The form I9 must be completed for every new hire. The new hire must complete Section 1 on or before the first day he starts. To make things easier, companies may wish to have the new hire complete the I-9 before his first day, when s/he completes the rest of his new hire paperwork. It’s best to get into a particular pattern, thereby treating all new hires, those with permanent work authorization and those with temporary work authorization, the same. This will help refute discrimination claims.

After the new hire is done completing section 1, the section 2 of the I-9 form must be completed. This section establishes that the new hire is entitled to work. The new hire can provide any kind of documentation that is permitted by law. Employers cannot tell the new hire what to bring. HR staff should familiarize themselves with the types of acceptable documents so that they may be able to make accurate determinations as to which documents are acceptable.

After the I-9 employment eligibility form is completed, it should be reviewed and then filed away in a separate I-9 file, away from the employee’s personnel file. If the new hire has limited work authorization, the employee’s employment eligibility must be monitored. On a regular basis, the I-9 file should be reviewed, and terminated employees should have their I-9 forms pulled and placed in a terminated I-9 file. I-9 forms for terminated employees must be kept for specific periods of time pursuant to I9 regulations.