Ryan Glushkoff
Position:
Director of Product Marketing Getting The Best HR Management Software On Your Grill
*For more on how to "Beef Up Your Bottom Line," register for our April 25 webinar at 2 p.m. EST and find out how Carl’s Jr. franchise, Star of the High Desert, saved time, money and its brand by switching from multiple systems to an all-in-one people management platform.
**Photo credit: The Cooking Lab, LLC
Author: Mark Deaton
Author: Ashley McManus
When it comes to I-9 verification in the service industry, meeting state and federal regulations falls somewhere between herding cats and walking a tight rope. From using the right color ink to learning the ins and outs of a new I-9 form (download the 2013 I-9 form released on March 8 by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services), compliance can become a paperwork nightmare.
The service industry relies on younger workers and immigrant employees — and operates with a primary hourly workforce. The high turnover and rapid hiring practices common in restaurants, convenience stores and retail business make them easy targets for the United States Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
In the last five years audits have increased 1,100 percent. More importantly, the businesses being targeted are changing. According to Claire Xidis Torres, immigration attorney at Torres Law Firm, 50 percent of audits in the second half 2009 were businesses that employ less than 25 people. Smaller service industry businesses are increasingly at risk of being audited. And the repercussions for noncompliance are severe.*
Unlike at the end of the Bush administration, ICE is no longer just deporting non-compliant employees. Of the people criminally arrested in 2012, 240 were restaurant owners, managers or HR leaders. Now, anyone proven to have knowledge of illegal hiring practices can face criminal charges. “Having knowledge” can be as simple as not responding to a letter requesting information from immigration services. It’s critical that the people involved in hiring understand I-9 verification and follow compliance guidelines.
Top 5 Ways You Can Avoid I-9 Fines, Penalties and Brand Damage*
PeopleMatter recently hosted a webinar on best practices in employee verification. In the webinar, Torres joined Anna Turner, PeopleMatter Product Owner, to give the top five ways to avoid I-9 non-compliance. The list covers the importance of being aware of I-9 instructions as well as how to avoid getting “ICE’d.”
The top five I-9 tips are:
1. Assume your business will be an ICE target
2. Train your HR staff
3. Good record keeping (and destroying)
4. Maintain a state of audit readiness
5. Don’t wait until ICE is knocking at your door
(For an in-depth breakdown, listen to the recording of our I-9 compliance webinar.)
Service-industry operators and HR professionals need to be aware of the changes to the Employment Eligibility Verification Form (I-9). Businesses managing HR processes with paper practices should already be using the 2013 I-9 form. Companies that are using software programs have until May 7 to make the change.
It’s important to keep up-to-date on HR practices. If a business is using paper practices, they should be training every person involved in hiring each year. An easier way to ensure accurate, compliant hiring is to invest in hiring software. HR software can keep businesses compliant, with features like automatic I-9 form completion, task reminders, continual updates and step-by-step I-9 instructions. The prescribed workflows in most programs guarantee that HR managers correctly complete each step in compliant hiring.
When it comes to managing the I-9 process, the best way to avoid “ICE-y” weather is to be proactive. Train your team, use all the tools that are available to you and handle the process in the most efficient manner for your business. Don’t get caught in the storm.
* To hear more from immigration attorney Claire Xidis Torres, listen to PeopleMatter’s webinar, Top 5 Ways You Can Avoid I-9 Fines, Penalties and Brand Damage.
If you haven’t combed through today’s Department of Homeland Security — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announcement (or if you have and you still can’t figure out what they’re trying to tell you), don’t worry … we’re breaking it all down for you here.
It’s been a whirlwind week here at PeopleMatter. We finally made the big move and are residing on King St. (Keep an eye on our Facebook page, pictures soon to come.) This has also been a big week on social, so with no further ado — our top 5 most read articles from the week!
1. Decide If It’s Time for a Raise with This Chart:
Feel like you’re undervalued at work? Lifehacker has the flow chart infographic for you. Answer some basic questions to see if it’s time to ask for a bump in your salary.
2. 4 Steps to Actually Feeling Happier:
Everyone has a piece of advice on how to be happy, but there are a few fundamental tips to get you on the right path. Take the top four tips on building a foundation to happy and then make it your own.
3. The 10 biggest food trends of 2013: Expect donuts, exotic meats, beer desserts and plenty of surprises:
It looks like 2013 will be a delicious — it surprising year. From increasing meatless options to bringing in alligator, venison, boar and elk, the Houston market gives a diverse taste of what’s to come in dining.
4. What Are Workplace “Clothes”? The Supreme Court Will Let Us Know:
The Supreme Court has been called to define what constitutes clothes under the Fair Labor Standards Act. It seems that different courts have ruled in different ways as to what constitutes clothing. Now it’s time to decide once and for all, and this ruling may come back to haunt us.
5. ObamaCare and the '29ers':
This post explains a new trend business are seeing — part-time "job sharing." This is not just within a company, but between different companies. Now Panera and Chipotle may be splitting their hourly employees. Read how health care may change the hourly workforce.
