HR Compliance: Are You Ready When the Government Comes Knocking?

A recent announcement has a few human resources departments shaking in their boots. The federal government has announced they are cracking down on the hiring and continued employment of illegal aliens. How are they going to do this? By conducting surprise audits of I-9 forms.

So what, you ask? Well, here’s what…for every instance of failure to complete, retain or make available a requested I-9 form, the company can be fined up to $1100 per violation. For those companies found to have knowingly hired or continued to employ an unauthorized alien, penalties range from $375 – $3200 (each) for the first violation up to $4300 – $11,000 (each) for subsequent violations.

Pretty serious stuff, huh?

So what’s a company to do? The first step is to conduct a thorough hr audit of your I-9 forms. You should make sure all of the necessary information is completed, the dates are within the proper time requirement and the employer and the employee have signed off on the form.

If there are any missing pieces of information, it is in your best interest not to go back and fill in the blanks; rather, have the employee complete a new I-9 form and attach it to the original. In the event you are audited, you are demonstrating a good-faith effort on the part of the company to correct any errors found during your hr audit.

Do you have additional questions about human resource compliance? Contact one of our certified human resources consultants today!

Submitted by: Dawn Karrer, PHR; Human Resources Consultant, IntegrityHR, Inc.