New I-9 employee eligibility forms were recently released and a high profile effort is underway to ensure that employers are complying with the letter of the law relative to documenting employee eligibility to work in this country. Although this is required of all employers, it should be noted that when the OFCCP audits a Government Contractor, they are required to produce the I-9’s are a part of the compliance review. Many employers are not aware that the I-9 Form which was just updated last year was released again on June 27, 2008 by the USCIS. The new form was issued because of the Paperwork Reduction Act which requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to have current expiration dates on all approved forms. Although the content of the form has not changed since last year, the new form is identified by OMB No. 1615-0047: Expires 06/30/09, which appears in the top right corner of the form. Benchmark strongly suggests that employers begin using this form immediately. A copy of the new form and instructions on how to complete the I-9 can be found at http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-9.pdf Not only is it important to use the new form, but it is also very important to understand that the I-9 must be completed in it’s entirety with no information or signatures missing. Missing information will prompt penalties and cause the form to be invalid. The form must be completed on all employees working in the U.S. after November 6, 1986. The Employee portion (Section I) of the form must be completed at the time of hire and must be completed by the employee or a preparer/translator if the employee is unable to complete the form on his or her own. Even if completed by a person other than the employee, the employee must still sign this section.The Employer’s portion (Section II) provides evidence that the employer examined evidence of identity and employment eligibility within three (3) business days of the hire date. If the employee is unable to produce this documentation, he or she may present a receipt of an application for the documentation within the three day limit and the actual documentation must be presented within 90 days of hire. By recording the document title, issuing authority, document number, expiration date, date of employment and signing the form, the employer’s representative is verifying that he or she actually saw this eligibility documentation. Many employers make copies of the documentation although this is not a requirement, however, the I-9 must be kept for three (3) years after the date of hire or one (1) year after the date employment ends, whichever is later. Benchmark recommends keeping the documents for this period of time as a minimum and longer if possible even though this is not required. The form must be updated and reverified (Section III) if an employee’s name has changed or if they are rehired within three years of the original completion date whether or not there is a change in the status or information on the previous form. A blank I-9 Form can be reproduced provided both sides of the document are copies. Although completion of the form is voluntary for employees, employers have a strict mandate that they cannot allow an employee to work unless they complete the form and produce the required documentation or receipt within the three day limit. Employers cannot specify which documentation they can accept from the employee, however, there is a list of acceptable documents listed on page 2 of the form. Employees select documents that establish both identify and employment eligibility from List A, or they can select a document that establishes identity from List B and one that establishes employment eligibility from List C. The I-9 form should be kept by the employer for inspection by officials of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Labor and Office of Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices. However, a new campaign is now underway by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to inspect I-9 documentation by service of a subpoena on companies suspected of employing unauthorized workers and requesting I-9 Forms for all current employees and those terminated within the past year. Civil fines for companies that are not in compliance are now 25% higher than in the past and given on a per-alien basis. There are also fines for not completing the form correctly or leaving portions of the form blank or without signatures.