2 Don’t Wait For An I-9 Audit | Act Now To Mitigate Risk For Your Organization 4 Feller’s Fables | Behavioral Mistakes Smart People Make 6 Infographic | Got Nexus? Don’t Wait For An I-9 Audit 7 Business Owners Can’t Do It All | Outsourcing May Be The Solution You’re Looking For 8 Beyond Dollars & Cents | How To Determine Business Value 9 Famous People | Recognizing Our Team Members 10 The Business Of Our Business | What Can The Research Call Do For You? 12 Small Business Corner | Is Your Company Too Small For Self-Insurance? 14 Client Spotlight | Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio (SWACO) 16 Regional Spotlight | Southeast Ohio Region
EDITORIAL BOARD Becky Boyd Katie Brown Becca Davis Abigail Eisenbrei Alan Hill Lesley Mast Don McIntosh Joe Popp Dustin Raber Rebecca Weiand Annie Yoder
The Rea Report is published three times a year (spring, summer and fall) by Rea & Associates 419 West High Ave. P.O. Box 1020 New Philadelphia, OH 44663-5120
By Renee West, SHRM-SCP, PHR, senior HR manager, [email protected] (New Philadelphia office)
Compliance enforcement continues to run rampant through-out the business community, particularly when it concerns a company’s I-9s. Why? Because Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) isn’t just letting its presence be known at the border.
I-9 audits can cripple your business. As demonstrated by the more than 5,200 I-9 audits performed last year, ICE is ramping up its inspections of business’ employment documents at a record pace. These I-9 inspections are meant to locate and fine employers who fail to follow immigration laws with regard to employment eligibility verification. The number of I-9 audits performed on businesses has increased dramatically with ICE’s Homeland Security Inves- tigations (HSI) division issuing more Notices of Intent to Fine than ever before, which means being proactive and prepar- ing your business for an I-9 audit is the smartest action you can take.
For an I-9 audit to begin, the HSI division must first issue your business a Notice of Inspection. As the employer, this notice informs you that ICE will audit your employment re- cords to determine if you’re in compliance with employment and immigration laws. Upon receiving a Notice of Inspection, you have three days to provide your business’s I-9 forms for inspection.
Receiving a Notice of Inspection can be daunting, especially if you’re not prepared. Here is what you can expect: • You’ll be required to provide your business’s I-9 forms and any other supporting documents, such as employee lists, business licenses and payroll records. Additionally, if you knowingly hired and continued to employ unauthorized workers, penalty fines are much greater. If dis- covered, you can face fines ranging from $548 to $19,242 per violation. Without the proper documentation and preparation, I-9 au- dits can cripple your business. However, it’s important to note that ICE considers the following factors when determining the fines it will levy on a business: • The size of the business • Good faith effort to comply • The severity of the business’s violations • Whether the violation involved unauthorized workers • The business’s history of previous I-9 violations
Best Practices
With the heightened enforcement of HR and I-9 compliance, it’s critical to take the necessary steps to prepare your busi- ness for an I-9 inspection so you can avoid paying penalties to the government. • Train your staff to follow your business’s written I-9 compli- ance policy. • Educate your employees on the proper ways to verify documents and handle all job applicants the same. • Implement a cataloging method to properly sort and retain completed I-9s. • At least once a year, go through and get rid of old I-9 forms that are past their retention period (three years from date of hire or one year after termination). • You’ll have a strict 72-hour period after you’ve received the notice to provide the requested documents to ICE. • Perform self-audits and document each one after completion. Seek assistance from a professional who can provide a structured method for auditing and compliance. • If basic violations are revealed, you’ll have a 10-day window to correct them. If violations aren’t fixed within 10 days, you’ll incur a fine ranging from $220 to $2,191 per violation. Increased enforcement of I-9s is likely to continue and no business should feel exempt from an I-9 audit. Maintaining a culture of best practices and compliance should be top priority.