What Happens During an ICE Worksite Inspection?
What is ICE looking for when they audit your I-9 forms?
When you receive a Notice of Inspection, what should you expect? Most likely ICE will request your company produce the following within 3 days of receipt of a Notice of Inspection:
- A spreadsheet listing alphabetically all current and terminated employees with hire and termination dates in electronic form including the names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth of each employee.
- Copies of quarterly wage and hour reports and/or payroll data for all employees—current and terminated—covering the period of inspection, as well as quarterly tax statements.
- Business information, including the EIN, taxpayer identification number, owner’s Social Security number, owner’s contact information, articles of incorporation (if applicable) and copies of business licenses.
- Original Forms I-9s for current and past employees going back 3 years.
- Copies of Social Security no-match letters your company has received.
- A copy of any I-9 compliance plan or policy.
- The name, title and job description of those who are responsible to complete, store and maintain I-9s.
- The date the business was established, form of the business, where it is incorporated and its revenue.
- The department or job titles of employees.
- Quarterly unemployment insurance reports with the state or quarterly returns for Federal Income Contributions Act taxes.
My experience has been that many I-9 forms are incomplete or riddled with errors because there is no one person within company who “owns” this process. Since non-compliance with this law can result in major fines, penalties, sanctions and in some cases imprisonment, great care should be taken while completing the Form I-9.
Here’s my advice - Adopt, appoint and train one person within your company to manage the I-9 process. Draft a Form I-9 compliance policy that incorporates best practices that make sense for your company. Conduct annual I-9 audits in cooperation with an expert to identify problems and fix them before ICE comes knocking.
You may have a lot of work to do but it could save your business from large fines and penalties.
Tags: Expert Form I-9 audit, Form I-9, i 9 forms, I-9 audits, I-9 Compliance, I-9 Form, ICE Inspections, Notice of Inspection, Worksite Inspection
Form I-9, Form I-9 Enforcement, I-9 Compliance, ICE Inspections | admin | 
July 14, 2009 3:18 pm
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