Are You Ready for Your Notices of Inspection?

ICE served another round of inspections notices on November 4th. According to a statement released by the ICE department of public affairs:

“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued Notices of Inspection (NOIs) to various employers on Friday, Nov. 4. These inspections are designed to determine whether or not the businesses are violating U.S. employment laws by hiring unauthorized workers. The names and locations of the businesses will not be released at this time due to the ongoing nature of the inspections.”

This type of action by ICE has become a last quarter tradition.  It seems every year as the leaves fall off the trees and people begin thinking of turkey and cranberry sauce, ICE crashes the party by issuing inspection notices to hundreds of employers.  These Notices of Inspection are demands for I-9 document records and give an employer a measly 3 days to collect and turn-over all of their current employees’ records as well as all of the employees who have been terminated within the last 3 years. Once ICE receives the Form I-9 records from the employer, the entire audit process can take a year or more to complete and culminate in a Notice of Intent to Fine which outlines every error and omission discovered by ICE during the review of the documents.  Each error that cannot be corrected by the employer will be assigned a fine amount.  Fines often total tens of thousands of dollars, sometimes employers pay in the millions! This is a cautionary tale.  If your business did not receive a Notice of Inspection this month, count yourself lucky…but it is no time to relax! If history is any indicator, ICE will be back in the spring, issuing more notices and your business may very well be on their list.  Taking a proactive approach to managing your I-9 compliance includes conducting a comprehensive audit.  An experienced independent auditor can help you identify areas of non-compliance and assist you in developing a plan to repair the costly mistakes that are inevitable in most organizations.  Statistically, when ICE investigates, they find errors on over 50% of the I-9s they audit and each one of those errors costs you money. Don’t be fooled into thinking you are immune from a worksite  inspection because you are not hiring undocumented workers.  Remember, ICE will inspect your I-9 process to be sure you are complying with the rules and regulations when you complete the I-9 form for each new hire.  The inspection focuses on Form I-9 compliance, not on looking for illegal workers. You can help protect your business from the huge fines associated with an I-9 inspection by conducting an internal audit of your own I99 records BEFORE you are visited by government agents.  Put this on your “To-Do List” and move it to the top.  Spring will be here before you know it and the next round of Notices of Inspection will be issued.  Will you be prepared or will you be sorry?