During July of 2009, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) initiated an I-9 investigation of Alyn Industries as part of an I-9 document audit initiative that is holding employers accountable for hiring practices. Alyn Industries (dba Electronic Source Company) manufactures printed circuit board assemblies for companies in the aerospace, military, medical, wireless and telecommunication industries. As of December 2010, they had 50 employees.

When Alyn submitted their Forms I-9 in response to the Notice of Inspection, ICE noted several deficiencies including Alyn’s failure to present Forms I-9 for 2 employees, failure to complete Section 1 for 1 employee and failure to complete Section 2 for 59 employees.  Based on the I-9 violations discovered during the audit, ICE issued a Notice of Intent to fine Alyn in the amount of $64,767.00.

When Alyn went to court they argued the fines were excessive because they are a small business, they had no previous violations and the company is a victim of poor economic conditions.  Alyn is a privately owned company that operates one worksite in California. Alyn also argued that they acted in good faith because after the ICE inspections they had enrolled in E-Verify and had instituted other I-9 compliance procedures.

In response to Alyn’s arguments, the judge reminded them the issue of good faith is based on whether the employer reasonably attempted to comply with its I-9 obligations prior to an ICE inspection. The important component of good faith depends on when the employer made the effort to comply.

In the end the judge ruled and Alyn Industries was ordered to pay $43,000 in civil money penalties as a result of Form I-9 violations.

Protecting your company from this type of action is a matter of proactively addressing I-9 issues through training, third-party audits, and compliance policies before an ICE inspection.  Once ICE issues a notice of inspection there is little you can do to mitigate the risk of fines.

Unfortunately many companies like Alyn Industries are doing too little too late to protect themselves against the penalties associated with a Form I-9 inspection.  Take action today. Contact I-9 Okay about Form I-9 training and independent I-9 audits.

On May 11, 2010, USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) announced it will begin issuing a “new and improved” Permanent Resident Card, which most of us know as the Green Card.  In a moment of genius, the designers of the card decided to make it green in color for ease of recognition!

The new Permanent Resident Card incorporates state-of-the-art technology to prevent counterfeiting and facilitate accurate authentication. USCIS will now issue all Green Cards in the new, more secure format.  Recipients of the redesigned Permanent Resident Card will include those newly approved lawful permanent residents, as well as those who get a renewal or replacement card.

Although this seems to be a positive step in decreasing incidents of identity theft and document fraud, it creates more uncertainty for employers.  It becomes the employer’s burden to identify legitimate documents when many employers are not familiar with every version of the Green Card issued over time.

There have been several versions of the Green Card issued over the years.  The first Green Card was issued in 1946 and was referred to at that time as an Alien Registration Receipt Card.  Few of these are still in circulation; they contain no expiration date and as of March 20, 1996 are no longer valid evidence of permanent residency.  Other versions of the Resident Alien Card were issued in 1977 and again in 1989.  Neither the 1977 card nor the 1989 were green in color.

In 1997, the card was renamed to Permanent Resident Card and updated yet again in 2004.  Each time the card was updated, additional security measures were added. As for the most current version issued just this week, holders of older cards will only receive the redesigned Permanent Resident Card when seeking a renewal or replacement card.

Employers should choose to work with a qualified expert to help them navigate the complex requirements of the Form I-9.  Inspecting work authorization and identity documents is an integral part of meeting your responsibility to verify the work eligibility of each person you hire.  The experts at I-9 Okay have reviewed thousands of employee identity documents and are ready to assist you with all of your Form I-9 and E-Verify needs.

If you are an employer who hires employees under the age of 18, you may not be aware that the Form I-9 has special provisions for minors.

As a general rule, every employee must present proof of identity and work eligibility as part of the I 9 compliance process.  Some minors however, may not be able to present the required documents.

If a minor cannot present a List A document or an identity document from List B, the employer should have the parent or legal guardian complete Section 1.  On the signature line, the parent should write “Individual under age 18” and the parent/guardian must complete the Preparer/Translator certification block.

In Section 2, List B, the employer should write “Individual under age 18”.  The minor employee must still present a List C document showing his or her work eligibility and the employer must record the List C information in the appropriate place on the Form I-9.

The I 9 compliance process includes provisions for many “special” circumstances.  Being well informed and having an expert consultant to give advice regarding special circumstances makes the complex requirements of the I-9 easier to navigate.

The Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification appears to be a simple 1 page document, yet employers are suffering huge fines and penalties for failing to comply with the requirements of the I-9 process. Failure to execute the I-9 properly, inspect the correct documents, store the form, and re-verify when necessary, will cost an employer thousands of dollars in fines and penalties.

As a part of many contracts, sub-contractors must provide the general contractor with proof of I 9 compliance before workers are allowed on the job site. This workshop will help you get your I-9 forms in order so they are approved the first time they are submitted to the 3rd party auditor.

I 9 Compliance Boot Camp and Basic Training

Three dates to choose from:

Date: March 11, 2010
Time: 12:00 MST
Cost: $89.00 Spring Special (Regularly $149.00)

Date: March 16, 2010
Time: 12:00 PM MST
Cost: $89.00 Spring Special (Regularly $149.00)

Date: March 24, 2010
Time: 11:00 am MST
Cost: $89.00 Spring Special (Regularly $149.00)

Register today and take this opportunity to put your company on the right track when it comes to Form I-9 compliance.

Accepting the correct documents from employees for purposes of the Form I-9 can be a confusing task.  Time after time, we find employers have not fulfilled their responsibility to the Employment Eligibility Verification I- 9 process because they have not accepted appropriate documents from their new employee.

In part, the confusion happens because many hiring managers don’t fully understand the reason for the I-9 form.  The purpose of the Form I-9 is to insure that every person hired by an employer is eligible to work in the United States.  The Employment Eligibility Verification or Form I-9 requires that the employer verify both the identity and work eligibility of the people they hire.

The I-9 form comes with a list of Acceptable Documents.  There are 3 lists:

• List A – Documents on List A are documents that prove both a person’s identity and their work authorization.  If an employee presents any document that is on List A, that is all that is required.  The employer should not ask to see any more documents.
• List B – Documents on List B are identity documents.  All of the documents on List B only prove someone’s identity.  If a new hire presents any item from List B the employer has only fulfilled half of their responsibility – they have verified the new hire’s identity but they still have the burden to verify work eligibility and will need to see a document from List C.
• List C – Documents on List C are work authorization documents.  All of the documents on List C prove a person’s eligibility to work in the United States.  In addition to a List C document the employer must also accept a List B identity document in order to fulfill the requirements of the Form I-9.

THE RULE – Accept either:

1 Document from List A

OR

1 Document from List B and 1 Document from List C

Be sure the documents you accept are actually on the List of Acceptable I 9 documents.  Recently, we have seen issues with employers accepting documents that are not part of the lists.  Firearms Carry Permits, Union Cards, Library Cards, are not on the List of Acceptable Documents and cannot be used as proof of work authorization for purposes of the I-9 form.

Employers must pay attention to the details of the Form I-9 in order to protect themselves from errors and omissions that will end up costing them when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) investigates.  Fines and penalties for I-9 document errors can cost an employer up to $1,100 per occurrence.  Other areas of concern are document fraud and discrimination penalties, some of which may land hiring managers and company executives in jail!

E-Verify is an Internet-based system that allows employers to confirm the legal working status of every new hire using the information obtained on the Form I-9.  E-Verify can match an employer’s new hire’ s Social Security Number and other Form I-9 information and return a confirmation of work authorization within seconds.  Most initial verification results are returned within 3 to 5 second.