February Brings New I-9, Posting Requirements

Form I-9 changes
Effective February 2, you are required to begin using the newly revised Form I-9. The previous form (dated June 5, 2007) is no longer valid, and using it may result in civil penalties.

An I-9 must be completed for all new hires and for reverification of certain employees with temporary work authorization. There are a number of changes on the new form, including the employee attestation section (Section 1). More significant, the new form incorporates the following changes regarding the types of documents you may accept to establish an employee’s identity and employment authorization:

• All documents presented during the verification process must not be expired. Previously, certain expired documents were acceptable
• Acceptable “List A” identity and employment authorization documentation no longer includes Form I-688, Temporary Resident Card; Form I-688A, Employment Authorization Card; and Form I-688B, Employment Authorization Card. Each of these cards is now obsolete
• List A now includes foreign passports containing certain machine-readable immigrant visas and documentation for certain citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands if presented with an I-94 or I-94A arrival/departure record
• The new U.S. passport card has been added to List A

The new I-9 form is available online at http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-9.pdf. Forms can also be requested by calling the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services national customer service center at 800.375.5283.

The new form should not be completed for existing employees. It must be used only for new hires and for reverification of current employees once their temporary work authorization expires.

Remember to post OSHA Form 300A summary
It’s time again for your annual Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) posting. If you have 11 or more employees (except employers in certain exempt industries), you must compile and post an annual summary of the occupational injuries and illnesses for each of your establishments by February 1.

The summary must show the previous year’s total recordable occupational injuries and illnesses from the OSHA 300 log and must be posted on an OSHA Summary Form 300A or equivalent form. Posting is required even if no injuries or illnesses occurred during the year. If you had no recordable injuries or illnesses, you should post the OSHA Summary Form 300A with zeros on the total line.

The summary must be completed and posted by February 1 and must remain in place until April 30, 2009. A company executive must sign the form, and it must be posted in the same manner required for other employment postings. Failure to post a copy of the annual summary may result in citations and assessment of penalties by OSHA.