There’s no question about it—trying to maintain I-9 compliance and staying up-to-date on new rules and regulations can seem pretty overwhelming. Even the most seasoned staffing professionals will tell you that avoiding I-9 violations requires meticulous management of your hiring and record-keeping processes. So what are the most common I-9 mistakes?

We surveyed a group of prominent attorneys who serve in the fields of immigration and employment and asked that very question. In this post and in our next few blog posts, we’re going to take a look at the 5 most common I-9 mistakes made by employers and provide tips about how to avoid those mistakes. It should make for some interesting and informative reading, so be sure to subscribe if you haven’t already done so.

Tip #1: Follow the three-day rule.

Once you’ve hired an applicant, the Form I-9 must be completed within a specific timeframe. Try to remember the three-day rule when thinking about the I-9 process:

• Once an applicant has been offered a position, make sure that Section 1 of the I-9 form has been completed by the first day of work.
• Section 2 of the form must be completed no later than 3 business days after the employee begins working.

And take note: if you’re hiring an employee for a period of fewer than three days, both sections must be completed by the employee’s first day of paid work.

If you don’t want to wait for our next blog entries to read more tips to avoid common I-9 mistakes, check out our free guide—it includes all five potentially costly errors.

And let us know: What kind of system do you have in place to make sure that the Form I-9 is completed on time?

Ensuring that I-9 compliance is being managed consistently across your business is important, and becoming more important. Businesses that do not take proper measures to ensure that their employees are who they say they are may be accused of employing illegal immigrants. Today, the Department of Homeland Security is now involved in the process. On July 1, a new audit initiative was launched by the Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) bureau, causing the government to take a more active role in the enforcement of I-9 compliance.

The new initiative has already led to investigations of hundreds of companies. A total of 652 businesses were recently audited by ICE agents. In the process, they went through a total of 85,000 Form I-9 documents. In the process, they found a total of 14,000 documents that they considered to be suspicious, which amounted to sixteen percent of the total. So far, at least 61 Notices of Intent to Fine were issued. The total number of fines owed currently stands at $2,310,255. A total of 267 cases are still pending, and ICE is only just getting started.

In order to protect your business from this threat, it is important to ensure that Form I-9 management is being undergone in a consistent and compliant fashion. If you have been postponing changes to your I-9 compliance system, now is the time to act. One of the best ways to get the work done is a way that is both fast and reliable is through the use of a system that allows you to electronically process your form I-9s.

One of the best options is the paperless management system offered by I-9Compliance.com. This provides a solution from people who are knowledgeable about the subject, who can give you a standardized system for I-9 compliance, and who allow you to improve the accessibility of your information.

The paperless system offers several benefits to those who choose to take advantage of it. The form completion is designed to make the Form I-9 much simpler to fill out. Each form is filled out in a manner that is consistent and standardized so that there are no conflicts. Legibility is drastically improved because of the removal of handwritten documents. Errors can be reduced, meaning that liability becomes less of a concern.

Furthermore, documents can be stored digitally and easily retrieved. Not only can new forms be stored this way, but old forms can be fed into the system. Documents are easily retrieved in the event of an audit. Worker information can be easily scanned and added into the system. Excessive paper use can also be reduced as a result.

The best part is that if there are any compliance issues, the system will automatically notify you of any changes that need to be made. Any documents that are about to expire will be identified and a clean database can be maintained.