KNOW WHAT NOT TO DO – Preventing Discriminatory Practices
As the recent $355,000 McDonald’s Settlement shows, companies not only get fined for I-9 completion errors, but they can get fined for their policies and procedures too.
Did you ever think that doing too much to insure employment eligibility would cause such a fuss? The law is very clear that doing too much, can open the door to your company being sued for discrimination. Creating policies in line with Form I-9 rules and using I-9 compliance programs to enforce those policies is crucial to avoiding discrimination lawsuits as result of your Form I-9 process.
- Over Documentation
If your new employee gives you a handful of documents for Section 2 of Form I-9, remember, you just need only one List A document or one List B document and one List C document. If you do more than that, you could be sued for discrimination. - Document Specification
Never tell your new employee what documents to bring. Lots of companies mistakenly tell new employee’s to bring in their Driver’s License and Social Security Card (or some other card) to establish employment eligibility. - Document Rejection
As an employer, you have to accept documents that look genuine. So, it is critical that Form I-9 processors know what a real document looks like and what to do if there is any question about whether the document is legitimate. Rejecting a good document might lead to a discrimination lawsuit.