What is Form I-9 and What is the Importance of I-9 Compliance?
How compliant is your company with the Form I-9 requirements? Since 1986, the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) has mandated the use of a Form I-9 by all U.S. employers. This form is used for employment eligibility verification of all newly hired employees – both citizen and non-citizen – and must be completed within three business days of employment.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Have You Scheduled A Review Of Your Employment Practices For 2012?
There are significant changes to employment practices for 2012, are you ready? The Wage and Hour Division expects to conduct an additional 3,250 investigations in 2012, which will mainly target industries with higher rates of violations. These industries are construction, child care, home health care, grocery stores, janitorial businesses, poultry and meat processing, business services and landscaping.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Businesses Should Leave I-9 Audits To The Professionals
Company’s should audit their Form I-9’s annually, with a trained internal employee or an outside professional organization. One of the most common questions for employers under the Alabama Immigration Law is “how can I show a good faith belief my current workers are legal?” This question comes often as cities, counties and state agencies begin to send out letters to those who do business with them and are being asked to sign an E-Verify Affidavit of Compliance.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Form I-9 Errors Will be Costly for Violators
Errors completing the Form I-9 will be expensive for violating companies. Internal I-9 Audits should be in writing, and should involve not only correction of errors, but also updates in policies and procedures and training, to ensure good corrections and prevention of future errors. Audits should be conducted by quailed, well trained, impartial auditors who are able to review I-9 from the point of view of preparing the employer to defend itself from DHS.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
The Majority of Colorado Businesses Not Verifying Employees Eligibility
Colorado businesses has a responsibility to verify employees eligibility. More than half of Colorado businesses have failed to comply with a state law that requires them to verify that new employees are in the country legally, according to an audit released earlier this week.
Auditors found that the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment is not doing enough to assure compliance with the law, adopted during a 2006 special session of the General Assembly focusing on illegal immigration.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
ICE Checking Records for Hiring of Illegal Immigrants
2011 offers another round of Form I-9 Audits by Immigration Custom Enforcement or ICE. While reaffirming that the audits are intended to foster a culture of compliance among potential employers of illegal immigrants, the agency noted that this is the fifth such audit program. In the fiscal year 2010 ICE arrested 196 employers from 2,338 audits. The 2,196 audits of the preceding 2009 fiscal year resulted in 114 employer arrests.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Company’s Beware, Fresh Round of I‑9 Audits gets Front Page Coverage
Notice of Inspection audits are back on the mines of ICE. The latest Wall Street Journal story relayed news that ICE had issued a “notice of inspection” or NOI, to 1,000 employers nationwide in fields related to critical infrastructure and key resources. You can read more about this story in a recent I-9 Compliance Bulletin.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
What is your Company’s Responsibilities With An ICE Notice of Inspection?
Do you know what process should be followed when you receive a NOI? When you first receive your NOI, begin by gathering all documentation. The agent will usually provide a list of what documentation ICE is requesting. Of course, it will list Form I-9, but it may also include a copy of your payroll, a list of current employees and business licenses. A Special Agent in Charge can also ask for Social Security no-match letters, lists of managers and copies of company compliance policies. If you feel you won’t meet the deadline, you can request a delay. It might even be best to retain a document management service which is experienced in immigration law. A service can assess your compliance before the inspection and prevent issues from arising.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Inspection Notices to Employers in June 2011, ICE is on the Move
ICE is back on the move with Immigration audits in 2011, are you in compliance? As reported in the Wall Street Journal article “More ‘Silent Raids’ Over Immigration,” the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – the principal investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – has issued 1,000 new I-9 inspection notices in June 2011 to companies in all 50 United States as part of the government’s “quiet immigration raid” policy to crackdown on employers of illegal immigrants. This new round of I-9 inspections brings the number of companies audited by ICE in the fiscal year that began October 1, 2010 to 2,338, topping the previous year’s record of 2,196.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Is the IMAGE Program Right for Your Business?
It may be time to take another look at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) IMAGE program. IMAGE stands for “ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employer”. IMAGE was created in 2006 as an initiative designed to encourage employer compliance and strengthen hiring practices in order to curtail the employment of unauthorized workers.
Based on its original design, IMAGE was heavily slanted in favor of the government and gave little to no incentive for employers to join the program. The original program required an employer to submit to an ICE I-9 audit and be subject to the same penalty structure as non-IMAGE employers. As of January 2011 only 115 of the over 10 million employers in the U.S. had joined the IMAGE program.
Recognizing the existing IMAGE program to be a dismal failure, the government revamped the program in 2011 and began an educational campaign to give employers information about the new and improved, kinder, gentler IMAGE program.
To be IMAGE eligible an employer is required to:
- Enroll in the E-Verify program;
- Establish a written employment eligibility verification policy that includes internal Form I-9 audits at least once per year; and
- Submit to an inspection of their Forms I-9.
- Waive potential fines if substantive violations are discovered on fewer than 1/2 of the employers I-9s;
- Where more than 50% of the Forms I-9 contain substantive violations, ICE will mitigate fines or issue the minimum fine of $110 per violation;
- Not conduct another Form I-9 inspection of the company for 2 years; and
- Provide information and training after the inspection.
