The Department of Homeland Security has issued new and revised I-9 Forms that employers must begin using on May 7 for all new hires.  Failure to properly complete and retain the new forms can result in substantial fines and penalties.  With immigration being a hot issue in Washington, we should expect that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) will be vigilant in conducting audits to enforce the I-9 requirements.  Beware of ICE!

ICE will continue to focus its resources on the criminal prosecution of employers that knowingly hire illegal workers.  Audits of employers for compliance with I-9 requirements is the principal tool for ICE to identify and prosecute violators.  Unfortunately, those audits often result not in prosecution for hiring illegals, but in the imposition of substantial fines for paperwork and retention mistakes even where such mistakes have nothing to do with the employment of illegal aliens.  Under the matrix used for calculating fines, ICE punishes employers based on the percentage of Forms handled improperly, which means that an employer could be fined more than $1,000 per Form if it makes the same mistake in completing or maintaining the Forms for each new hire, even if there are no illegal employees and the mistakes are merely inadvertent or negligent errors.

Employers need to become familiar with the new two-page Form and its accompanying Instructions.  As a general rule, each new hire must fill out and sign Page 1, Section 1 of the Form no later than the first day of employment, but in no event prior to the employee’s acceptance of a job offer.  Section 1 includes a new request for the employee’s telephone number and email address, but employers should know, if asked, that the Instructions indicate that providing such information is optional (although it does not say so on the Form).  After completing Section 1, the employee will have three days to provide the employer with the required documents (Passport, Driver’s License, Social Security Card, Alien Registration, etc.) to prove identity and authorization to work in the U.S.  Employers may not demand or request that the employee produce a specific form of documentation from the List of Acceptable Documents included with the I-9 Form.  Once the proper documents have been produced, the employer must review them to determine that they are current, original and reasonably authentic, and carefully fill out, sign and certify Section 2 of the Form confirming that it has in fact reviewed the documents provided.  The Certification in Section 2 is critical, as it is not sufficient for the employer to simply attach copies of the documents to the Form.

While employers are not required to retain a copy of the documents, keeping a copy with the completed Form is recommended for all new hires, not just for foreign born employees, because it is illegal to discriminate based on an individual’s place of birth.  The I-9 Forms must be retained for the longer of three years from the date of hire or one year following termination, and should be kept in a folder separate from the employee’s personal file, which can easily be produced in the event of an audit.  Employers are subject to substantial fines if the Forms are not properly completed, signed and retained in conformance with the rules.

We recommend that employers audit their I-9 procedures to verify they are currently in compliance with Immigration requirements and to ensure that their HR staff is familiar with the new Form.  We also suggest that employers review their existing policies, or create an I-9 Compliance Policy, to ensure that the proper procedure is followed for each new hire.  Beware of ICE!