The suit springs from a February 2010 incident in which the company rejected a job applicant's work authorization form–a document on the I-9 chart's A list, meaning no other proof is required–and told her she needed to present a green card, showing permanent resident status. The company did so, evidently, because the work authorization document had an expiration date on it. The DOJ intends to prove this represented a pattern of abuse by the company.

“Employers are not allowed to impose more burdensome employment eligibility verification procedures on certain workers based on their citizenship status,” said Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general in charge of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department is committed to vigorously enforcing the anti-discrimination provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act, including those protecting employees from discriminatory documentary requirements.”

The United States Customs and Immigration Service (USCIS) has been conducting I-9 audits throughout the nation. Keep the inspectors away from your door by complying fully with the law. To help you do this, Personnel Concepts offers a comprehensive I-9 Compliance Kit. Get yours today.

The new states are California, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Washington. As of its initial launch in March 2011, Self-Check was made available in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Mississippi, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

In addition, Self-Check is now available in Spanish.

Employers, keep your employees informed of their rights and obligations under the E-Verify employment eligibility verification check by obtaining and posting a copy of  our E-Verify Right to Work Notice Poster.

Not only will ICE be examining the companies' I-9 employment verification forms but also all payroll records, copies of immigration filings, copies of Social Security Administration communications, information on independent contractors, and related information.

The Notices of Inspection (NOIs) that will be dispatched will specify the range of documentation to be audited, as detailed above.

Personnel Concepts offers a comprehensive program to help companies stay in compliance with employment eligibility verification. Get your copy of our I-9 Compliance Kit today and keep ICE auditors away from your door.

“I-9 Central is the latest in our ongoing efforts to better serve the 7.5 million employers who use Form I-9 every time they hire an employee,” said USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas. “It provides critical information for all employers–whether they hire a single employee or hundreds–in an accessible, intuitive and comprehensive online format.”

The launch of I-9 Central follows the introduction of other important USCIS employment-related resources. These resources include E-Verify Self-Check, a service launched in March that allows workers and job seekers in the United States to check their own employment eligibility status online, and an updated “Handbook for Employers: Instructions for Completing Form I-9 (M-274)” published earlier this year.

The final rule, which will be published tomorrow (April 15) in the Federal Register, adopts the wording and intent of the department's interim final rule, which was released on Dec. 17, 2008.

The department's announcement explains: "The rationale for the interim rule and the reasoning provided in the preamble to the interim rule remain valid with respect to these regulatory amendments, and DHS adopts such reasoning in support of the promulgation of this final rule."

The regulations reaffirm three categories of documents for verifying a person's legal work right:

• List A—documents that establish both identity and employment authorization (e.g., U.S. passport, Form I-551, Permanent Resident Card; or Form I-766, Employment Authorization Document).
• List B—documents that establish only identity (e.g., state-issued driver's license or identification card).
• List C—documents that establish only employment authorization (e.g., state-issued birth certificate or an unrestricted Social Security card).

The final rule becomes effective 30 days after publication.

Personnel Concepts offers an I-9 Compliance Kit to help businesses comply with the employment verification process and record-keeping requirements. Get yours today.

The participants were challenged—at the outset—to envision how they would design the I-9 if they were starting from scratch.

Though comments ranged all over the topic, most agreed that the I-9 needs clearer instructions on it and should be simplified as much as possible in design and functionality.

It was evident also that many of the participants were confused by how many documents are needed for verification from the documents listed by the USCIS form under A, B and C categories.

Most attendees participated by teleconferencing. Participants included immigration attorneys, business leaders, immigration rights groups, and educators.

One participant summed up the proceedings this way:

A common refrain among the attendees was the need for a clear, simplified I-9 that would not result in the imposition of 'gotcha' fines by ICE [Immigration and Customers Enforcement] for paperwork errors when the employer has made a good faith effort to comply.

Among its many fine products, Personnel Concepts offers a clear guide to the employee verification process in its comprehensive I-9 Compliance Kit. Get yours today.

Co-CEO Monty Moran said: "We are surprised at what’s happened here because we are very careful about who[m] we hire, and we try to hire the very best people. For each person, we get all the required documents. And even after those reviews, we found that lo and behold, we’ve got a good number of people who apparently submitted documents which were in fact not authentic, despite the fact that they looked to be."

From fiscal year 2009 to date, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have initiated Form I-9 (employment eligibility verification) inspections against 3,769 businesses across the nation.

Don't get caught with undocumented workers during a surprise I-9 audit. Prepare carefully by getting your copy of Personnel Concepts'  I-9 Compliance Kit.

Under its new strategic plan for 2010-2016, OFCCP intends to focus on issues over which it has direct enforcement powers, which it did not with the form I-9.

Meanwhile, ICE officials have announced that they will be sending out 500 to 700 notices of inspection (NOI) during the next few weeks as the agency continues its wide sweep of auditing businesses for I-9 compliance.

All employers must complete and retain I-9 eligibility forms on all employees to prove that their workforce has the legal right to work in the United States. I-9 compliance is a serious matter, so visit Personnel Concepts’ Web section on I-9 Compliance today for a variety of forms, posters, and guidance manuals to ensure your adherence to the law.

“U.S. passport photo matching is another in the long line of enhancements we have made to improve the integrity of the E-Verify system,” said Director Mayorkas. “Adding U.S. passport photos expands our current photo matching efforts and will play a significant role in preventing and detecting the use of fraudulent documents—all part of major anti-fraud initiatives undertaken by the Department.

About 10 percent of new hires present passports when they undergo the required employment eligibility verification process based on the USCIS form 1-9. Employers can use the voluntary and free E-Verify system to help them complete the process and ensure its accuracy.

The Personnel Concepts Web site maintains a complete I-9 Compliance section, where you can find various kits and posters to ensure your adherence to the law.

Affected businesses were given three business days to prepare for the inspection, so the audits should already be under way.

Fines for uncorrected technical and substantive errors on the forms range from $110 to $1,100 per form. Higher fines apply for intentional or known employment of unauthorized workers.

Personnel Concepts maintains a complete I-9 Compliance section on its Web site to help employers stay in compliance and avoid the fate of these 500 businesses.