As an employer, do you need to train your hiring managers to complete the Form I-9 correctly? The answer is a resounding “YES“!
Errors and omissions during the I-9 process are so common that employers who believe they are completing the I-9 correctly are surprised to discover they are at great risk of fines when audited by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during a document inspection. The time to discover these mistakes is BEFORE a government audit, NOT during!
The Form I-9 may appear to be a simple one page document that shouldn’t require a lot of training to complete. You need to be aware this “simple form” carries with it a minefield of possible mistakes, omissions, and offenses – some punishable by FELONY charges!
It is an unfortunate fact of doing business that many hiring managers who are responsible for completing the I-9 have never received any formal training. This lack of formal training leads hiring managers to perpetually make the same mistakes over and over – never realizing they are not completing the Form I-9 correctly.
Often, under pressure to be sure they are not hiring undocumented workers, managers take additional steps not allowed under the law to “be sure” they are hiring legal workers…only to be accused of discriminatory hiring practices! To make matters worse the Form I-9, Lists of Acceptable Documents contains immigration documents most employers have never seen. How do you know if a document is genuine if you’ve never seen it before? How do you know if someone is authorized to work in the U.S.?
The US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) lists “training” as one of its top 10 best practices for employers to ensure complete Form I-9 compliance. Yet over and over again I meet employers who don’t offer formal I-9 training. Hiring managers are assigned this extremely important piece of compliance without the correct skills to complete the task correctly.
Are you providing your staff with the tools they need to be the most effective? Is the Form I-9 process protecting your business or is it putting you at greater risk? If you are not offering the best training available, your company is at risk.
How Do You Know?
- What if your hiring managers aren’t taking the Form I-9 seriously?
- What if the I-9 is just one more thing on their “to do” list?
- Worse yet, what if they are purposefully circumventing the I-9 process in order to hire illegal workers?
When Will You Find Out?
If you are like Howard Industries, a manufacturing company in Mississippi, you find out when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) investigates your business and you ultimately pay $2.5 million dollars in fines as a result of the actions of one human resources manager.
According to court records this one “rogue” HR manager routinely hired unauthorized workers who presented fake documents and completed the Form I-9 with the false information. The same HR manager was also accused of ignoring notices from the Social Security Administration that SS numbers submitted for some employees were invalid.
ICE claimed the HR manager regularly instructed employees to obtain fake IDs. He plead guilty and faces a maximum of 5 years imprisonment on the conspiracy charge and on each employee verification fraud count. He also faces a minimum of 2 years of imprisonment for the aggravated identity theft charge and a possible fine up to $250,000.
As a result of the actions of this one “rogue” employee, Howard Industries was charged with knowingly and willfully conspiring to encourage and induce undocumented workers to reside in the U.S. and knowingly conspiring to conceal, harbor and shield from detection such workers. The company agreed to plead guilty to the one-count felony of “Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud United States” which called for a term of not less than one and not more than 5 years of probation and a fine of up to $500,000. The fine was substantially enhanced to $2.5 million due to the nature of the crime, the number of workers involved and the size of the company.
What’s the Message Here?
Failure to comply with Form I-9 requirements can lead to huge fines, criminal indictments, and even prison sentences! The impact on your company’s image due to negative press as well as the enormous legal cost of defending yourself must also be considered.
To protect your business I urge you to order a full 3rd party audit of your I-9 records by a qualified expert. Sure you can audit your own I-9 forms, but an in-house audit is a case of “the fox watching the hen house” and offers little if any protection against I-9 abuse.
You should also develop a comprehensive Form I-9 policy and procedure plan to address such issues as document fraud. Order training for all your hiring managers so they fully understand the entire I-9 process and the risk of non-compliance.
ICE investigations continue to increase by the day. Now is the time to take a good look at your Form I-9 compliance program and get the help you need to protect your business from financial ruin.
A Subway franchisee in North Carolina with 11 employees is probably wishing he had proper I-9 procedures in place before ICE visited him and cost him a lengthy legal battle and over $27,000 in fines. Macy’s department stores in Florida are licking their wounds after answering allegations of document abuse and paying stiff penalties concerning the Form I-9. Chipotle is reeling after its Minneapolis restaurants were audited by ICE and is now facing more scrutiny in Virginia and DC. As a result of the audit they have fired hundreds of employees and are facing a public relations nightmare.
How Will Your Company Fair When ICE Comes Knocking?
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is on a mission and your business is in their crosshairs. This week, ICE issued 1000 Notices of Inspection to companies just like yours requesting Form I-9 documentation for all current employees plus the I-9 records of all employees terminated within the last 3 years.
Statistically, over 80% of those employers will pay civil money penalties for errors and omissions on the I-9. An ICE document inspection is a full audit of your company’s I-9 documents and EVERYTHING counts! It is not enough to have a Form I-9 on file for all employees. It must be 100% complete and accurate or you will pay significant fines. The more employees you have, the higher your risk.
