{"id":8552,"date":"2020-07-22T10:38:32","date_gmt":"2020-07-22T14:38:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/?p=8552"},"modified":"2024-08-30T11:09:24","modified_gmt":"2024-08-30T15:09:24","slug":"temporary-rule-for-in-person-i-9-inspections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/temporary-rule-for-in-person-i-9-inspections\/","title":{"rendered":"DHS Extends Temporary Rule for In-Person I-9 Inspections"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-8553 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/temporary-extension-of-in-person-i-9-inspections.jpg\" alt=\"temporary rule for in-person i-9 inspections\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/temporary-extension-of-in-person-i-9-inspections.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/temporary-extension-of-in-person-i-9-inspections-980x654.jpg 980w, https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/temporary-extension-of-in-person-i-9-inspections-480x320.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1024px, 100vw\" \/>On July 18, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced another 30-day extension of the temporary rule for in-person I-9 inspections. The rule is now set to expire on August 19, 2020.<\/p>\n<p>The physical presence requirement\u00a0of the\u00a0<em>Employment Eligibility Verification<\/em>,\u00a0<em>Form I-9<\/em>,\u00a0requires that employers, or an authorized representative, physically examine, in the employee\u2019s physical presence, the unexpired document(s) the employee presents from the Lists of Acceptable Documents to complete the Documents fields in Form I-9\u2019s Section 2.<\/p>\n<p>On March 20, 2020, the DHS <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ice.gov\/news\/releases\/dhs-announces-flexibility-requirements-related-form-i-9-compliance\" rel=\"nofollow\">announced<\/a>\u00a0that effective immediately, the physical presence requirement has been temporarily suspended for employers and workplaces that are operating remotely due to COVID-19 related precautions. In other words, employers with employees taking physical proximity precautions due to COVID-19 (and operating remotely)\u00a0are not required\u00a0to review the employee\u2019s identity and employment authorization documents in the employee\u2019s physical presence.<\/p>\n<p>The USCIS has guidance, including example forms, is available\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.uscis.gov\/i-9-central\/form-i-9-examples-related-temporary-covid-19-policies\" rel=\"nofollow\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Limitations and Liabilities<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>If there are employees physically present at a work location, then in-person verification of identity and employment eligibility documentation for Form I-9 continues to be required. However, if newly hired employees or existing employees are subject to COVID-19 quarantine or lockdown protocols, DHS will evaluate this on a case-by-case basis.<\/li>\n<li>Employers may designate an authorized representative to act on their behalf to complete Section 2 and may be any person the employer designates to complete and sign Form I-9 on their behalf. However, employers are liable for any violations in connection with the form or the verification process, including any violations in connection with the form or the verification process, including any violations of the employer sanctions laws committed by the person designated to act on the employer\u2019s behalf.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Section 2 Documents May be Inspected Remotely<\/h2>\n<p>Employers must still inspect the Section 2 documents but may do so remotely (for instance, over video link, fax or email). Employers must also obtain, inspect, and retain copies of the documents they inspect, within three business days so as to complete Section 2. Employers are also directed to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Enter \u201cCOVID-19\u201d as the reason for the physical inspection delay in the additional information field of Section 2 once physical inspection takes place after normal operations resume; and<\/li>\n<li>Add \u201cdocuments physically examined,\u201d with the date of inspection to either the additional information field of Section 2 or to section 3 (as appropriate) once the documents have been physically inspected.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Employers may now implement remote document inspections until August 19, 2020 or within three business days after the termination of the National Emergency, whichever comes first. Importantly, employers who implement remote onboarding and telework policies must provide documentation for each employee. This burden rests solely with the employers.<\/p>\n<h2>In-Person Verification Required after Normal Operations Resume<\/h2>\n<p>Once normal operations resume, all employees who were onboarded using remote verification must report to their employer within three business days for in-person verification of identity and employment eligibility documentation they presented for their Form I-9. Once the documents have been physically inspected, the employer should add \u201cdocuments physically examined\u201d with the date of inspection to the Section 2 additional information field or to section 3, as appropriate. Any audit of subsequent Forms I-9 would use the \u201cin-person completed date\u201d as a starting date\u00a0<em>for record retention purposes<\/em>\u00a0for these employees only.<\/p>\n<p>GTM makes the verification and <a href=\"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/virtually-onboarding-new-employees\/\">onboarding processes<\/a> easy with isolved, our payroll and HR platform. This paperless system allows all employee data to flow seamlessly, saving time, reducing errors, and ensuring all relevant parties have the information they need. <a href=\"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/get-a-quote\/\">Request<\/a> a free quote to learn more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Department of Homeland Security announced another 30-day extension of the temporary rule for in-person I-9 inspections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[266],"tags":[194,52,25],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-8552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-consulting-services","tag-covid-19","tag-form-i-9","tag-hiring"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8552"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8552\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8554,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8552\/revisions\/8554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8552"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=8552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}