Top 5 Common I-9 Errors As Seen Through the Eyes of OCAHO
Bruce Buchanan
Today’s article is authored by Bruce Buchanan, Attorney at Siskind Susser, PC in Nashville, Tennessee.
In reviewing the numerous OCAHO decisions issued so far this year, there have been some fairly common violations that have gotten employers in a lot of trouble. Here’s my detailed take on what some of those common errors are and why they consistently plague employers.
#1 – The Missing I-9 Form
The most common violation is the most basic: failure to prepare an I-9 form, especially failing to complete an I-9 Form until after being served with a Notice of Inspection (NOI). This violation occurred in 25 of the 28 decisions this year, as published on the OCAHO’s website. In several cases, U.S. v. Red Bowl Asian Bistro, U.S. v. Kobe Sakura Japanese, and U.S. v. Kobe Sapporo Japanese, the owners simply were unaware of the requirement to complete an I-9 Form for their employees. Unfortunately, ignorance of the law, even if it is the truth, is no excuse.
For the other Top 5 Common I-9 Errors click here.
In a previous article . . . . .
Office of Special Counsel Steps in to Address Common I-9 Violations
By:Jennifer G. Parser & David L. Woodard
of the law firm of Poyner Spruill LLP.
Retailer Macy’s entered into a settlement agreement with the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) last June for “unfair documentary practices” during the I-9 Form employment eligibility re-verification process. The OSC is responsible for enforcing anti-discrimination provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act prohibiting citizenship and national origin discrimination against employers when hiring and firing.
The most frequent problem areas during the E-Verify process are identified as:
- Creating duplicate cases for the same employee
- Verifying an employee who was hired before 11/07/1986
- Immediately terminating employees whose E-Verify submission results are a tentative nonconfirmation (TNC)*
- Failing to create a case by the 3rd day after the employee has commenced work for pay
- Creating cases for employees who were hired before the employer enrolled in E-Verify
- Not reviewing acceptable documents
- Not reviewing a document containing a photo
To read the rest of this article click here.
For everything I-9, use this link to the USCIS "I-9 Central" website: