Maintaining I-9s: Top Ten Do’s and Don’ts
Don’t get sloppy with your I-9
employment eligibility verification forms.
This year, the U.S. Citizenship
and Immigration Services (USCIS) will initiate a great deal of
Penalties: Poor documentation can cost you $1000 per worker, and knowingly hiring an illegal immigrant can result in a $10,000-per-worker fine.
To sidestep potential legal trouble and discrimination complaints, follow these ten I-9 do’s and don’ts:
1. Do require all new hires to
complete and sign Section 1 on their first day of work.
2. Don’t ask an applicant to
complete an I-9 prior to making a job offer. Unhired applicants
can use I-9 information to
allege that you discriminated against them.
3. Do review employee documents
to make sure they’re on the new version of the I-9’s list of
acceptable documents and that
they appear genuine. (See the new I-9 on our web site at
www.hcsiinc.com on the
“Updates/News” link.)
4. Don’t ask new hires for any
particular documents or for more documents than the I-9
requires. The employee chooses
the documents, not you.
5. Do establish a consistent
procedure for completing I-9s, and educate your hiring managers on the
procedure.
6. Don’t consider the expiration
date of I-9 documentation when making hiring or firing
decisions.
7. Do make and retain copies of
all I-9 documents provided. (Only a few states make this
mandatory, but it’s a good
idea.)
8. Don’t forget to keep a
tickler file to follow up on expiring documents that limit the
employee’s authorization to
work. You don’t have to re-verify identity documents, such as a
driver’s license.
9. Do keep I-9s and copies of
documents for three years after the employee’s hire date or one
year after his or her
termination, whichever comes first.
10. Don’t put the I-9 in an
employee’s personnel file. To protect against discrimination claims,
keep it and supporting documentation in a
separate file.
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