How to Ensure You’re Running an Immigrant-Compliant Business
Regardless of the industry, it’s crucial that you’re following relevant federal rules and regulations that pertain to human resources. Otherwise, you can get hit with costly penalties and may be subject to messy litigation that not only hurts from a financial standpoint but can create a lot of headaches. One area that you should take especially seriously is screening new hires to ensure that they’re eligible to work in the U.S. Here are some ways to make sure that you’re running an immigrant-compliant business.
It Starts With an I-9 Form
Any time you hire a new employee, you are required to have them fill out a DHS I-9 Form. This is designed to ensure that new employees are who they say they are and that they’re fully authorized to work in the U.S. Making sure that every single person you bring on board fills this out is extremely important, and you’re legally bound to do so within three days of them being hired.
Fortunately, this costs nothing to file, and you can find everything you need to know via this section of the USCIS website. The only case in which you’re not required to have someone fill out an I-9 Form is when they’re an independent contractor.
Examine the Details
Once this form has been filled out, you’ll want to go over the information thoroughly to make sure that it’s filled out correctly and that the writing is legible. Otherwise, you may be setting yourself up for unwanted attention and potential penalties from the government.
Keep These Forms on File
You never know when you may have to produce these forms, so it’s essential that you keep them on file in a safe location away from other personnel files. You may also want to backup the information virtually in a Cloud-based setting so that you can still retrieve the forms in the event that the physical versions are lost or destroyed. This isn’t required but can prevent a lot of complications in a worst case scenario.
Running an immigrant-compliant business is highly important for covering yourself and protecting your assets. Luckily, the USCIS makes this process fairly straightforward and doesn’t come at any additional cost for business owners. Playing it by the book and verifying employment eligibility not only keeps you in good graces with the government, but you can have more peace of mind when bringing new employees on board.
If you have any further questions concerning immigrant-compliance and other HR issues, please contact the experts at SelecSource today to see how we can help.