Comments on: Massive I-9 audits on the way: How to prepare

By: HR News and Topics for Nonprofits | Not-For-Profit Accounting

HR News and Topics for Nonprofits | Not-For-Profit Accounting — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 20:11:23 +0000

[...] start with the I-9 form. All employers are required to have these filled out by their employees. Federal agencies are stepping up their compliance audits of companies in an effort to crack down on illegal immigrants by going after employers. It is best [...]

By: Pam

Pam — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 19:14:21 +0000

We were audited for our I-9 forms a few weeks ago and came out just fine. As long as you are getting your information as required, and not hiring undocumented workers, you shouldn’t worry. It was a little time consuming but since we keep I-9 forms in a separate file, it was all in one place.

fyi…I did an audit on our files about 4 years ago and made sure we had everything in order. We keep updated photo ID’s on every employee and I have a spreadsheet that tracks when their ID is expiring and I need to get a new one. When someone changes their name, the I-9 form gets updated in the peroper area and copies are taken of their new ID with new name. The more work you put in before hand, the easier any audit will be. Good luck!

By: Mar

Mar — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:20:05 +0000

You would be surprised at how many people have their name spelled incorrectly on their SS card and never realized it. Or how many people were given one name at birth and have a different name on their SS card (different from birth certificate). Or how many people have nicknames on their SS card. And we had one gal who was married 24 years and never had her name changed with the SS dept!

By: Mar

Mar — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:14:05 +0000

We require ALL new hires to bring their Social Security Card at the time of hire. We make a copy and it is retained in our payroll dept. The reason for this is in IRS Publication 15 Circular E “Employer’s Tax Guide” (page 10) section 4 “Employee’s Social Security Number” “…If you do not provide the correct employee name and SSN on form W-2 you may owe a penalty unless you have reasonable cause…..” Our Payroll dept requires us to enter inot our HRIS all employee information EXACTLY as it appears on the SS card. HR keeps a copy of page 10 of Pub 15 and hands it out to applicants who balk at providing the SS card. This way we have no chance of someone giving us a wrong number, or a derivative of their correct name. This is done for EVERY employee so there can be no claim of discrimination.

Note that we do NOT tell them that the SS card is required for the I-9. The cover letter for our new hire package states:

“Please note – you will need to bring your social security card with you when we meet to complete your final paperwork. You will also need to bring 2 forms of identification – one from list “B” and one from list “C” (located on the back of the US Department of Justice Form I-9). In lieu of these 2 documents you may substitute one document from list “A”. ”

We make it very clear from the first contact with prospective employees that they will not be able to start work until ALL pieces of our new hire process are completed. This includes all information required in the new hire package.

By: Kathy (PHR)

Kathy (PHR) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 01:52:06 +0000

To Kim-

I attended a state SHRM annual conference and one suggestion that was given was to make a copy of the presented items for the I-9 and include with the employee I-9 file. They also recommended a separate I-9 file for each employee and that should be kept separate from the other employee record(s). That way with perhaps only 3 days prior notice for an I-9 audit – you will only need to pull that separate I-9 that includes all of the I-9 information only for each employee. No reason to give the auditors an opportunity to review anything else in the employee’s personnel file (confidential or otherwise).

By: K

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 21:41:58 +0000

Debbie…It’s best if you document why you needed to complete a new form and keep that in the same location where you store your completed I-9 forms. I recently did an internal audit here and found a few missing forms. We completed new forms for them and noted why in a document now stored with them.

Kim…I would not recommend attaching a copy of the documents to the form. The Government can view these and may have an easier chance of finding errors on your completed I-9 forms. In this case less information is better

Parker…The current I-9 form is valid only so long before it is revised. For example the current form was (rev 2/2/09). If you use this form for an employee hired in 2008 they will know you back dated the information.

By: HR 2

HR 2 — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:55:31 +0000

You can get a copy of the ID Checking Guide which clearly details what legitimate ID’s look like from all states and countries in North America (International Version available) too…..around $20…updated annually.

http://www.driverslicenseguide.com/

Not much left up to chance when you have these books on hand. Used them for years.

By: Parker

Parker — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:26:10 +0000

How can they prove if you backdated it?

By: Gina

Gina — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:28:49 +0000

@HR Director

The associate does not have to produce a SS card — in fact you cannot tell them what kind of ID they can present for the I9

If they have a passport — that’s a list A — it’s all you need.

You must accept any valid document from the back of the I9

By: Carol

Carol — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:52:28 +0000

Debbie, employees hired prior to 11/6/86 do not need to have an I-9 on file.