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HR Party of One is brought to you by BerniePortal, the all-in-one HRIS that saves you time so

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you can foster a better place to work.

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In this episode, we’ll talk all about Form I-9.

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As an HR professional, you are dedicated to maintaining compliance with government agencies.

Intro

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Between tax series forms and ACA forms and more, there are thousands of federally required

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documents to track.

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One of these forms you need for every current employee, and even former employees: Form

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I-9.

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Messing up Form I-9s can lead to penalties, so filling it and storing it correctly are

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critical.

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However, Form I-9 has changed much in recent years, so we are here to give you the updates

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so you can remain compliant.

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In this HR Party of One episode, we will give you a comprehensive breakdown of Form I-9,

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covering: what it is,

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filling it correctly, documents employees must provide for it,

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how long you should retain it, recent changes,

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And more!

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Let’s get started!

What Is Form I-9?

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What Is Form I-9?

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Form I-9 is a form required by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services,

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officially called the Employment Eligibility Verification form.

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It’s an important document you must produce for each new hire to verify that they are

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eligible to work within the United States.

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This form must be submitted for any employee that you pay wages or remunerations.

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Remuneration is anything of value, like accommodations, food, transportation, etc.

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So anyone paid for their work via a company car, lodgings, meal plans, or typical wages

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must have I-9 documentation.

History of Form I-9

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Form I-9 didn’t just appear out of thin air.

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It’s actually been around since 1986.

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I think a brief history session is in order, so let’s run through a timeline on Form

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I-9:

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In 1986, Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act.

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The bill, which was passed during the Reagan administration, made it illegal for American

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employers to hire unauthorized workers knowingly.

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As a result, Form I-9 was introduced to verify the legal status of employees.

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In 1990, Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1990, which prohibited the abuse of discriminatory

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documentary practices during the employment eligibility verification process.

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In 1996, the government passed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility

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Act of 1996, which reduced the number of eligible documents employers could accept during the

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verification process.

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It also created the pilot program that paved the way for E-Verify.

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In 2004, legislation made it possible to complete the I-9 electronically.

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In 2007, the federal government began using E-Verify to complete this process electronically.

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We covered current legislation and requirements for E-Verify in an HR Party of One FAQ, which

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I’ll link for you in the description.

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-In 2019, the USCIS released the current version of Form I-9, which expired on October 31,

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2022.

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-In 2020, a new version of Form I-9 was released.

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COVID-19 restrictions also affected how I-9s were reviewed, but new legislation has arisen,

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so it’s critical to take note of each change we cover in this episode.

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In 2023, the new version of Form I-9 was released.

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After October 31, 2023, this form becomes obsolete, meaning employers must use the newest

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version going forward.

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Back to the present.

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Every American employer is required to complete and store Form I-9 for each worker it hires,

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including both citizens and noncitizens.

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You could work for a five-person company or a five thousand-person company and the government

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still wants to collect this information.

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Likewise, the people you hire are required to fill out a portion of Form I-9 and present

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documents that verify their identity and authorization to work in the country.

Who Fills Out Form I-9?

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Who Fills Out Form I-9?

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Completing Form I-9 for a newly hired individual is accomplished by a maximum of three people:

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the employee, the employer or their authorized representative, and a preparer or translator.

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An authorized representative is anyone the employer deems fit to review documents and

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fill out the employer section of the form.

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For an HR Party of One, this can be you, your boss, manager, neighbor, yoga teacher, or

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anyone else.

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However, choosing a representative who is involved and committed to your organization’s

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compliance is best.

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While Fran down the street can technically act as an authorized representative, you may

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want to do this yourself or assign a capable and trustworthy admin.

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As an HR party of One, you’re probably the one doing document review and signing your

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authorization and handling this whole process anyway, but others are not so hands on.

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An employment lawyer shared one story with me about an Arkansas office, where the person

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tasked with managing I-9s often had their assistant review documents if they were busy.

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Any forms completed in this manner were fraudulent, and the Immigration Customs Enforcement agency,

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known as ICE, was not impressed to discover the mistake.

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A preparer or translator is someone authorized to help the employee fill out their required

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portion of Form I-9.

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This does not have to be a trained official from the federal government or another agency.

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You can have a preparer or translator on hand, like a current employee who speaks the same

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language and acts in a helpful capacity.

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A preparer or translator isn’t required for every I-9, but can provide a bridge over

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a language barrier if your employee is not a native English speaker or needs additional

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aid for other reasons.

How Do You Fill Out Form I-9?

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How Do You Fill Out Form I-9?

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According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, employees must fill out Section

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1 with the following information: Their full legal name, even if their name

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consists of: two last names

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two first names only one name

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a hyphen or apostrophe a middle name

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Other legal last names used, including a maiden name, if applicable.

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Current address, including street name and number city, state and ZIP code, including

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the apartment number or letter if applicable; Date of birth;

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Citizenship or immigration status,

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-f applicable, A-Number/USCIS Number, Form I-94 admission number, or foreign passport

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number (including country of issuance), and the date employment authorization expires;

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and

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Their signature and the date.

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Optional Employee Entries for Section 1 include: Social Security number

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E-mail address Telephone number

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Employers must fill out Section 2 of Form I-9.

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This information includes: The date your employee began or will begin

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work for pay.

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The first and last name, signature, and title of the person completing Section 2

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The date they completed Section 2.

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The employer’s business name and physical address.

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As a note, you may not enter a P.O.

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box as the address.

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If your company has multiple locations, use the address where the employee will be working

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or where they completed their I-9.

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The document title, issuing authority, document number (if any) and expiration date (if any)

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from the document(s) your employee presented.

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If you used the E-Verify method, check the box in the Additional Information field.

Form I-9 Supplement A

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If your employee uses a preparer or translator to help them fill out their portion of the

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I-9, you must ensure they fill out Supplement A, an additional form identifying and authorizing

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the preparer or translator.

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They must also enter: The name of the employee they assisted

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Their own name and signature The same date that the employee entered on

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their I-9 The address where they assisted in filling

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this form

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There are other specific instructions as well, like using only an initial when entering their

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middle name.

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Be careful to follow the provided instructions attached to the I-9.

What Documents Do You Need for Form I-9?

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What Documents Does an Employer Need for Form I-9?

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Form I-9 requires employees to submit an original, acceptable, and unexpired document from an

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approved list to their employer.

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The employer uses the document to verify the employee’s information they submitted on

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their form, and makes copies of them to store alongside the I-9 for however long they must

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keep the records.

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Employees can either submit one document from List A or one document each from List B and

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List C.

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List A includes: A U.S. Passport or U.S. Passport Card

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Form I-551, Permanent Resident Card or Alien Registration Receipt Card

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Form I-766, Employment Authorization Document Card

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A foreign passport with Form I-94 or Form I-94A with Arrival-Departure Record, and containing

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an endorsement to work A passport from the Federated States of Micronesia

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(FSM) or the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) with Form I-94 or Form I-94A

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A foreign passport containing a Form I-551 stamp or Form I-551 printed notation

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List B includes: A Driver's License

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An ID card issued by federal, state, or local government agencies or entities, provided

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it contains a photograph or information such as name, date of birth, gender, height, eye

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color and address School ID card with a photograph

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Voter registration card U.S.military card or draft record

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Military dependent’s ID card U.S.Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Document

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(MMD) card Native American tribal document

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Driver’s license issued by a Canadian government authority

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For minors without List B documents, they can use:

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school records or report cards clinic, doctor, or hospital records

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daycare or nursery school records

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List C documents include: U.S.

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Social Security account number card Form FS-240, Consular Report of Birth Abroad

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Form FS-545, Certification of Birth Abroad issued by the U.S. Department of State

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Form DS-1350, Certification of Report of Birth issued by the U.S. Department of State

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Original or certified copy of a birth certificate issued by a state, county, municipal authority

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or outlying territory of the United States bearing an official seal

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Native American tribal document Form I-197, U.S. Citizen ID Card

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Form I-179, Identification Card for Use of Resident Citizen in the United States

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Employment authorization document issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

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DHS documentation may include: Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record issued

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to asylees or work-authorized nonimmigrants (for example, H-1B nonimmigrants) because

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of their immigration status, Form I-571, Refugee Travel Document,

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An unexpired Form I-327, Reentry Permit, Form N-560, Certificate of U.S. Citizenship

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or Form N-561, Replacement Certificate of Citizenship (PDF, 40.3 KB), or

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Form N-550, Certificate of Naturalization or Form N-570, Replacement Certificate of

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Naturalization (PDF, 176.3 KB).

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A Form I-797 issued to a conditional resident may be an acceptable List C document in combination

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with an expired Form I-551.

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In certain circumstances, employees can use an acceptable receipt for List A, B, or C

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documents.

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You may never encounter some of these documents.

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The most common ones tend to be passports, driver’s licenses, Social Security cards,

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tribal documents, military cards or draft records, and birth certificates.

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But, it’s important to have familiarity with the different kinds of documents your

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particular organization or industry may see most often.

