January 21, 2013
Written by Heidi Seaton, Director of Implementation and Compliance
Revised Form I-9 announced by the USCIS
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced a major revision to the Employment Eligibility Verification form, Form I-9. Employers are required to use the Form I-9 to verify the identity and employment authorization eligibility of their employees. The revisions to Form I-9 include formatting changes (it’s now a two page form instead of a one page form and the instructions have been expanded) and the inclusion of additional data fields (including employee foreign passport information, phone number and email address fields).
The Federal Register notice indicates that the new version may be used immediately, although the new form does not appear to be readily available in the USCIS web site this morning. Employers have 60 days to begin using the form, and in the mean time, they may continue to use the two prior versions of the Form I-9: Rev. 08/07/09 and Rev. 02/02/09.
The foregoing is not legal advice, either expressed or implied. We recommend you seek the advice of your corporate legal counsel for all aspects of employment law.
January 21, 2013
Written by Heidi Seaton, Director of Implementation and Compliance
New Year's Resolutions
As we all get busy in the new year, we take this opportunity to make you aware of a few new developments in the industry and remind you of a few things that are not new, but deserve may your attention:
1. Summary of Rights Notices: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau published revisions to the Summary of Rights documents that are defined in the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The notices were actually updated twice in as many months by the CFPB, so if you didn’t catch that second update, make sure you have it now – it’s linked
here. The new version was immediately effective, and employers’ deadline to begin using it was January 1, 2013. Remember Orange Tree automatically attaches this document to any background report that we send to applicants, to any pre- or final adverse action letter that we send on behalf of a client and it is also displayed as part of the Applicant Entry process for our clients that use that feature.
2. Ban the Box Movements: the trend is spreading! More and more local jurisdictions are enacting ordinances that bar employers from asking applicants about their criminal record history or requiring employers to ask this question later in their hiring process. We previously posted about the Newark, New Jersey ordinance, but we are also aware of “ban the box” ordinances enacted late in 2012 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Wilmington, Delaware. These three cities join Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington DC in banning the box.
3. Recent FTC Settlement news: The FTC recently settled with a company that compiled and sold criminal record reports but failed to take any of the consumer protection measures required by the Fair Credit Reporting Act. This company marketed itself to employers, but then indicated in the fine print that the reports they created were not suitable for any purpose under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The FTC was not buying it, reiterating that just because a party claims they are not subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act does not make it true! See the full FTC news release
here. In June of 2012, the FTC settled a similar claim against data broker Spokeo – so we expect to see this sort of enforcement continue from the FTC.