I9 Fines Double, ICE Cracks Down on Violations

In the past two years, employer fines for violating or incorrectly filing out the Form I-9 have doubled from $110 to $1,000 per violation to $216 to $2,156. With multiple violations possible on each form, and incorrect i9 could be catastrophic for a small business.

The “smart” online Form I-9 that was released in November 2016 and revised in July 2017 was designed to be clearer and more streamlined to help employees and employers cut down on errors, but companies are still being found noncompliant.

In late 2016 ICE issued Buffalo Transportation a $109,000 fine (later reduced to $75,000) for not filling out the Form I-9 at the time of hire.

Hartmann Studios was fined $600,000 for failure to sign Section 2 of the I-9 form, coming out to about $700 per violation.

In July 2017, Panda Expressed was fined $400,000 for discriminatory practices in Section 3 of the Form i-9.

Experts believe under the Trump administration Form I-9 enforcement and audits will only increase. Acting ICE Director Thomas Homan issued a directive “to increase the level of Homeland Security and Immigration (HIS) enforcement by four to five times.”
Click here to read Entrepreneur’s entire article, “Are You in Compliance With the Revised Form I-9? Violations Pose a Threat to Your Business.”

Sources:
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/307241
https://www.lawlogix.com/company-fined-600000-9-violations/
http://www.nmmlaw.com/ib/2017/07/12/panda-express-fined-400000-form-9-compliance-violation/