Increased Worksite Compliance Visits Affect All Employers
The White House's announcement of its comprehensive worksite enforcement strategy earlier this week should alarm all employers, no matter their size, revenue, or whether or not they hire foreign nationals. Employers should be concerned because the increase in worksite visits exposes them to compliance issues, most notably I-9, and even small, “innocent” errors on any employee’s—yes, including U.S. citizens—I-9 can lead to significant fines.
All Employers Are Vulnerable
Increased worksite enforcement is in line with the White House’s position on immigration, as it targets both businesses that employ unauthorized workers and the undocumented employees themselves. Because Form I-9 is used to verify a person’s identity and employment authorization, I-9 audits are used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to ensure employees are eligible to work in the U.S. Employers should be aware that any I-9 form, even an I-9 for a U.S. citizen, filled out incorrectly will be considered non-compliant and subject to a fine.
The Cause for Concern
Over the years, I’ve audited thousands of I-9s and, in my experience, less than one in ten is filled out correctly! The fact is, employers struggle to accurately fill out Form I-9, an issue exacerbated by the release of two updated versions of the document in 2017. Now consider that the penalties for errors doubled in 2016 with fines currently ranging between $216 and $2,156 per violation—not per form, but per error—and it’s easy to see how even a few small mistakes could quickly become costly.
What to Expect
Thomas Homan, the acting director of ICE, indicated that the agency was planning on an increase of workplace enforcement by four to five times the rate of the previous year, and businesses from huge multinational corporations to the local corner store need to prepare themselves for this reality. An ICE Notice of Inspection is unannounced, can come at any time, and the odds that your business could be audited have greatly increased in recent months.
An Audit
During an I-9 audit, ICE will examine a business’s forms to ensure that employees have work authorization, which is a non-issue for many employers. However, ICE also inspects to ensure that the technical requirements of the form have been met, which is what gets most employers into trouble, as ICE doesn’t care if a mistake was made on a citizen's form or not, only that a mistake has been made. As I mentioned earlier, it has been my experience that less than 10% of I-9s are filled out correctly.
Get A Game Plan
I-9 compliance is becoming a serious issue for employers in all industries and needs to be on the minds of today’s employers. If you’re unsure about your business’s I-9 compliance (in most cases, you should be), consider having a professional audit of your records to find any issues—and begin correcting them—before ICE does. Also, take this moment as an opportunity to train employees on proper I-9 procedures to prevent future mistakes. Lastly, have a plan in place for how to respond in the event of an ICE audit and make sure your employees know what to do and who to call when ICE arrives.
GoffWilson
Worksite enforcement is only going to intensify under the Trump administration—it makes good press for the administration and bad press for employers—so all businesses need to protect themselves. GoffWilson is a leader in Form I-9 and has helped businesses across the U.S. remain in I-9 compliance for years. From comprehensive audits to private workshops to train employees on how to properly handle I-9, GoffWilson has developed a reputation for excellence in compliance. Contact our office today to discover how we can assist your business prepare for the increase in worksite enforcement.