Q&A for I-9 Webinar:
1. Can you talk to retention more, or give an example using years?
- Current employees: There must be an I-9 form completed and on file for every current employee. Exemptions: employees hired before November 7, 1986, independent contractors and domestic services in private households that are sporadic, irregular, or intermittent.
- Terminated Employees: I-9 forms must be retained for 3 years after the date of hire or 1 year after the date the employee's employment is terminated, whichever is later.
Examples:
o Employee A was hired on May 1, 2007 and was terminated on February 30, 2008. I-9 form must be retained on file until May 1, 2010 (3 years after the date of hire as this would be the "later" date).
o Employee B was hired on May 1, 2007 and was terminated on November 30, 2012. I-9 form must be retained on file until November 30, 2013 (1 year after the date the employee's employment was terminated (1 year after the date of termination as this would be the "later" date).
2. If I want to conduct a self audit, is it enough to look at all employees hired and terminated, within the last 3 years?
Self Audit: No. you must ensure that all employees (except for exempted employees - see above) on payroll have an I-9 form duly completed. For terminated employees, we suggest you review all I-9 forms as well and retain the ones that must be retained as per retention rules (3 years after the date of hire or 1 year after the date the employee's employment is terminated, whichever is later) and dispose of the ones that are past the retention term. Example, employee C was hire on June 1, 2000 and was terminated on July 30, 2006. If the I-9 form for this employee is still on file, you should dispose of it as the retention term was met on July 30, 2007 (1 year after the date of termination). You may not want to keep on file "old" I-9 forms that may have compliance violations. Big companies may opt to audit all I-9 forms or perform a random sampling to determine whether there to audit all I-9 forms.
3. For renewals - do we use the new I-9 form acceptable documents? And do we update on the original form? If we are verifying SS numbers with the SSA, should we keep documentation of verification?
For re-verification you must use the new I-9 form (Rev. 06/05/2007). If you are re-verifying SS# with the SSA, you should keep all related documentation.
4. If the employee checks the box that says they are a resident alien are they required their AA # in section 1 and are there required to provide proof in the documents provided?
The employee should enter the A# on Section 1. However, if the A# does not appear on the document(s) provided to establish identity and employment eligibility (e.g. the employee provides a drivers' license [list B] and a social security card [list C]) you cannot request additional documentation to verify the A#; unless the documents presented do not appear to be genuine.
If the social security card was provided for background check, it may not be used for I-9 employment verification purposes; unless specifically indicated by the employee. On the first day of employment you must provide the employee with a copy of the official list of acceptable documents to establish identity and employment authorization and allow the employee to choose among the documents to be provided.
5. You are saying that when the Permanent Resident card expires we DO NOT have to recertify them???
Generally, documentation establishing identity does not need to be re-verified, unless, it also establishes Employment Eligibility which has an expiration date. Re-verification must be done when the documentation presented to establish Employment Eligibility has an expiration date. Permanent resident cards have expiration dates; however, the expiration date has nothing to do with employment eligibility as permanent residents are employment-authorized indefinitely. If the employee indicates in Section 1 that he or she is a permanent resident, then you must not re-verify employment eligiblity even if the permanent resident card presented has an expiration date.
6. As part of our payroll program there is an ID expiration report that we run to re-verify documents in order to comply with the I-9. Do we need to still run that report?
One of the most common mistakes is to re-verify every employee, regardless of whether their documents expire. Re-verification should be done if the documentation presented to establish Employment Eligibility has an expiration date. We recommend ensuring I-9 compliance independently from payroll compliance.
7. What should I do if I need to update or reverify a form I-9 for an employee who filled out an earlier version of the form? Where do I get an electronic copy of the new I-9 form ?
You must use the new I-9 form (Rev. 06/05/2007) to re-verify prior I-9 forms. The I-9 electronic form may be found at http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-9.pdf
8. What is the document number that should be input for a employment authorization card that has an A# and a card # SRC....? I'm sorry, but could this question be answered again regarding how to document is Section 2?
Form I-9, Section 1, specifically asks for Alien # or Admission # (A#). An Employment Authorization Document (EAD) contains the A#; therefore, the A# is the number that should be listed when the box for "An alien authorized to work until" is checked. The form I-94 by itself does establish neither Identity nor Employment Eligibility. Therefore, in addition to the form I-94, the student should provide documentation showing Employment Eligibility as per the List C (e.g. EAD, I-20, DS2019, etc).
9. Please explain re-verification?
Please see the response to question 5.
10.
10. If you are performing an I-9 audit and realize there are issues with documents collected prior to you filling the HR position, what is the best course of action? Also, the info early stated that corrections should be made and that the incorrect I-9 should not be tossed but attached. If the employee did not complete part 1 themselves 2+ years ago should we redo an I-9 with them completing part 1 and attached the old one to the new one?
Please note that your job is to protect the company in case of an audit. Therefore, it does not matter when the I-9 mistakes were made. You should ensure that they are corrected as soon as you become aware there is a problem. With regard to correcting forms, I'm assuming from the question that Part 2 was properly completed. If that is so, then you need to have the employee complete Part 1 and staple the form to the old one so both are available in case of an audit.
11. If you are trying to establish reasonable reliance on a document's apparent validity, how do you do so if you haven't kept a copy? Should you keep copies of supporting documentation?
If you have completed the I-9 form correctly, the presumption is that the documents presented were valid, even if you do not retain copies. The government would need to prove that your reliance was not reasonable but in order to do so, the government must be possession of those documents (which is unlikely). If your company does not do business in a state which requires retention of the documents, then it is your choice whether to retain the documents. With the current environment, it may be advisable to keep copies; however, you must do so consistently for every employee. If you have not retained documents previously but wish to retain documents from this point forward, you may do so for new employees. We do not suggest that you request documents now for existing employees who have already completed the I-9 form.
12. But don't we have to re-verify? What if the employee did not fill out Section 1, should they fill out a new one [I-9]? If you look at a copy of a social - do you need to demand an original or terminate?
Please see the response to question 5 regarding re-verification requirements. Regarding correction of an I-9 where part I was not completed, please see the response to question 10. Finally, regarding the social security cards, you must view the originals of any I-9 documents, so yes, you should demand the original. If the employee cannot provide any original employment eligibility documents as specified on the back of the I-9, then the company is not authorized to continue employment.
