On May 1st, employers will be required to switch to the new version of the I-9 employment eligibility verification form. The form must be filled out for each new hire, regardless of their citizenship status. Although it will become mandatory on May 1st, the form was originally released last year, which gives us plenty of data on some of the problems that arise when filling out the form. As an improperly filled out form can be a compliance nightmare, it is important for your HR department to understand and correct these problems before submitting the form. In this post, we’ll take a look at what has changed from the old version of the I-9 and some of the problems that arise when filling it out.
The Trump administration has taken a strict stance on immigration law, resulting in an increase in audits by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In addition to the increased chance of an audit, the penalties for non-compliance have increased. As such, it is important for employers to take extra care in ensuring that the people they hire are legally eligible to work in the country and that the I-9 form, which verifies that status, is correctly filled out. Even if the employee is legally qualified to work here, an improperly filled out form can create a headache for both you and them.
Most of the changes to the 2020 edition of the form are cosmetic and come in the form of additional instructions and clarifications regarding the proper procedure for filling out the form. The USCIS website gives us the following list of changes for the new form:
A previous update to the form introduced the requirement to write ‘N/A’ in any field that would otherwise be left blank. For some sections of the form, this instruction was deemed confusing and that requirement has been lifted.
Depending on how well the new hire speaks English, there could be two or three people filling out the form. In all cases, there are sections that the employer fills out and sections that the employee fills out. If the employee needs help, then a translator will aid them in filling out the form and have their own set of entries to complete. We’ll go over the most common mistakes made by people in each of these three roles.
Our cloud-based onboarding platform will increase the accuracy not only of your I-9 submissions but of every other form involved in the onboarding of new hires as well. We do this by removing the paperwork and crafting automated workflows that help to remove human error. With digital forms and cloud storage, you’ll always have the form you need on hand so you’ll be prepared in case of an ICE audit of your business. Our onboarding solution is just a small part of a larger collection of cloud-based HR services that we offer.
Platinum Group is a full service human capital management (HCM) resource that allows businesses to manage their payroll and benefits compliance, track time and attendance, and conduct other human resources functions in a way that maximizes efficiency and eliminates redundancies. This is made possible by means of our platform, iSolved. For more information about Platinum Group, or to schedule a demo of iSolved, please visit our website.