The federal government’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) focus has shifted away from punishing illegal immigrants to penalizing employers (audits up 500 percent since 2008). Even for employers that have recently migrated to an electronic I-9 solution, there are mountains of paper I-9s from the past that can be subjected to audits.
What’s a beleaguered employer to do? Retro9, JobApp’s newest product, converts historical paper I-9s to digital form, audits them, and enables you to proactively manage compliance risk. The audit covers 185 error points and delivers a pass/fail report and guidelines for I-9 correction.
JobApp, a market leader in automated hiring systems with its web- and phone-based solution, has integrated automated I-9 compliance that is provided with free, integrated, one-click E-Verify capability.
According to Ken Lang, vice president of sales at JobApp, “Customers have had an eye-opening experience while undergoing the automated audit and it has given them the opportunity to proactively address compliance issues. Also, in using JobApp to automate compliance on a go-forward basis, they have been able to greatly improve the I-9 process and accuracy.”
I-9 compliance is nothing to sleep on. ICE can go back three years for I-9 audits, while businesses get just three days to produce all requested forms. Through early July 2011, there were a record-breaking 2,338 employer I-9 audits – with an average employer fine of more than $100,000, where assessed. Fines per noncompliant I-9 range from $110-1,100. Significant civil and criminal penalties may apply on top of this, if it is proven that the employer knowingly hired employees that were not work authorized.