Maintaining An Employer Sanctions Compliance Program
Maryland immigration lawyer Meetesh Patel has an excellent post about employer sanctions on his Immigration Law Blog.
Here is a portion of the post from attorney Patel:
Tips for Maintaining an Employer Sanctions Compliance ProgramSet up internal protocols for handling I-9 forms, including training.
Do regular audits of your I-9 forms.
Complete section one of the I-9 form on the first day that an employee begins work. The remainder of the I-9 form must be completed within three business days. If a worker fails to bring the documentation required by the I-9 within that time period, you may fire them.
Do not request specific documentation from worker to verify employment eligibility. Let the workers choose from the list of acceptable documents listed on the I-9 form.
Do not accept any documents that are not originals except for those stated on the I-9 form.
If an employee provides a document that is not listed on the I-9 form, hand the document back to the employee and ask for another one from the I-9 list.
If during a review of your records you discover that I-9 forms from certain employees are missing, get the documentation from those individuals immediately.
If documentation provided by employees looks genuine on its face, do not ask for more proof as this can subject you to a national origin discrimination claim.
Keep all I-9 records for three years after the date of hire or one year after the date of dismissal, whichever is later.
Treat all employees and job applicants equally.