• FREE RESOURCES
        • Creating a Legally Sound Remote Work Policy: The 5 Biggest Pitfalls to Avoid
          Creating a Legally Sound Remote Work Policy: The 5 Biggest Pitfalls to Avoid
          Employment Law
          FMLA Cheat Sheet: A Handy At-A-Glance Guide
          HR Career & Self-Care
          Lead Magnet: 110 Traits of Highly Effective HR Pros
          11 Traits of Highly Effective HR Pros
          Recruiting
          New Employee Checklist
          Recruiting
          How to Write a Job Description Worksheet
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • HR DEEP DIVES
  • CORONAVIRUS & HR

  • LOGIN
  • SIGN UP FREE

HR Morning

  • FREE RESOURCES
        • Creating a Legally Sound Remote Work Policy: The 5 Biggest Pitfalls to Avoid
          Creating a Legally Sound Remote Work Policy: The 5 Biggest Pitfalls to Avoid
          Employment Law
          FMLA Cheat Sheet: A Handy At-A-Glance Guide
          HR Career & Self-Care
          Lead Magnet: 110 Traits of Highly Effective HR Pros
          11 Traits of Highly Effective HR Pros
          Recruiting
          New Employee Checklist
          Recruiting
          How to Write a Job Description Worksheet
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • HR DEEP DIVES
  • CORONAVIRUS & HR
  • Employment Law
  • Benefits
  • Recruiting
  • Talent Management
  • Performance Management
  • HR Technology
  • More
    • Leadership & Strategy
    • Compensation
    • Staff Administration
    • Policy & Procedures
    • Wellness
    • Staff Departure
    • Employee Services
    • Work Location
    • HR Career & Self-Care
    • Health Care
    • Retirement Plans

Why HRs pros want to kill I-9 and what they want instead

Jared Bilski
by Jared Bilski
June 21, 2018
3 minute read
  • SHARE ON

If you’re in favor of ditching the current employment verification process – the paper-based I-9 form – for a mandatory electronic system, you’re not alone.
According to the SHRM Employment Verification Survey, 83% of employers either strongly or somewhat support a mandatory electronic verification system. Plus, employers’ support of such a system would be even higher if it:

  • avoids allegations of employment-based discrimination (cited by 95% of employers)
  • includes a strong safe harbor to protect employers (95%)
  • authenticates identity (94%), and
  • eliminates the Form I-9 (89%).

Review documents, discard excess

But while firms may want to do away with the hassle of I-9 compliance, the reality is they still have to deal with it. And now is the perfect time for a review of your I-9 compliance efforts for a number of reasons.
For starters, the most recently revised form became mandatory in the fall.
Plus, the Dept. of Homeland Security’s Immigration & Customs Enforcement agency (also known as ICE) can investigate your company’s I-9 records on an at-will basis – and has already been increasing these investigations with higher fines.
And because I-9 administration is one of the most routine tasks HR, benefits and payroll pros handle, it’s easy for minor issues to fall through the cracks.
But even the most minor issues can prove costly in the event of a federal visit. That’s why regular self-audits are so important.
Key: Before conducting the self-audit, make sure your roster of employees is up to date.
As employers know, all employees hired on or after Nov. 6, 1986, must have a completed I-9 on file. If you discover an employee doesn’t have an I-9 for whatever reason, make every effort to resolve the issue ASAP.

Review documents, discard excess

During your audit, you’ll want to make sure all documentation is accounted for. Chances are, you may have been hanging on to some unnecessary paperwork.
Employers are only required to keep documentation for former employees for one year after separation or three years, whichever is later.
Keeping documents you don’t need only gets in the way of your documentation process and could slow down your procedures.

4 common problems

During the audit, you’ll want to watch for these common errors:
1. Missing signatures. This error is made by both employees and employers. Recently, a staffing firm didn’t have the correct person signing for its remote workers and wound up getting hit with a $227,000 fine.
Another example: An event planning company failed to notice that Section 2 of the I-9s lacked all workers’ signatures. It wound up with more than 800 violations and a $605,250 fine.
2. Blank fields. Several fields in the I-9 are optional for employees (e-mail, telephone, etc.), but they can’t be left blank. These optional fields must include “N/A” in them. Employers can’t correct even the most obvious omissions, so if you notice a blank field, it’s critical to return the form to the employee to add “N/A.”
Note: Employees’ Social Security numbers aren’t required unless the employer uses E-verify.
3. Failing to help employees with Section 1. While not technically a mistake, not using a trained I-9 staffer to supervise staff filling out Section 1 often leads to mistakes and errors.
4. Failing to fix errors correctly. When mistakes are discovered on Section 2 and 3 of the form, the corrections must be initialed and dated by employers (Section 1 must be completed by the employee only).

Get the latest from HRMorning in your inbox PLUS immediately access 10 FREE HR guides.

I WANT MY FREE GUIDES

Keep Up To Date with the Latest HR News

With HRMorning arriving in your inbox, you will never miss critical stories on labor laws, benefits, retention and onboarding strategies.

Sign up for a free HRMorning membership and get our newsletter!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
HR Morning Logo
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Linked In
  • ABOUT HRMORNING
  • ADVERTISE WITH US
  • WRITE FOR US
  • CONTACT
  • Employment Law
  • Benefits
  • Recruiting
  • Talent Management
  • Performance Management
  • HR Technology
  • Leadership & Strategy
  • Compensation
  • Staff Administration
  • Policy & Procedures
  • Wellness
  • Staff Departure
  • Employee Services
  • Work Location
  • HR Career & Self-Care
  • Health Care
  • Retirement Plans

HRMorning, part of the SuccessFuel Network, provides the latest HR and employment law news for HR professionals in the trenches of small-to-medium-sized businesses. Rather than simply regurgitating the day’s headlines, HRMorning delivers actionable insights, helping HR execs understand what HR trends mean to their business.

Privacy Policy Terms of Service
Copyright © 2022 SuccessFuel

WELCOME BACK!

Enter your username and password below to log in

Forget Your Username or Password?

Reset Password

Lost your password? Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.

Log In

During your free trial, you can cancel at any time with a single click on your “Account” page.  It’s that easy.

Why do we need your credit card for a free trial?

We ask for your credit card to allow your subscription to continue should you decide to keep your membership beyond the free trial period.  This prevents any interruption of content access.

Your card will not be charged at any point during your 21 day free trial
and you may cancel at any time during your free trial.

preloader