The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Aug. 27 approved the updated Employment Eligibility Verification Form, also known as Form I-9, to be valid through Aug. 31, 2012. The new I-9 form can be downloaded at
www.uscis.gov/i-9.
All employers are required to complete a Form I-9 for each employee hired in the United States and to re-verify any employee with expiring employment verification. Employers may use I-9 forms with a revision date of Feb. 2 or Aug. 7.
In addition, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) July 1 launched a stronger I-9 inspection program by issuing 652 Notices of Inspection to audit businesses’ use of I-9 forms across the country. ICE issued only 503 similar notices for all of fiscal year 2008 but is implementing a new strategy in 2009 that includes focusing resources on investigating employers suspected of knowingly employing illegal workers.
Companies can prepare for an I-9 form audit by ICE, and the possibility of an adverse result, by performing an internal audit ahead of time. ABC members can learn more about how to take advantage of cost-effective human resources audits, as well as how to prepare your company for new Occupational Safety and Health Administration enforcement techniques and how to combat upcoming wage and hour issues, at
ABC’s 2009 HR Construction Professionals Conference, to be held Oct. 22-23 at
Disney’s Contemporary Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
For more information about the Form I-9, including helpful links and copies of the final rule published in February, visit
www.abc.org/i-9, or contact Bob Hirsch at ABC,
hirsch@abc.org.
For more information about the 2009 HR Construction Professionals Conference or to register, visit
www.abc.org/hrconf.