In today’s Federal Register, USCIS announced the effective date of the new version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, which became available on November 7, 2007.
All employers are required to complete Form I-9 with respect to all new or rehired employees on or before the first day of employment. Employers are also required, within three days of hiring a new employee, to examine original documents presented by the employee (such as a US passport, or a driver’s license and social security card), and ensure that those documents confirm the employee’s identity and employment authorization.
As we informed employers in our last Client Alert on this topic, the “new” version of the form is, in fact, identical to the current version of the form (only the version date has changed). The only change to the form is in the “List of Acceptable Documents,” found on the reverse of the form, which was changed to make the form’s instructions match the regulations promulgated in 1997. Those regulations eliminated certain rarely-presented identification documents from the list of documents that employers may accept to document an employee’s identity and employment authorization.
While no substantial change has yet been made, employers may wish to use the roll-out of the new Form I-9 as an opportunity to provide refresher training to staff involved in the hiring process. Should employers need additional compliance resources, such as in-depth I-9 training or an audit of their I-9 files, they can contact partners William Stock (wstock@klaskolaw.com) or Elise Fialkowski (efialkowski@klaskolaw.com).
Form I-9, and the revised Handbook for Employers, can be downloaded from the Firm’s website at https://klaskolaw.com/library/files/new_i-9_form.pdf and
https://klaskolaw.com/library/files/uscis_i-9_handbook_for_employers.pdf.
