Completing the I-9 Form

What should I do with that I-9 form?

“After I hire a new employee, I give them an I-9 form to complete. I usually tell them to bring their green card or their driver’s license and social security card with them on their first day of work. Sometimes they forget and I have to remind them or they may bring me photocopies of the ID. However, if we don’t complete the form on the employee’s first day, it usually just ends up in their personnel file with their other documents and I forget to follow up. How big a problem is that?”

HR Survival Tip

The I-9 form was originally created by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) but is now maintained by Homeland Security. The purpose of the form is to ensure only people who are legally able to work in the U.S. are hired by companies here. The rules about the I-9 form are very specific and date-oriented. There is a 70-page information booklet available online if you want all the details.

Make sure you are using the most current version because it was changing frequently for years. The current version is a 9-page document including a 2-page form and has a 3/31/2016 expiration date. You don’t need to have current employees re-do the document when a new form is released but you do need to use the new form for new hires and when a current employee’s documents need recertification.

Your new hire must complete section 1 of the form AFTER the job offer and no later than the first day of work. You are not allowed to tell the new hire which documentation to use. Just give the person the chart showing the options and let him/her decide which ID s/he wants to use. You need to see the original even if you choose to make a copy for the files later.

You have only 3 days to complete section 2 and view the ID presented to you. If the employee has not presented you with appropriate ID by the end of their 3^rd day, stop them from returning to work until they have the ID and can show it to you. Your company can be held responsible for allowing someone to work who hasn’t proven s/he meets the eligibility standards.

Once you have a fully completed form, file it in a locked cabinet with the other I-9 forms. Do not keep this form in the employee files. If you are audited, you can hand over one file containing all the I-9 forms rather than having to allow an auditor access to all your personnel files.