actually form unintended contracts with employees. The lists then turn that concept into actionable items to check to keep it from happening. Here are three items from the checklist on writing a handbook:
* Have you asked your attorney to review your handbook? []Yes []No
* Do you reserve the right to unilaterally alter your handbook? []Yes []No
* Do you require employees to acknowledge that employment is at will? []Yes []No
If you answered “yes” to all these questions, you’ve skirted a real danger … the possible abrogation of the employer-at-will relationship. But would you have thought of asking them without the prodding of a checklist? Now multiply that “save” into hundreds more like it, and you’ve got a sense of the value of the program.
HR Audit Checklists is available for a no-cost, no-risk evaluation in your office for up to 30 days. Click on the link below, and we’ll be happy to arrange it.
Don’t Do It Until You’ve Checked!
Before you take any HR action, consult a carefully thought out, legally reviewed checklist. You’ll find dozens of them, on every critical HR area, in BLR’s HR Audit Checklists program. Review it at no cost for 30 days. Read more.