Employers Weather ICE Storm of I-9 Compliance Audits by Government

If you feel a chill in the air, you should. It’s December, winter is here, and blizzards rage across the country. However, another factor may be contributing to the recent chilly weather – an ICE storm of workplace audits by the government in an effort to maintain a legal workforce and ensure I-9 compliance.

It began in the spring, when the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a “New Worksite Enforcement Strategy” that addressed the employers who knowingly hired illegal workers and not just the illegal workers themselves. In order to target the root cause of illegal immigration, the updated strategy was distributed to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement – more popularly known as ICE – changing the focus of the worksite enforcement program to the criminal prosecution of employers who knowingly hire illegal workers.

A big part of that new program was an increase in workplace audits to ensure “I-9 compliance,” a term referring to the Employment Eligibility Verification form – known as the “I-9” – that employers must, by law, complete to verify that their workers are legally eligible to work in the country. In June, ICE launched a new I-9 audit initiative by issuing Notices of Inspection (NOIs) to 652 businesses nationwide to alert business owners that ICE would be inspecting their hiring records to determine whether or not they were in I-9 compliance.

More recently, ICE announced 1,000 new workplace audits to determine I-9 compliance with employment eligibility verification laws. Since the government is obviously serious about I-9 compliance, it is time that employers took their own I-9 compliance issues more seriously too, or else risk a workplace audit that could lead to fines, penalties, and even jail time. A designated third party agent can help employers maintain I-9 compliance through the use of E-Verify, the government’s electronic employment eligibility verification service.

A designated E-Verify service agent, I-9Compliance.com — a web-based I-9 solution from nationally recognized pre-employment screening provider Pre-Employ.com — is pre-integrated with the DHS’ E-Verify electronic employment eligibility verification system and helps employers ensure compliance, eliminate errors, and avoid government audits. For more information, view a complimentary on demand webinar “E-Verify & Federal Contractors: Know The Facts,” visit www.i-9Compliance.com, email info@i-9compliance.com, or call 800-300-1821.

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