DHS makes it very clear as to what fines await employers who are found to have missing I-9 forms or I-9 forms with mistakes – even those that many would consider “honest” mistakes.  Below are recommended penalties for noncompliance as well as guidance on how investigators should enhance the assessed fine. The recommended penalties are presented in two schedules – one for employers who have knowingly hired or continue to employ unauthorized workers, and another for substantive and uncorrected technical violations on the I-9 form. In both schedules, the range of penalties is determined by dividing the number of violations by the number of employees (violation percentage) and then considering whether it is a first offense, second offense, or a third or more offense.

The substantive/uncorrected technical violation schedule is as follows:

After the “base” fine is determined, investigators can also enhance the recommended fine by 5% for each of five separate factors, which include business size, good faith, seriousness, unauthorized workers, and history. The end result means that fines could be as great as 25% above or below the base recommended penalty.  Keep in mind that these fines are per mistake or “offense”.  With this in mind you can see how fines can add up quickly.

Legal Employer helps to educate its clients on I-9 Compliance and helps them to avoid costly fines and damaging PR by conducting internal I-9 audits before ICE comes calling.  Contact us today to see how we can help provide you with peace of mind when it comes to I-9 Compliance.

Popularity: 2% [?]

 As Reported by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement – NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is issuing Notices of Inspection (NOIs) to 180 businesses in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee. The notices alert business owners that ICE will be inspecting their hiring records to determine whether or not they are complying with employment eligibility verification laws and regulations.

Inspections are one of the most powerful tools the federal government has to enforce employment and immigration laws. This new initiative is part of ICE’s increased focus on holding employers accountable for their hiring practices and efforts to ensure a legal workforce.

“ICE is committed to establishing a meaningful I-9 inspection program to promote compliance with the law. This effort is a first step in ICE’s long-term strategy to address and deter illegal employment,” said Raymond R. Parmer, Jr. acting special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in New Orleans.

Employers are required to complete and retain a Form I-9 for each individual they hire for employment in the United States. This form requires employers to review and record the individual’s identity document(s) and determine whether the document(s) reasonably appear to be genuine and related to the individual.

Due to the ongoing, law enforcement sensitive nature of these audits, the names and locations of the businesses will not be released at this time.

In 2009, ICE implemented a new, comprehensive strategy to reduce the demand for illegal employment and protect employment opportunities for the nation’s lawful workforce. Under this strategy, ICE is focusing its resources on the auditing and investigation of employers suspected of cultivating illegal workplaces by knowingly employing illegal workers. The initiative being launched today is a direct result of this new strategy.

Before your business is called next – give Legal Employer a call and we can ensure that your I-9 Documentation is compliant with Federal Regulations.  We provide thousands of companies peace of mind each year when it comes to their I-9 Compliance.  Are you prepared should the ICEman Cometh to you?

Popularity: 2% [?]

If you are an employer in the United States, you could be breaking the law and not even know it. Under federal law every employer, no matter how big or small, must have an I-9 form on file for every employee within 3 days of being hired if the employee was hired after 1986.  The I-9 Form must be kept on file while the person is under your employ and 3 years after they leave your employ.

The Obama Administration has turned the focus to employers and I-9 audits are rapidly on the rise.  Fines for missing forms and forms with mistakes – including many that are simple in nature – add up quickly and can be damging to a business especially in these tough economic times.

The I-9 form provides proof that your employees are entitled to work in the United States. That means that he or she must be a citizen or have a valid work authorization. If you fail to correctly document employment eligibility, you could be subject to civil and possibly criminal penalties. This responsibility has recently become most important for businesses of all sizes especially those businesses in the hotel/restaurant industry, home/business services (contracting, landscaping, cleaning, senior care and child care) and those with federal contracts.

I-9 Compliance Audits

The I-9 experts at Legal Employer are experienced in auditing employer’s I-9 compliance records and educating small businesses, partnerships, corporations and municipalities on I-9 compliance to safeguard against civil and criminal penalties for honest mistakes.  We help our clients avoid costly fines and damaging PR relating to I-9 Compliance before they happen.  In our process we accomplish the following tasks:   

-          Comprehensive physical inspection of I-9 Forms for current employees and past employees going back 3 years as required by federal law

-          Detailed report highlighting all errors and omissions found on each Form I-9 and recommend action

-          Estimate of the potential fines and penalties that a business could be liable for noncompliance

-          Develop a customized Employment Verification Compliance Plan which shows “good faith” compliance with all federal government regulations

Let Legal Employer show you how you can save money by working with us to ensure that your I-9 documentation is in compliance.  Contact Legal Employer today for a free initial consultation about your I-9 compliance concerns and learn about the many ways we work with clients of all sizes.  1-866-726-9620 or http://www.legalemployer.com/html/contact.php

Popularity: 2% [?]