It is a Costly Misconception that ICE is Only Looking for Illegal Workers
The above referenced Subway in North Carolina paid fines averaging over $2000 per employee. If your company has 100 employees, you could be facing fines of a quarter of a million dollars or more! Are you willing and/or able to take that chance?
As a proactive, prudent employer you should address your Form I-9 processes today. Focus on Best Practices such as:
Aggressive worksite enforcement by ICE is here to stay and there is no excuse for ignoring your responsibility to the Form I-9 any longer. Taking affordable proactive steps now can save you time, money, and your corporate image in the future.
Chipotle and other restaurants are in the crosshairs of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). To date, Chipotle has been audited in Minnesota and as reported by the Wall Street Journal, will also have restaurants in Virginia and Washington,D.C., undergo a Form I-9 document inspection by ICE auditors.
The Huffington Post invites readers to comment on the article posted. After reviewing readers’ comments, it is clear the general public does not understand the employer’s responsibility to the Form I-9 and the employer’s struggle to balance the anti-discrimination provisions of the law with the need to hire only authorized workers.
It seems the public believes when an employer, as in the case of Chipotle, is investigated by ICE and is found to have employees with “suspect documents”, the employer has purposefully and knowingly hired illegal workers because they are available, cheap labor. Unfortunately, the employer is considered “guilty” in the court of public opinion because of the appearance of impropriety.
At this point in the investigation and with the information that has been released, it is impossible to conclude what role Chipotle played in hiring employee’s who presented “suspect documents”.
The employer’s burden is “simple” at first glance. The law requires every employer to complete the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification on the first day the employee starts to work. The I-9 requires the employee to attest, under penalty of felony perjury, they are authorized to work in the U.S. The employer then must examine certain documents provided by the employee to verify the new hire’s identity and work eligibility. Sounds simple right?
Unfortunately, the Form I-9 process was developed in 1986 and has changed very little since its inception. The ability to produce fraudulent or counterfeit documents with today’s sophisticated technology has created a terrible “Catch 22″ for employers. The law does not require an employer to be a document expert and the employer cannot be expected to be able to identify “quality” counterfeit documents when hiring individuals who present fake documents.
The law also protects employees from unlawful discrimination by limiting the employer’s ability to ask for additional documentation in most circumstances. New tools such as E-Verify are available but they too have issues and limitations.
The bottom line is the employer may have done all of the right things under the law and still end up hiring illegal workers. Hiring authorized workers is an extremely complex, complicated matter. It is unfortunate that the general public only sees one aspect of the process and is all too quick to rush to judgment based on media reports and their perception of the problem.
Your company’s image is one of your most important assets. It is likely you have spent years and tens of thousands of dollars, maybe even millions, developing your brand. It is likely that you have a marketing plan and budget. It is likely you spend a lot of time and energy developing your products and services to exceed your customer’s expectations.
What if It All Comes Crashing Down?
What if one day, it all goes terribly wrong? Ask Toyota. Their marketing plan shifted suddenly from promoting their products to damage control due to a very public defect in their cars was discovered. Hundreds of millions of dollars later, their reputation as “the” quality car maker has been irreparably damaged. They are now on a mission to repair the consumer’s trust it took them decades to earn.
What Does this Have to do with Form I-9 and Immigration Compliance?
Ask Chipotle. In the wake of an ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) I-9 document inspection in Chipotle Mexican restaurants in Minneapolis, the restaurant chain fired hundreds of workers. The firings prompted protests in 9 states where protesters chained themselves together in restaurants and carried signs. According to Fox News9 in Minneapolis, 8 people were arrested during the protest in the Minneapolis restaurant.
As the immigration debate rages on and ICE continues its aggressive I-9 enforcement strategies, employers are at greater risk of this kind of negative publicity. The importance of 100% Form I-9 compliance is illustrated over and over again. The employer is responsible for completing the Form I-9 timely and accurately, updating the form when required, and retaining the form in accordance with the law.
The very sad fact is most companies get it wrong…even the ones who believe they are complying with Form I-9 requirements are not. If you haven’t had a qualified expert review your I-9 process, I can almost guarantee your company is at risk. Are you willing to bet your reputation on it?
Independent 3rd Party Form I-9 Audit
ICE considers an expert 3rd party Form I-9 audit a “Best Practice” in an employer’s effort to achieve full compliance. Failing to plan is planning to fail. What will happen if you “fail” an ICE inspection? Perhaps Chipotle’s mistakes will be the catalyst that drives you to seriously focus on your company’s Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification compliance and hire the right expert to assess your compliance efforts.
To discuss your particular situation with a Form I-9 professional, take advantage of I-9 Okay’s FREE 15 minute consultation. Call 1-866-580-9390 today.
Form I-9, I 9 Review and Audit, I-9 Compliance | admin | 
April 12, 2011 10:08 am | 
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