The Human Element

As I-9 Program Administrators, you know the challenges presented by the human element. Electronic Form I-9 systems with real-time error-checking go a long way toward eliminating the issues created by the human element. But, even with error-checking software in place, there are still certain pitfalls that can occur.

• Your I-9 Processor ignores the system alerts and prompts resulting in an erroneously completed Form I-9.
• Your I-9 Processor does not know what to do when the new hire fails to present documents within 3 days of hire.
• Your I-9 Processor does not know what to do with an incomplete Form I-9 if the new hire quits before the I-9 is completed.
• Your I-9 Processor does not know what to do with an incomplete Form I-9 if the new hire never begins work.

Due to unique factors in your organization, many of these pitfalls require management and legal input to determine the best action to take. These determinations should be described in an I-9 policy manual and taught to I-9 processors during training sessions. In addition, a Program Administrator should be responsible for oversight and management of the organizations I-9 processing and policy enforcement.

Once again, electronic Form I-9 systems add efficiency to the oversight of Form I-9 processing. The ability to pull reports and search for specific events saves significant time. However, if your Program Administrator is not utilizing the reports regularly and effectively, your organization may find compliance issues continue to be overlooked.

Administrators should perform the following functions on a systematic basis to insure I-9 Policy and Program effectiveness.

• Review all Form I-9s containing errors
• Delete I-9s for new hires who never began work
• Terminate I-9s for new hires who failed to provide documents to complete I-9
• Resolve any curable errors, i.e., typos, conflicts of status, etc, for active employees
• Compare Payroll records to Form I-9 records
• Update Termination dates
• Purge Retention Expired Form I-9s

If you require instruction or assistance on how to perform these tasks in the Lookout system, please contact Customer Support at 713-668-6200 x2. We look forward to the opportunity to assist you in managing the human element in your I-9 processing.