Tips for More Efficient Form I-9 Record-keeping

An efficient employee onboarding process is a must-have. The sooner you can make new hires ready for work, the better. Much of this process involves orientation and training. However, you must also fulfill regulatory requirements during onboarding. Chief among these is the completion of the new hire’s Form I-9. The employee and employer must fill out their portions of the form. You must also verify the employee’s supplied identity and authorization documents.

After this process, you need to retain every employee’s I-9 even after they have left your employ. How can you streamline the record-keeping processes for Form I-9 employment eligibility verification? The right combination of methods and third-party support can make a difference.

How to Make Document Verification a Simpler Process

During the I-9 process, employees must provide the required documents. These verify the individual’s identity and confirm that they can work legally in the United States. For many years, this process took place in an entirely physical setting before a combination of modern digital solutions made it simpler for you to streamline the verification process.

Explore using E-Verify

Employers should consider voluntary enrollment in the E-Verify program. E-Verify checks whether the information on an individual’s supplied documents matches what the government has on file. While this does not verify the actual authenticity of the information, it does confirm whether the documents match what the government expects. Using E-Verify provides employers with positive evidence of their due diligence and can help create a defense if an employee is not authorized to work.

Use the latest procedures

Employers should use their good standing with E-Verify to embrace the new alternative document exam procedures. Initiated during the global pandemic, employers can now use a video chat to verify documents. You must still obtain and retain copies of these documents from employees. However, E-Verify users no longer face a strict requirement for in-person exams.

Switching to a digital process can speed up the onboarding process immensely. A video chat document verification may take only a few minutes to conduct. Positive E-Verify results provide enhanced confidence in the outcome. Employees can send relevant document copies to you electronically, which is faster and simpler for storage.

By embracing E-Verify and new verification procedures, you can speed up your process while making it easier to centralize your I-9 records.

Turn to a Centralized Digital Solution

Setting up and maintaining your record systems can be costly and time-consuming. Maintaining physical records on your premises also presents security and space challenges. Destroying records at the appropriate time requires frequent visits to the filing cabinet. Conducting internal self-audits of your records is also more difficult with an entirely paper-based system. At scale, the storage requirements can be immense.

Operating your own digital system is an option. Many companies do this today. However, poor integration between systems often leads to bottlenecks and slowdowns. To make your record-keeping processes as efficient as possible, consider another option. Through our third-party provider, backgroundchecks.com opens the door to a streamlined and centralized digital solution for complying with rules from the USCIS for Form I-9.

This secure online process offers a workflow transformation. You can use this tool to facilitate completing the I-9 documents electronically for the employee and employer sections. E-Verify integration lets you create and run all cases in one place. Combine this process with remote document verification, and you can eliminate paper-based processes in favor of a faster, more reliable digital effort.

This system lets you view an employee’s I-9 anytime or print a hard copy. Providing copies for compliance audits is simple. So is keeping all the copies of verification documents combined with the correct form. When retention requirements end, securely deleting the information is fast and easy.

Re-evaluate Your Approach to I-9 Record-keeping Today

Every business has I-9 obligations to satisfy. Still, this process shouldn’t be burdensome. Correctly completing, filing, and retaining employee I-9s should be a simple and easy part of the onboarding process. The more complex you make it, the more likely you are to encounter errors requiring more time and effort.

For many employers, voluntary enrollment in the E-Verify program only offers positives since the remote document verification process is a considerable perk. Not just ideal for companies hiring remote workers, video verification can make onboarding all employees easier and faster. Using E-Verify to confirm that the data on supplied documents matches government data is an easy way to add confidence to the process.

Smart storage and retention approaches make a difference, too. You can bring your workflow into the digital age with resources such as the Form I-9 support services from backgroundchecks.com. With a secure and centralized solution, you can integrate with E-Verify, meet retention requirements, and improve internal controls. Discover more about this opportunity today as you examine where to improve your process.