labor lawAdivision of labor law center

The deadline for employers’ compliance with changes to the I-9 form is April 3, 2009.

 

Essentially, the U.S. Citizenship and immigration Services, the agency in charge, has given employers a several-weeks respite.

 

Action by the new Presidential administration has helped the cause of those seeking a delay. Numerous employment law and regulatory deadlines put into action by the Bush Administration during its final months were postponed recently. Chief of Staff of the White House, Rahm Emmanuel, put out a memo urging federal agencies to take an additional 60 or 90 days to review all of those policies. The intention was to insure that the policies would be consistent with the standards of President Barack Obama.

 

An interim rule published by the USCIS in December of 2008 originally required all employers in the U.S. to begin using a new I-9 form by February 2, 2009. Under the new regulations, employers must use a revised version of the I-9 form, which is essentially an employment eligibility revivification form.

 

The delay until April 3 offers plenty of time to engage in a complete review of the new form and its requirements. The Federal Register will publish a notice of the delay.

 

The I-9 form must be completed by employers for each and every newly hired worker. The forms are intended to verify a worker’s identity and d that worker’s right to legally work in the U.S. The interim final rule would change to a slight degree the nature of the documents that employers may require from new employees. Some employers have already switched over. Employers are cautioned not to use the I-9 as a screening device in hiring and employment practices. Such an activity could be considered illegal discrimination. According to the law, an employer may require a new worker to fill out an I-9 only after actually being hired.

 

All employers were  invited to comment on the changes until March 4, 2009.

 

Copies of I-9 documents may be made and kept in a file location, but employers must file them separately from each worker’s personnel files.

 

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