Active Employment December 12, 2018

I-9 Remediation: 5 Tips to Help Reduce Risk

By Brian Elfrink

This is the final post in our four-part series for HR professionals, called “I-9 Audit and Remediation Best Practices.”

In our previous post, 10 Common I-9 Errors Identified During an Internal I-9 Audit, we discussed frequent errors found in each section of the Form I-9. Once you have reviewed and identified your I-9 errors, you need to determine where and how you should make corrections.

I-9 Remediation Efforts: Where to Start

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) provides instructions for correcting Form I-9 via I-9 Central. Additionally, USCIS and the Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) have provided joint guidance to help employers perform internal audits via Guidance for Employers Conducting Internal Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 Audits.

 

I-9 Remediation Tips

  1. Deal with missing Forms I-9 as soon as possible. Complete the current version of Form I-9 when an I-9 is missing. Typically, employers receive a lower penalty for late I-9s compared to missing I-9s. Additionally, correcting your issues when you discover them can show a good-faith effort towards compliance.
  2. Employees must make corrections to Section 1. Section 1 of the Form I-9 is always the responsibility of the employee. For that reason, corrections to Section 1 should only be made by the employee.
  3. Employers can make corrections only to Sections 2 and 3. The employer or their authorized representative must always complete Section 2 and Section 3 of Form I-9. Likewise, this requirement applies to any corrections.
  4. Maintain a detailed audit trail. The audit trail should include details about any corrections made to a Form I-9. A few examples include:
    • name of the person making changes
    • the date changes are made
    • description of all changes
  5. Complete a new Form I-9 if needed. If multiple mistakes were made on the original Form I-9, it might be best to complete a new Form I-9. Be sure to retain the original as part of the audit trail.

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