Private I-9 Audit

Details

Published: Friday, 01 February 2013 12:54

An important tool to ensure IRCA compliance is the private I-9 audit. These periodic audits can uncover problems while they can still be corrected and before they result in the imposition of sanctions.

Frequently, the I-9 form gets overlooked and is never completed. Even a conscientious employer may have careless or ill-informed staff who do not follow the established guidelines. The periodic audit of an employer's I-9 compliance effort can assist an employer in identifying problems and making corrections to its I-9 forms before the INS decides to make its own inspection of the employer's I-9 forms.

A private I-9 audit of an employer's records will likely reveal a number of correctable errors. Discovery and correction of such mistakes permits an employer to avoid costly penalties and also demonstrates good faith compliance with IRCA's verification requirements. If discovered by the INS, however, such errors would prove to be very costly for an employer.

Because a private I-9 audit can be performed over time it will be less problematic for a company than the a last-minute audit forced by an INS inspection notice. Private I-9 audits can be completed during an employer's non-peak season or over the course of several days or weeks, diminishing both its cost and the disruptive.

A private I-9 audit will also alert the employer to common errors made by managers and find the areas where additional training is needed to ensure IRCA compliance. It will also reveal any systemic problems in an employer's IRCA compliance program, such as the failure to retain necessary records, the failure to reverify when required, and the repetition of errors in the completion of I-9 forms. Once such problems are identified, the employer can take steps to remedy them, thereby avoiding costly penalties.

Latour and Lleras can assist your company in protecting itself a confidential, internal I-9 audit.