News is spreading like wild fire about the recent ICE announcement regarding targeting the next 1,000 businesses for I-9 Compliance.  The Wall Street Journal, Arizona Daily Star, Chicago Public Radio, Denver Business Journal, San Antonio Express and countless others all jumped on the story.

Many focused in on the reported fines that companies will have to shell out from earlier I-9 Audits this year.  Since the implementation of its new worksite enforcement strategy on April 30^th, ICE has sent out Notices of Intent to Fine in the amount of over $15 million.  That was to 142 companies.  Just to put it into perspective this represents fines for 6 months this year.  In all of last year ICE issued fines just totaling over $2 million.  You can do the math.  45 businesses and 47 individual have been debarred.

It is obvious that the government means business and future audits will continue in greater numbers.

Companies and HR professionals must ensure that their I-9’s are in order.  Many fines are caused by simple technical errors.  It is important that your I-9 Administrator is fully aware of all of the updated guidelines and requirements.

            -A thorough internal I-9 Audit should take place annually

            -Problems should be brought to the table

            -Deficiencies should be addressed immediately and legally

            -The company should ensure that it has a well documented I-9 Compliance plan

            -Companies of all sizes should have an I-9 Compliance officer

Many companies can benefit from the help by independent third party experts whose sole responsibility is I09 Compliance. 

So again, we pose the same question that we have asked for months – What’s in your files?  The experts at Legal Employer can help.

Popularity: 32% [?]

The “second wave” of ICE’s crackdown on employers was no surprise to nearly all of the Legal Employer clients who brought us on board to conduct our own internal I-9 audit of their I-9 forms.  They knew that ICE would be back again and back with a vengeance.  They didn’t even flinch when ICE announced its largest crackdown on employers regarding I-9 Compliance ever.

Now they have the peace of mind knowing that they had the most sought after I-9 professionals in the industry thoroughly examine their files, identify areas of concern, make recommendations on how to fix them and help them to put a comprehensive I-9 Compliance plan in place for their company.

Today they rest easy – what about you?  What’s in Your files?

Popularity: 7% [?]

 Here is an interesting report which ran on Raleigh North Carolina’s WRAL.  The story is by Bruce Mildwurf

Raleigh, N.C. — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s latest estimate on the number of illegal immigrants in the country is anywhere from 12 million to 20 million, with a suspected 350,000 in North Carolina.

The Bush administration tried to reduce that number by trying to stop the flow of illegal immigrants into the country. Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security announced a new strategy under the Obama administration that now also goes after an illegal immigrant’s employer and its managers.

 Under the Bush administration, it was more of a big-bang worksite raid, arrest illegal aliens, hit the news,” said Bernhard Mueller, a labor and employment attorney with the Ogletree Deakins law firm in Raleigh.

Worksite raids across the country led to thousands of illegal immigrants being detained in recent years. In August 2007, for example, ICE agents raided a meat packing plant in Bladen County and charged 28 people with identity theft for assuming identities of real U.S. citizens to falsify citizenship and seek employment. Last year, six people were detained after a raid on a Raleigh restaurant.

Mueller says the new strategy is a wake-up call to employers.

“It’s not a pretty picture for them. They ought to be concerned,” he said.

ICE has launched a new initiative to audit hiring records and I-9s — the form every new hire fills out to verify identity and employment eligibility – of current and past employees.

Last year, 503 companies nationwide received inspection notices. This year, Homeland Security notified 652 companies in one day.

“It is one of those things causing indigestion among the employment community,” said George Ports with Capital Associated Industries Inc., an employer association in North Carolina with approximately 1,000 members.

This week, it offered a seminar to address I-9 compliance because of the Homeland Security audits.

“It’s a concern of employers, especially if they have a high percentage of Latinos,” Ports said.

