Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Government to Check I-9s in a Nationwide Audit



According to an article on SHRM's website (sorry you have to be a member to read this one) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued notices to 652 businesses that they will be audited. In all of 2008 they only issued 503. So obviously they are stepping up activity. The agency is trying to build criminal cases against employers before they conduct raids. According to the SHRM article:

"As part of its shift in strategy, ICE is going after employers instead of undocumented workers, according to Mira Mdivani, an immigration attorney with The Mdivani Law Firm in Overland Park, Kan., in a July 7 interview."

Apparently the targets of the investigations, which are widespread, were gathered from No-Match letter data, use of E-Verify, union instigation and other "investigative measures." The agency is being secretive. According to the article "...ICE officials “refused to tell us how to define substantive violations of I-9s versus technical violations. We thought we knew, but they won’t tell us.” And ICE wouldn’t disclose the guidelines that are being used to fine employers, ...."

Mary Pivec, an attorney with Keller and Heckman in Washington, D.C. provided SHRM with the following list of items that ICE might be looking for on an audit.

  • Original I-9s. Forms I-9 must be retained for three years after the date of hire or one year after the date of termination, whichever period is longer.
  • A spreadsheet listing alphabetically all current and terminated employees with hire and termination dates in electronic form Word or Excel, non-PDF, including the names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth of each employee.
  • Copies of quarterly wage and hour reports and/or payroll data for all employees—current and terminated—covering the period of inspection, as well as quarterly tax statements.
  • Business information, including the employer identification number, taxpayer identification number, owner’s Social Security number, owner’s contact information (e.g., address, information, phone numbers and e-mail addresses), articles of incorporation (if applicable) and copies of business licenses.
  • Copies of Social Security no-match letters.
  • A copy of any I-9 policy.
  • The name and responsibility of those who complete I-9 forms.
  • The date the business was established, form of the business, where it is incorporated and its revenue.
  • The department or job titles of employees.
  • Quarterly unemployment insurance reports with the state or quarterly returns for Federal Income Contributions Act taxes.

According to the article and the attorneys HR needs to own this process. My experience has been that too often forms are incomplete because HR does not own the process. And since this is a law that can result in jail sentences great care needs to be taken in completing the information on this form.

The advice in the article is "Designate a lead person to spearhead immigration compliance at the company and adopt an immigration compliance policy that incorporates recommended ICE best practices that make sense for your company, she recommended, and become thoroughly familiar with ICE’s I-9 handbook. Conduct annual immigration audits in cooperation with legal and provide annual training, keeping the big picture clearly in focus as enforcement strategies and laws change. That way, instead of scrambling after receiving an I-9 audit notice, Mdivani said, a company will be prepared."

So, depending on what your company does, what your history has been like and how you have things set up you may have a lot of work that needs to be done. But I hope this makes you sit up and pay attention.

2 comments:

Brittanicus said...

Don't let down your guard on E-Verify?


THIS IS NOT ABOUT LEGAL IMMIGRATION? IT'S ALL ABOUT---ILLEGAL---IMMIGRATION!

It’s our phone calls that can derail any thoughts of another AMNESTY? Fill their eardrums with public rage not to undermine E-Verify. WE WANT A PERMANENT FOR EVERYONE WHO COLLECTS A PAY CHECK! Today! As never before they are reacting and listening to millions of patriotic Americans and pro-sovereignty groups, in which E-Verify have become a solid foundation to identify and remove foreign labor. Taxpayers money should be spent on infrastructure, our own weak and sick, our veterans who are homeless, our unemployed and those who real immigrants who respect our laws. Until the inception of the Internet, Americans and legal residents had no way of communicating between ourselves. Now we can? Now we should use every means possible to elaborate, that we are well and truly seething, because they are siding with the globalists, money people, open border subversives.

We are not bigots because we love our country and don't want to turn into a third world society. We do not want to live in an OVERPOPULATED, congested land. We have been paying for years--illegal immigrant’s support, instead of the procurers--the businesses that employ them. Our charged voices have set-off a chain reaction amongst the Washington political masses, because we actually turned the tables on the anti-sovereignty, pro-illegal immigration organizations. They are building the original border fence as originally planned, not faulty short-cuts? But we have enemies who have ignored their oath of office and plan to weaken any amendments. As with the 1986 immigration AMNESTY law that was never broken, but disrupted and never enforced. Now they want another AMNESTY or immigration reform package.

It was the politicians who caused the problem of between 13 to 20 million settling here and unable to support themselves. Lawmakers can now stew in their own juices, because we refuse--absolutely refuse, to be sold on another path to citizenship, as it will be yet another higher tax burden on taxpayers. California being just one of many Sanctuary States--that has produced massive budget deficit problems, cause by the huge influx of illegal poor living on state and federal welfare.

Senators and Representatives aides are unhappy with the constant bombardment from millions of Americans, but they are the bridge that must be crossed everyday? No respite, no retreat? Keep up the pressure, till their ears bleed? Keep up the invaluable rumblings in the beltway at 202-224-3121 THAT THE POPULATION IS MAD AND NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE! Learn who your enemy is and who your friends at NUMBERSUSA, JUDICIALWATCH, CAPSWEB, HERITAGE FOUNDATION & AMERICANPATROL

ATTENTION! Because of the massive payments to illegal immigrants in California, their is a petition. Google--TAXPAYER REVOLUTION. Very few newspapers will mention this activist petition. When is the American flag going to fly again in the once Golden state?

Anonymous said...

Dumb bigot should watch David Lynch's Interview Project and he'll see it's the immigrants that get stuff done around here.

http://interviewproject.davidlynch.com/www/