You might be wondering: “How bad can a few simple I-9 mistakes be?”
It’s natural to think that a mistake or two won’t matter. Especially if you’re busy with lots of other things or haven’t been trained to avoid these mistakes.
Unfortunately, when it comes to compliance, “a few simple I-9 mistakes” can amount to a lot of money in fines – and a lot of extra work on your part to get into compliance.
Fines increased at the beginning of 2023, and currently range anywhere from $272 to $2,701.
For each error. On each I-9. Multiply this over many errors and it equals huge fines!
Additionally, ICE generally increases the penalties up to 25% based on the following factors:
💰 The size of the employer’s business
💰 The proactive good faith of the employer
💰 The seriousness of the violations
💰 Whether or not the person was unauthorized to work
💰 History of prior violations
Simple mistakes can easily cost your company thousands.
Simple mistakes + the above factors can cost your company millions.
A recent I-9 case involving a staffing company employer highlights the importance of Form I-9 compliance and training. ICE engaged in an I-9 audit after receiving a tip claiming that the company was not in compliance with I-9 rules.
ICE inspected the I-9s of both former and current employees that were within the required retention period. The audit and litigation took about ten years.
At the end, the employer was found not to be in I-9 compliance and fined by the judge to pay 💰$1,527,308.90 in fines – not including litigation costs!
The court found that the company committed several I-9 errors, including:
🚫 Failure to prepare or present the Form I-9s requested in a timely manner. This included not producing the entire Form I-9, meaning blank or missing pages.
🚫 Failure to complete Sections 1 and 2 correctly, including: no category of employment noted in Section 1, no document entries in Section 2, or entries for documents that were not acceptable.
🚫 Failure to re-verify employment authorization as required.
Moreover, “simple” mistakes can cost you tons of time and energy in extra work and headaches.
Time and energy that you could be using for the parts of your job that you love!
That’s where our short, practical, and engaging Best Practices Video comes in. It outlines ⏰ seven tips in seven minutes ⏰, showing you how to correct mistakes and avoid errors and fines now and into the future.
You will learn about:
- Timing requirements
- Document retention
- Reverification
- And more!
Those best practices are a great start, but the new Form I-9 can still feel complex and confusing.
Want a step-by-step guide through the Form I-9? So that you can be confident in your ability to navigate the onboarding process with ease? And not have to stop and look up answers every time you have a question?
💪 Registration is NOW OPEN for my 2-hour online workshop Jog Into an Interactive Detailed Review of the New Form 1-9, So You Don’t Have to Google the Answers.
This isn’t some easily-forgotten I-9 webinar – it’s a transformative and informative workshop filled with practical tips, resources, and time-saving and engaging strategies to help you!
Upon completion, you’ll earn an SHRM credit and have a clear understanding of the Form I-9 – to keep you from making mistakes.
Here’s a preview of what you get:
✔️ Detailed New I-9 walkthrough, including:
- Preparing and presenting the I-9 in a timely manner
- Completing Sections 1 and 2 correctly
- Accepting and entering the correct documents
- Re-verifying employment authorization
✔️ Engaging quizzes to challenge knowledge
✔️ Built for the Busy structure, divided into 10-15 minute sessions
✔️ E-Verify tips
✔️ SHRM credit and special bonuses
Plus, we will address the issues that resulted in 💰$1,527,308.90 in fines in the story mentioned above.
Your cost? 💰$200.
Just $200 for information that can save your employer thousands… and save you lots of time and frustration.
Ready to ditch the confusion and try a straightforward and powerful way to gain I-9 and E-Verify confidence? A way that has worked for many other HR professionals and in-house counsel?
If so, we created this workshop for you!
I’d love to help you gain I-9 power 💪