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.
For more information, please 