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If you find yourself outsourcing certain specialists from foreign countries, then you can prepare

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by looking up how the typical forms for temporary foreign workers or resident alien status workers

HR Professionals Aren’t Bouncers

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look.

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However, HR professionals aren’t bouncers that must know if a Florida ID has the correct

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shade of blue for the photo image backdrop.

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Your concerns are not the same as someone trying to prevent underage people from sneaking

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into a pub.

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Running into fake documentation isn’t a 0% chance, but it is unlikely.

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You aren’t required to become the ultimate expert on ensuring the validity of legal documentation.

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You have due diligence to check documents to ensure faces and names match up but don’t

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overstress yourself.

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If you have reasonable suspicion that a document is forged or otherwise not owned by the new

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hire in question, then you can reject that particular document and request a different

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one.

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It’s much more common for employees to provide unacceptable documents without realizing it.

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For instance, they may unintentionally submit an expired ID, which you cannot accept.

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Or, they may have had a name change, not realizing that they must provide supporting documents

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proving that change.

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So, if someone is newly married with a last name change, they must provide the marriage

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certificate as proof.

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You should make copies of these supporting documents and keep them safely stored in a

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compliance feature, like BerniePortal’s.

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Also, know that you can’t request specific forms.

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This practice is illegal.

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What you can do is provide a list of acceptable forms.

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If you host this list in your online onboarding process and require that new hires read and

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sign off on it, then you’re in the clear and all new hires are informed quickly.

How Long Should You Retain Form I-9?

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How Long Should You Retain Form I-9?

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Employers are required to retain Form I-9 for all employees hired after Nov. 6, 1986,

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for as long as the employee works for them.

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Once a worker leaves the company, you have to keep that former employee’s Form I-9

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on file for a specified period of time, dependent on how long they stayed with the organization.

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These timeframes include: If a worker was employed for less than two

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years, their Form I-9 needs to be retained for three years after the date entered in

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the First Day of Employment section of the document

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If a worker was employed for more than two years, their Form I-9 must be retained for

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one year after the date they stopped working for the employer

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Storage requirements come into play here as well.

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Employers can store Form I-9 on paper, microfilm, or electronically.

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Here at BerniePortal, we highly recommend the latter.

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Our HRIS includes a function that automatically stores Form I-9 and the acceptable documents

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online once employees submit them during the onboarding process.

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This approach makes it easier for HR to keep track of the entire team’s documents, and,

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to be quite honest, it’s much safer that way.

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While no law requires employers to separate I-9s from personnel files, employers often

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choose to do so voluntarily in order to protect employee information and as an extra safety

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measure in the case of an audit by ICE.

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When you’re storing documents that contain social security numbers and other critical

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and private information, you want them to be as safe as possible.

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Here at BerniePortal, our HRIS’s security features are top of-the-line, and keep all

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information secure—including mine!

Is There a Deadline for Completing Form I-9?

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Is There a Deadline for Completing Form I-9?

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Yes, I-9s do have a deadline that employees and employers must abide by.

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The employee must complete their portion by their first day of employment.

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This is not the same day they accept the job offer, so you have a little time to ensure

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people complete their part.

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If you are concerned about employees finding the time to complete their portion, include

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it in your online onboarding process, so they must fill it out within a strict deadline

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to help you ensure compliance.

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The employer must complete their portion within three days of the employee’s start date

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and return a completed copy to the employee.

Do I Need to File Form I-9 Somewhere?

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Do I Need to File Form I-9 Somewhere?

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No, Form I-9 does not need to be filed with any government agency.

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However, you still need it in order to verify an employee’s identity and authorization

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to work.

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The Privacy Act Notice informs employers that the government has the right to request these

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documents for inspection at any time.

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So if you don’t have these forms for each of your current employees, you run the risk

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of non-compliance.

Final Thoughts

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It is important for HR Parties of One to note that ICE is unlikely to raid your office to

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check for Form I-9s.

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Some industries are at higher risk than others, and HR professionals in those organizations

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already know the critical importance of Form I-9 compliance.

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But if you’re HR at an accounting office with 30 employees, you don’t need to anxiously

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triple-check that you’ve done everything right.

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While I-9s are important, be careful to manage your priorities depending on the demands of

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your role.

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Form I-9s might seem complicated, but thankfully, you’re the expert at maintaining your organization’s

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compliance with federal and state regulations.

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While 2023’s changes to the form are significant, you can use this episode as a guide.

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And remember, your role is as strategic as you make it!

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That’s it for this episode!

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Subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notifications about our newest episodes,

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which are released every Tuesday and Thursday!

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As always, thanks for watching.