E-VERIFY AND FORM I-9 COMPLIANCE UNDER A REASONABLE YET ENFORCING GOVERNMENT

Transcription

1 E-VERIFY AND FORM I-9 COMPLIANCE UNDER A REASONABLE YET ENFORCING GOVERNMENT Presenter Information SME: Form I-9 & E-Verify for 9 years 10 years of DISC Assessments: High C Systematic Open minded Diplomatic Melissa Hadel Destined to be a Compliance Professional 1986 was a great year for federal compliance Defense Industry Initiative FSG created in E-Verify E-Verify is a voluntary program for confirming employment eligibility of newly hired employees Super users Reporting & Monitoring Policies & Procedures 3 1

2 E-Verify Legislation As of January, 2017: Arizona & Mississippi require all employers to participate in E-Verify South Carolina encourages the use of E-Verify in all employers Georgia, Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and Utah require public contractors to use E-Verify All states mentioned above plus Idaho, Minnesota, & North Carolina require state agencies to participate in E-Verify Federal Contractors must be ran through E-Verify (employers with federal contracts or subcontracts that contain the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Clause) 4 E-Verify Legislation The buzz so far in 2017 regarding E-Verify relates to President Trump s 2018 budget proposal which includes mandating the E-Verify program. The President specifically proposed that $15 million of the DHS 2018 budget would be used to implement requiring E-Verify federally Lynn Shotwell, Executive Director for the Council for Global Immigration (affiliated with SHRM) estimated that well under 10% of U.S. based employers currently participate in E-Verify 5 Resources E-Verify Listens is our opportunity to discuss with one another, as employers, how we utilize the E-Verify program and its services through leader boards and popular posts with voting options. This avenue is also a way to provide E-Verify with feedback and recommendations. (E-Verify is one of the U.S. governments highestrated services for customer satisfaction) ( In 2014 Allegis attended an E-Verify & I-9 forum hosted by USCIS in DC which allowed us to provide feedback on the Program through dialogue with DHS. We were actually able to almost stump the USCIS agents with some of our user stories and case scenarios which gave their team great feedback I-9 Central 6 2

3 EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION FORM I-9 Form I-9 M-274 Knowing vs Technical Audit every field Have processes and stick to them Having written processes that are not followed probably more risky than not having them at all 8 CASE SCENARIO Trickiest connection between expiring employment eligibility documentation and need to terminate relates to Asyleesand Refugees. Ensure staff with decision making abilities are knowledgeable of the Lists of Acceptable Documents and proper verbiage for asking the right questions: Suggestion: An asyleecan provide either an Employment Authorization card (I-766) as proof of continuing employment eligibility, or can provide an unrestricted Social Security card. Terminating simply due to an expiring EAC (review Category) without clarifying that something else can be provided (in any situation actually) could pose noncompliance for your company 9 3

4 Don t Wait Unprepared! Best Practices Headquartered I-9 audits Staffing agencies have a bullseye on their backs Reporting etiquette Security of PII Stick to Case # Relationship with vendors/legal 10 Self Checks The American workforce is encouraged through the USCIS.gov site to complete the mye-verify Self Check as well as review Your Employer s Responsibilities Employee Rights Toolkit IER Complaints (formerly OSC) Authorized to investigate allegations of unfair documentation practices including requiring a green card for the I-9 11 Training Know your process Case Monitoring & Compliance Who we are Embedded quizzes Security What not to say 12 4

5 ENFORCING YET REASONABLE GOVERNMENT Practicing What They Preach ICE HSI Trump s plans to add 10,000 new immigration enforcement officers nationwide Worksite Enforcement Strategy NOI 72 hours Fine range Nothing concentrates the mind like the prospect of a hanging - Samuel Johnson Employer Audit Requirements Risk-based approach (Monitoring & Auditing) Fix Form I-9 compliance issues prior to a government audit Prevent, detect, correct 14 Practical & Realistic Good Faith Effort M-274, M-775 I-9 Central FAQ Not expected to be document experts Staffing agencies should have headquartered audits of all I-9s E-Verify Self Assessment E-Verify Case Monitoring and Compliance Desk Reviews and Site Visits Free Webinars Yearly Program Administrator training requirement 15 5

6 Tips Administering regular required training even for existing super users completing Section 2 and/or utilizing E-Verify to keep everyone up to date on responsibilities and compliance of the system Provides opportunities for feedback on operations of system, special cases and results discussions, team census for E-Verify Listens suggestions E-Verify SME knowledgeable of system and legislative changes Gov t agencies must await a budget, political leader decisions, government shutdown Use connections SCCE Resources 16 6