The New Form I-9: The government tries to make things easier… as if

Posted on May 1, 2013 in Compliance, Consulting

Clarity and brevity have never been the hallmark of government forms.  Instead, the government typically produces forms that seem longer than necessary.  Welcome the new and (perhaps) improved I-9 form that all employers will be required to utilize as of May 7, 2013.  

Errors were common with the old I-9, so the government tried to make the new form user friendly.  Unfortunately, the government’s solution was to make the I-9 form two pages (rather than the former one-page) and stretch the instructions to a full (and boring) six single spaced pages.  The lengthy instructions and longer form is now required, and so we must learn it.  Below we break down and discuss a few key changes with the new I-9.

Lengthy instructions

The I-9 packet includes, for the first time, instructions for employees.  The instructions are so long, however, that employers should highlight the applicable instructions for employees.  Employers should also maintain a copy of the “Handbook for Employers: Instructions for Completing Form I-9” for quick reference.  It too has been updated. 

A few interesting improvements have been made to the instructions:

  • It provides guidance on what qualifies as the date of hire when hiring through a temporary staffing agency or a recruiting firm, which is very useful given the prevalence of contingent workers;

 

  • It specifies what additional information is needed to complete the form for a student or exchange visitor; and

 

  •  It explains the circumstances when employers may accept receipts for renewal of employment authorization in lieu of an otherwise listed and required verification document. 

 

 Easier to use I-9 Form  

The government changed the look of the I-9 form replacing the old newspaper column style with a more modern and typical full page justified form.  The new form has bigger font and larger spaces, presumably designed to make filling in the information easier.   At first this might seem like a silly change, but we have seen many examples of I-9 errors because employees wrote in the wrong box or signed in the incorrect place.  Presumably the government noticed far too much of the same problem and expanded the spacing on the form to decrease honest mistakes. 

The bigger font and larger spaces stretches the new I-9 form — the portion not including the instructions — to a full two pages.  The first page is completed by the employee and the second is completed by employers.  Employers will need to be careful to keep the two pages together.  The form does no good if the pages get separated.  The second page includes a place to add the employee’s name so that the two pages could be joined if somehow separated.

Of course, employers will want to keep the I-9 forms in separate files (out of personnel files) so that employers can respond promptly to any request by the government to examine the forms.

Clarification on what are unacceptable documents for employment eligibility

In the course of assisting clients with I-9 audits, we have repeatedly found that some employers accept as proof of eligibility to work in the U.S. social security cards that read: “NOT VALID FOR EMPLOYMENT, VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH INS AUTHORIZATION, OR VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH DHS AUTHORIZATION.”   It would seem apparent that this disclaimer means just what it says.  Yet, to be abundantly clear, the new I-9 instructions specifically prohibit accepting Social Security cards with those caveats as part of I-9 eligibility.  Incidentally, the government issues cards with these declarations for persons with valid non-work reasons for a Social Security number (e.g., a right to some government benefit).

Most employers know that they should only accept and review either one List A document (proof of both identification and employment authorization) or a combination of one List B document (proof of identification only) and one List C document (proof of employment authorization only) from employees.   However, we have seen employers mistakenly request or accept a document from each category (e.g. a U.S. Passport, a driver’s license, and a social security card) or multiple items from one category (e.g. a driver’s license and a state issued identification card). The updated “Lists of Acceptable Documents” attempts to curb these mistakes by clearly dividing the List A items from the B and C items. 

Training

Of course, everyone working in a human resource capacity should become familiar with the new form and instructions.  The government is hosting free webinars teaching the new form.  The new Form I-9 and webinars can be accessed at: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/i-9central.

I hope you enjoyed this posting and encourage you to forward it to others.


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