Dive Brief:
- Whether companies are bringing on remote employees in order to provide greater work-life balance or to access key talent outside the company’s immediate location, hiring remote and virtual employees has become an everyday occurrence, according to an article at HROToday.
- While a remote workforce can help to create a more satisfied team and provide access to a larger candidate pool, onboarding and managing offsite employees can create significant challenges, especially during the often confusing Form I-9 completion, writes Angela Lockman, vice president of Equifax Workforce Solutions.
- Many sources report that across the board, 60 to 80% of all I-9s contain errors, says Lockman. And with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) inspection of Form I-9, employers face an average fine rate of $935 per incorrct form, according to Poyner Spruill.
Dive Insight:
Despite the fact that offsite workers may not be in close proximity to a company office, and many offices don’t have a trained official to manage the Form I-9 process, there are ways for employers to onboard these employees and complete the document in accordance with applicable laws and regulations, Lockman writes.
Since an employer can't always do the I-9 completion process in person, it is acceptable for an employer to designate a completer of Section 2 on the employer’s behalf. That completer must sign as the employer’s authorized representative with the employer’s name, so employers should choose completers carefully.
Among a long list of best practices, Lockman says employers should develop a network of trusted agents in key cities suitable to hiring needs and who will act as your authorized representative. Also, they must ensure that they offer advance warning of remote new hires in order to meet the three-day rule for I-9 and E-Verify, if the latter is applicable.
By adopting best practice strategies, companies can onboard their newest hires appropriately—regardless of where in the country the new hires are located, Lockman writes.
