Well, the fun just never ends. USCIS has announced increases to the penalties for errors made on completion of Form I-9, along with penalties for many other infractions. One of the most common penalty types has nearly DOUBLED. Read on to see how this may affect your I-9 practices.
How comfortable are you with the accuracy of your I-9 form completion process? Hopefully, you feel super accurate. Do you know or suspect some of your I-9s are missing or were never completed? It’ll cost you!
Check out the new chart of penalties for Form I-9. The penalty for technical errors (blank spaces, unapproved abbreviations, invalid date format, etc) used to be $110 per error with a maximum per I-9 of $1100. The new chart says this penalty alone has jumped to $216 per error with a max of $2156. Yep. Almost double!
Be sure to audit and correct your I-9s before ICE, IRS, DOL or OIG come in and spring an inspection that may cost your company a small fortune. Are you looking for a good I-9 audit checklist to guide you through this clean-up effort? Look no more. HelpDesk Compliance Tool-Kit for Payroll Professionals has a comprehensive I-9 compliance section along with many other tools and job aids that will help your organization BeAuditSecure!
Civil Fines and Criminal Penalties for Form I-9 and Immigration-Related Employment Discrimination Violations
| Civil Violations | First Offense | Second Offense | Third or Subsequent Offense | |||
| MINIMUM | MAXIMUM | MINIMUM | MAXIMUM | MINIMUM | MAXIMUM | |
| Knowingly hired, or to have knowingly recruited or referred for a fee, an unauthorized alien for employment in the United States or to have knowingly continued to employ an unauthorized alien in the United States | $539 for each unauthorized alien | $4,313 for each unauthorized alien | $4,313 for each unauthorized alien | $10,781 for each unauthorized alien | $6,469 for each unauthorized alien | $21,563 for each unauthorized alien |
| Failing to comply with Form I-9 employment verification requirements | $216 for each form | $2,156 for each form | $216 for each form | $2,156 for each form | $216 for each form | $2,156 for each form |
| Committing or participating in document fraud for satisfying a requirement or benefit of the employment verification process or the INA | $445 for each document | $3,563 for each document | $3,563 for each document | $8,908 for each document | $3,563 for each document | $8,908 for each document |
| Committing document abuse | $178 per violation | $1,782 per violation | $178 per violation | $1,782 per violation | $178 per violation | $1,782 per violation |
| Unlawful discrimination against an employment-authorized individual in hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral for a fee | $445 per violation | $3,563 per violation | $3,563 per violation | $8,908 per violation | $5,345 per violation | $17,816 per violation |
| Failing to notify DHS of a Final Nonconfirmation (FNC) of an employee’s employment eligibility | $751 per violation | $1,502per violation | $751 per violation | $1,502 per violation | $751 per violation | $1,502 per violation |
| Requiring an individual to post a bond or security or to pay an amount or otherwise to provide financial guarantee or indemnity against any potential liability arising under the employment verification requirements | $2,156 for each bond the employee paid to the employer. | |||||
| Refund the employee the full amount of the bond. If the employee cannot be found, this refund will go to the U.S. Department of Treasury. | ||||||
| Criminal Violations | First Offense | Second Offense | Third Offense |
| Engaging in a pattern or practice of hiring, recruiting or referring for a fee unauthorized aliens | Up to $3,000 for each unauthorized alien | ||
| Up to 6 months in prison for the entire pattern or practice | |||
Until Next Time, Be Audit-Secure!
Lisa Smith
