Employers Beware! New I-9 Employment Verification Form

Employers in the US are responsible to complete an I-9 Employment Verification Form for newly hired employees.  Employers must verify the identity and employment authorization for each person hired after November 6, 1986 and the employer must complete and retain an I-9 Form for each such employee. 

However, employers are not allowed to discriminate against any prospective employee on the basis of national origin, citizenship, or immigration status.  An employer cannot hire any alien that the employer knows to be unauthorized to work in the US.

On March 8, 2013 the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a NEW I-9 FORM.  The new I-9 Form can be used now, but there is also a grace period of 90 days, until May 7, 2013 during which time employers can use either the new form or the old form.

Employers DO NOT have to complete the new I-9 Form for current or old employees, unless the employer is reverifying an employee.

The new I-9 form is now a 2-page form, as opposed to the old 1-page form, and is accompanied by 6 pages of instructions!  In addition, the revised version of the
Handbook for Employers, available online at www.uscis.gov, is a 70 page manual which tries to explain all scenarios for employers! 

While the new I-9 Form, 6-pages of instructions and 70-page manual try to make the process of completing the I-9 Form appear to be easier, if an employer makes a clerical error (typo/mistake) in completing the form, there can be much harsher penalties imposed against the employer.  Improper completion of any section on the new I-9 Form may result in stricter penalties against the employer. 

Several sections on the new I-9 Form are different:  An employee may not use a PO Box or a foreign address (except in limited cases) as his/her address; employees are asked to provide an email address, telephone number, Social Security number.  These last are optional entries (the Social Security Number is required if the  employer participates in E-Verify), but if the employee chooses to provide this information, the US government has the ability to match or mismatch the information between DHS and Social Security Administration (SSA).

The new I-9 form also has sections pertaining to minors, disabled employees and employees using lost, stolen and damaged documents. 

Employers, employees and Human Resource professionals should review the new form closely, since inaccurate completion of the new form can result in penalties against an employer such as civil fines of up to $3,200/worker for a first offense, criminal penalties of up to 6 months in prison if a pattern or practice is found, debarment from government contracts, a court order requiring the payment of back pay to any individual who has been discriminated against, and/or a court order requiring the employer to hire the individual who was discriminated against.