What Are I-9 Verification Documents And Why Do I Need Them For Every Hire? 3 Nov 2017

Did you know that all employers are required to verify the eligibility of newly employed workers? If you’re not currently doing this as part of your hiring process, you must make changes immediately, or you leave yourself at risk for hefty fines and other penalties.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a Fortune 500 company or a small nonprofit — an I-9 is an important step in the hiring process. According to the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, all employers must verify the eligibility of newly employed workers, making it illegal to hire applicants without proper work status.

According to the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services, “Form I-9 is used for verifying the identity and employment authorization of individuals hired for employment in the United States. All U.S. employers must ensure proper completion of Form I-9 for each individual they hire for employment in the United States. This includes citizens and noncitizens. Both employees and employers (or authorized representatives of the employer) must complete the form.”

Within three days of an employee starting a new job, they must fill out the I-9 and show documentation that establishes proof of their identity, as well as documentation that proves their work eligibility in the U.S. Getting this information and processing the form can be time-consuming, but it’s a critical step to meeting important hiring requirements.

To save time, Trusted Employees offers an employment eligibility verification service in addition to employee background check services. This ensures that your organization complies with all relevant federal and state laws so you can feel confident in your new hires. Stop worrying about worker eligibility and focus on onboarding instead, so you can get new talent up to speed and productive with existing teams.

Trusted Employees’ web-based employment eligibility verification (EEV) I-9 services program allows hiring teams access to track and update employee information anytime, from anywhere. If you have specific organizational needs, we’re happy to work with you to assess your current system and create a customized solution so you’re confident in all of your hires.

When you work with Trusted Employees, information is cross-checked and verified to ensure proper correlation in identity and work eligibility. Rest assured that sensitive employee information is safe. The web-based I-9 verification system is fully encrypted and secure.

Bottom line: you’ll streamline the verification process from start to finish. Consider the requirement that employers keep each employee I-9 form for at least three years, or for one year after employment ends, whichever is longer. This can lead to a lot of paperwork that must be organized in case of an audit. The E-Verify services efficiently stores I-9s digitally, eliminating legacy manual processes and time-consuming workflows.

If you have questions about I-9 verification documents and how you can enhance your employee background check service, contact Trusted Employees today.