Immigration officials have said they are looking for companies that knowingly hired illegal workers. But Mueller says, that’s not necessarily the case.

“The government is trying to show – wrongfully, I believe, or rightfully in some cases – that the company, in fact, knows or should have known, and that’s a dangerous standard (that it) should have known.”

He says industries known to hire low-skill, low-pay labor, such as the housing industry, are among those being targeted.

Lisa Martin, who represents the North Carolina Homebuilders Association, says she hopes the process is systematic and fair.

“We support the enforcement of immigration laws,” Martin said. “They need to be targeting people that are willingly evading the law or are just not in compliance, knowingly.”

As jobs have dried up during the recession, thousands of Latinos in North Carolina have returned to their home countries.

Homeland Security believes that, by stopping companies from hiring illegal workers, it gets to the root of the immigration problem.

Tony Asion, director of the statewide advocacy group El Pueblo, says he’s already hearing of unintended consequences.

“What (companies) do is deny the job (to a Latino), and it could very well be to a legal U.S.-born Latino who is here,” he said.

Having represented many clients who were recently audited, Mueller offers this advice: “Get your house in order. Conduct internal reviews of all your I-9 forms.”

He adds that if an employer did not know someone was illegal, but ignored the warning signs, the penalty could be jail time and a fine.

Audits that turn up I-9 forms that are not completely or accurately filled out could cost employers up to $1,100 per form.

At Legal Employer we specialize in I-9 Compliance – it is our sole focus.  We offer manual I-9 Compliance audits and educational programs that help businesses of all sizes minimize and eliminate the risk of fines imposed by the federal government.  These fines, and the damaging PR that is associated with them, are issued for not having proper I-9 documentation for every employee as required by Federal law.  We are helping many businesses in Raleigh, North Carolina and around the country with their I-9 Compliance needs.  As always – we ask  “What’s in Your Files?”

Popularity: 21% [?]

Another municipality votes to require the use of the E-Verify system for their city’s contracted work. Here is their press release.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 6, 2009

As the current recession forces job reductions and boosts demand for existing jobs, Pierce County will now have a tool to ensure that those who work for the county are lawfully able to do so.

The County Council today, Oct. 6, unanimously authorized the county to participate in E-Verify, a federal Internet database that instantly confirms whether or not job applicants have documents establishing their eligibility to work in the United States. Applicants for county jobs will be screened using E-Verify, and most businesses seeking to do contract work for the county will be required to use the system for their own employees.

“The United States accepts more people from other nations than all other countries combined,” said Councilmember Dick Muri, the ordinance’s prime sponsor. “E-Verify gives us a way to ensure that U.S. jobs go to those who have earned the right to work here.”

As part of the ordinance (2009-74s), businesses would need to confirm they are enrolled in E-Verify if they are seeking road or other county public works contracts worth more than $100,000. Those applying for any other contract worth more than $25,000 must do the same.

E-Verify works by allowing employers to electronically compare employees’ information taken from the federal Form I-9 – the paper-based employment form used for all new hires – against more than 449 million records in the Social Security Administration database and 80 million records in the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration database.

The system has proven effective at screening out workers with questionable status. Of all new hires screened by E-Verify, 2.8 percent are eventually found to have documents that can’t be confirmed by the system.

The city of Lakewood uses E-Verify for all of their contracts, and 11 other U.S. states use some form of E-Verify requirement for their state and local contracts. The federal government also uses the system to check the status of its own new hires and requires its contractors to participate.

“It’s time to make a stand to protect U.S. jobs for those who are legally allowed to have them,” Councilmember Shawn Bunney said. “This was a hard path to go down, but it’s the right path.”

CONTACT: Brad Chatfield, Council Communications Manager, 253-798-6626

Legal Employer was one if the first companies to help municipalities with I-9 Compliance issues and E-Verify.  Contact us to see how we can help your company or municipality.

Popularity: 19% [?]

In some of the phone calls we field we often find stressed HR Managers and employers who are angry about having to ensure that they have an air tight I-9 Compliance plan and forms.  They see I-9 Compliance and the use of the E-Verify system as unnecessary paper-work and a waste of time.  They don’t understand the government’s crackdown on employers when it comes to I-9 Compliance.  We thought we would share a report from yesterday which spotlights the opposite end of the spectrum.  Although some may consider the case extreme, it is a common scenario that government and law enforcement officials pursue everyday.  It is cases like this that fuel the fires under the movement for intensified I-9 Compliance audits.

