1. Ensure you have an I-9 for each current employee hired after November 6, 1986 and for each employee who was terminated within the last three (3) years (you are required to retain I-9s for terminated employees for one (1) year from termination or three (3) years from date of hire, whichever is longer);
2. Have an outside THIRD party conduct an I-9 audit. Using in-house resources is not advised, as they will be checking their own work and most likely will not recognize their own errors;
3. Make corrections on I-9S, as problems are uncovered;
4. Purge all I-9 forms after expired retention date;
5. Ensure Payroll records match I-9 forms;
6. Adopt an “Immigration Compliance Policy” that also contains a procedure for handling “mismatch” letters or calls from state and federal agencies;
7. Adopt a written procedure for the completion of I-9s, including a reverification system, and storage processes;
8. Ensure that the company individuals who have I-9 responsibility have received training on the I-9 process;
9. Confirm that the company is paying unemployment Insurance taxes on all employees by comparing your employee roster with quarterly unemployment tax submissions;
10. Determine if the company has received any notices from the Social Security Administration or other state or federal agencies notifying the company of incorrect social security numbers;
11. If you have any notices as they relate to #10, follow up to ensure employees are no longer employed by you or you have otherwise addressed the no match issues;
12. Keep a record of employees you have terminated or rejected due to the determination that they were not legally authorized to work.
Taking the above steps will help your company be better prepared in the event ICE serves you with a Notice of Inspection.