What Employers Need To Know About Immigration I-9 Forms – 2018Update #3: What To Do About Immigration I-9 Forms Do not allow any government entity, and specifically DO NOT ALLOW the Customs & Immigration Service, or U.S. Homeland Security to obtain or review your records UNLESS provided a Notice of Inspection.If you receive a Notice of Inspection for I-9 forms, you must post a notice for employees immediately informing them that the process will occur.If the I-9 review raises questions about any particular employee’s status, that employee must be informed and allowed to participate to clarify their status. Also, employers can only “reauthorize” a I-9 form as required by the process.What: Follow the procedures for Immigration I-9 forms carefully, do not ask current employees to fill out new forms after having once completed forms at time of hire, have all new employees use the current I-9 form (latest form was issued 7/11/2017) and complete Section 1 of the form no later than the first day of work.- DO NOT suggest or require any particular or specific form of identification. If in doubt, rely on the instruction sheets of the I-9 forms or contact an employment attorney.- Record the expiration date of appropriate documents provided by new employees, and follow up for re-verification prior to the expiration date of those documents.- Carefully review the originals of any documents submitted by new employees, record the required data, and complete all spaces on the I-9 form or enter not applicable if appropriate.- Do not allow any government entity, and specifically DO NOT ALLOW the Customs & Immigration Service, or U.S. Homeland Security to obtain or review your records UNLESS provided a Notice of Inspection.- If you do receive a Notice of Inspection – you have a right to three days and you should always demand that time. – If you get a notice – you are strongly advised to have assistance of experienced legal or human resources consultants prior to the 3 day period for furnishing the I-9 forms required by such Notice. You are required to require a search warrant or subpoena for any other access to your records or working areas of your business.- If you undergo an I-9 document audit or inspection, and have notice of potential deficiencies, you must provide written notice of such potential deficiencies to any employees affected.How: Make sure that all employees who have responsibility for your premises and employee records are aware of the requirements of Immigration Law, the I-9 process, and this new California law which restricts access to work places and employee records without search warrants or subpoenas.- If you receive a Notice of Inspection for I-9 forms, you must post a notice for employees immediately informing them that the process will occur.- If the I-9 review raises questions about any particular employee’s status, that employee must be informed and allowed to participate to clarify their status.- Also, employers can only “reauthorize” an I-9 form as required by the process. We strongly encourages all employers to self audit or have outside help in auditing their I-9 forms prior to January 1, 2018. Our experience in auditing I-9 forms indicates that quite often there is a “error” rate of 25% or more in I-9 forms, most of which are simple or unintended errors which can be quickly corrected if identified.- It is not clear if the new California law will approve of these self-audits after 1/1/2018, although nothing in the law details such prohibition and the fines from Customs & Immigration Service are for $225.00 or more if they find such errors in I-9 forms.Why: California enacted AB 450 which added Section 7285.1 to the Government Code – which prohibits employers (all private and public employers) from cooperating with any federal immigration authorities – other than complying with the Notice of Inspection of I-9 forms and the follow up process.asure software offers Human Capital Management solutions that make it easy for employers to manage employees and keep up with state and federal regulations. Our solutions help maintain the service level and familiarity of a small, family-owned business. Let us handle your human capital management so you can focus on running your business.If you have any questions about these updates, please contact us: 800-442-4988 or email: info@asuresoftware.com