In HR Dive’s Mailbag series, we answer HR professionals’ questions about all things work. Have a question? Send it to [email protected].
Q: We lost an employee’s Form I-9. What are the steps to correct this?
A: If an employer conducts an audit of its I-9s and discovers missing forms, it should go through the process again for those employees, according to David Adams, account executive at SafestHires, Inc.
It should also document the fact that it’s conducting the process again because an audit revealed missing I-9s, Adams said in response to an audience question during a Nov. 21 Cozen O’Connor webinar.
“Explain fully that you seem to have misplaced the I-9s,” Adams said. “ICE will go a lot easier on you if you know that you have an issue and try to remediate it before they get there.”
Adams’ suggestion is in line with what U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services advises on its website. “Employers must complete a new Form I-9 for each current employee if the employee’s original Form I-9 was damaged or destroyed by an unforeseen circumstance,” it says.
An employer also must explain in the form’s “additional information” field why it created a replacement Form I-9, according to the agency. HR professionals may write, for example “‘Original Form I-9 destroyed in (name and year of natural disaster or emergency),’” according to USCIS.