HOUSTON – Robert Lane Camp, the owner of Camp Landscaping in Deer Park, TX pleaded guilty yesterday to harboring an illegal alien who is convicted of capital murder for the shooting death of Houston Police Department (HPD) Officer Rodney Johnson following an investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Investigations in Houston and the HPD.  Camp was initially charged by criminal complaint in January 2008 with encouraging Juan Leonardo Quintero-Perez to unlawfully enter the United States and with harboring him.

Camp faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine at sentencing on Feb 1.

ICE Special Agent in Charge Robert Rutt said, “ICE, using our law enforcement authorities and working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, was able to bring this employer to justice.”This tragedy illustrates that hiring illegal aliens is not a victimless crime. “Too often those in the U.S. illegally are desperate to avoid law enforcement and take desperate actions which can turn tragic.”

While this case is a large one – it all starts with I-9 files.  Because of cases just like this ICE agents will continue to audit companies of all sizes nation-wide – not only looking for those knowingly harbor illegal aliens, but also for those who don’t bother to keep accurate I-9 documentation.  Before you are involved in an I-9 audit – ensure that your I-9 forms are up to speed and that you have a documented I-9 Compliance process in place.  The laws are also on the books to help protect employers by providing them with tools to weed out undocumented workers. 

Legal Employer can help answer your questions about I-9 Compliance and E-Verify and provide you peace of mind.  

“What’s in Your Files?”

Popularity: 10% [?]

The rules are clear – each Federal Contractor who uses the E-Verify system must take an E-Verify tutorial or a refresher tutorial and pass a mastery test to learn how to properly handle E-Verify results before a company can use the E-Verify system.  

Using a DHS approved Designated Agent, like Legal Employer, eliminates this requirement, as the Designated Agent of choice, is responsible for accessing E-Verify on behalf of thier clients.  

Legal Employer eliminates a company’s need for tutorials and mastery tests, and the monitoring needs of the E-Verify system for status changes and for confirmation and non-confirmation updates.  The E-Verify and I-9 Compliance experts at Legal Employer use their years of experience to allow business owners to focus on what they know best – their business — leaving the complex issue of dealing with employee work eligibility to us with substantial savings in time and money.

Let us share with you how we can help your business today.

Popularity: 21% [?]

E-Verify is growing in acceptance and is fast becoming a mandatory requirement for more and more companies.  The program is now mandatory for all Federal Contractors.  The state of Nebraska just passed an ordinance which will require Nebraska companies wishing to receive certain tax incentives offered by the state to E-Verify their employees.  Critics may cry that the program is in jeopardy, but from what we see it is just gaining strength.  Here is an interesting article excerpt that ran in the Wisconsin Law Journal.

Wisconsin Law Journal, By Julia Reischel and Jack Zemlicka, September 23, 2009 – Participation in a national citizenship-verification database became mandatory for federal contractors on Sept. 8, and lawyers warn that it is only a matter of time before other companies around the county will have to follow suit.

In some cases, firms are already seeing private sector clients voluntarily go through the free online process of checking the immigration status of newly hired employees.

Milwaukee immigration attorney Doris E. Brosnan said businesses which tend to have high volume labor needs are looking to be proactive in making sure their workers are legal.

“Companies want to nip these problems in the bud and not deal with them down the line when they find someone has a fake identity,” she said.

The most tangible benefit of using E-Verify is the protection it offers against penalties if a business employs an undocumented worker.

“If an employer relies in good faith on the E-Verify system, there is a reputable presumption that an employer did not knowingly hire unauthorized workers,” said Bradley M. Maged, who runs an immigration law firm in Burlington, Mass.

Immigration attorney Gene T. Schaeffer, Jr. of Godfrey & Kahn SC in Madison noted that the system is also attractive to employers because it offers timely feedback as to whether someone is authorized to work.

In an era of raids on workplaces, such protection offers employers peace of mind.

“If for some reason a company is embroiled with government work issues, E-Verify provides evidence that the business is trying to comply and do things by the book,” Schaeffer said.

Legal Employer helps businesses and municipalities of all sizes with E-Verify and   I-9 Compliance needs.  How can we help you?

Popularity: 12% [?]