I-9 Form

The purpose of the I-9 form is to verify the employment eligibility of potential staff members and to ensure that businesses hire only individuals who are legally permitted to work in the United States for their jobs. All individuals, both citizens and non-citizens, who are hired after November 6, 1986 are required to fill out form I-9 with in three days of being hired by a business unless they are serving as an independent contractor. Individuals who submit receipts for replacement documentation to their employers are given an exception to the three day rule. These individuals are allowed a period of 90 days to provide the proper documentation to their employer. If at the end of the ninety day period the worker still cannot provide the proper documentation then their employment should be terminated.

Employers are responsible for making sure that the entire I-9 form is filled out no later than the close of business on the third day of employment by each new employee. Employers should also provide the official list of satisfactory documents for determining identity and work eligibility to each new employee. All employers are expected to examine the documents provided by a new member of staff and are expected to accept them if they seem genuine. An employer is allowed to refuse to accept a document that is provided by a new employee is it does not appear authentic. In a situation such as this, the employer should request another form of documentation from the list of documents that meet the requirements of establishing identity. Any employee who cannot provide the required documentation should not be allowed to continue to be employed by the company.

Employers are also expected to retain I-9 forms on all employees, due to the fact that this form is not submitted to the U.S. government as is the case with tax records. An I-9 form must be on record for every employee for at least three years after the date on which they were hired or for at least one year after they ceased to work for the particular business, whichever event occurs last. Therefore employers are expected to retain I-9 forms for all current employees along with those of terminated employees until at least a year after their employment ceased.

These forms are expected to be stored at either the worksite or at company headquarters. Where ever an employer decides to store these forms, they must make it possible for the documents to be sent to the relevant business within three days of an official request for the production of the documents for inspection.

If at any time an employer finds out that an I-9 form is not on file for an employee, they are required to request the employee to fill out the form right away and submit the necessary documentation. All new forms should be dated for the day they are filled out. Under no circumstances should an employer ever post-date an I-9 form. If an employee is unable to make the satisfactory documentation available, then the employer is considered to have discovered the individual’s ineligibility to work at that time. If the employer continues to employ such a person, then the employer may be penalized.