Name: Simulive: Navigating I-9 Compliance in 2026
Uploaded: 2026-10-16T17:47:07.206Z
Duration: 31 min 4 s
Description: Simulive: Navigating I-9 Compliance in 2026

Transcript for "Simulive: Navigating I-9 Compliance in 2026": Alright, Alex. We're live, so you can go ahead and, start sharing your screen. Thanks everyone for joining. Perfect. Okay. Thank you everyone for joining today's session. We very appreciate it. Today's session is an ask me anything session for Mitratech's I nine and E Verify compliance, solution. So without further ado, we'll just go into the speakers. The first speaker here is myself, Alex Plumb, group product manager here at Mitratech over, again, Mitratech's I nine and E Verify solution tracker I nine. I've been with Mitratech a little over four and a half years, working on I nine solutions in not just Tracker I nine, but other products, under the Mitratech portfolio. And a little fun fact about me, I've resided in six different states and on my second lap, in Virginia currently. And we'll turn it over to a second speaker to introduce himself, Paul. Hello, everybody. Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, depending on where you're, joining us, today from. Paul McKenna. Proud to be here today. Senior product manager over here at Mitratech. I joined Alex with Oversight over Mitratech, I nine and e verify, compliance solution. Been with the company for over twelve years now. I join you today from the Southeastern Portion of The United States just outside of, Atlanta, Georgia. Bringing to the table over twenty years worth of experience in the HR technology space. So happy to be a part of today's session and answer, questions that the group may have. Thanks, Alex. Awesome. Thanks, Paul. And we'll now go into the agenda. Awesome. So quick overview of today's agenda. We're gonna be just discussing why I nine compliance is harder than it look... Than it looks this year in 2026. We're gonna have a few different real world I nine execution scenarios where everyone will be able to submit your answers either if it's a red flag or green light situation. We'll then have the most time for the live q and a and wrap things up with a few takeaways. Awesome. Thanks, Mariana. Just before we go into details, wanna do a quick disclaimer. Our legal team ensures that we say these things, so please just bear with me momentarily. This presentation is meant to be informational only and is general in nature. Know the information we discussed here today is intended to be legal advice or opinion. There are additional facts or information that might pertain to the situation you might be thinking of or dealing with. There's also future developments that may change the outcomes or answers or suggestions we might provide. But nothing we're gonna say here should be construed as legal advice. If you do need legal advice, please consult an attorney and make sure you get the support that you need that's applicable to your information. Sorry. Just had to get through that disclaimer, and we can go to the next slide. Okay. So why does I nine compliance look harder in 2026? At a high level, right, the I nine rules haven't really dramatically changed over the last few years. The form is familiar. The three day rule is familiar. The documents listed are familiar. So what's changed isn't right the policy. It's the hiring environment. And enforcement today is more structured, more visible, and feels more expensive when things go wrong. Remote distribute... Distributed high volume hiring. So remote hiring sounds simple until you ask who actually completed section two. Was it done the same way every time? And did we document remote verification properly? When hiring happens across multiple time zones and teams, consistency becomes harder. The more handoffs, the more risk. So I nine compliance really used to sit in one HR office. Now it might involve multiple different roles, the recruiter, the hiring manager, if you have a remote representative, an everify administrator, and every handoff is a chance for something to slip, a mis signature, a late section two, and over documented request. And the risk lives in daily decisions. The biggest misconception about I nine compliance is that risk shows up in policy manuals. It doesn't. It shows up in more of those real world scenarios such as we'll finish section two tomorrow. We'll just have them send a picture. We always ask for the passport. It's easier that way. None of those feel dramatic in the moment, but in an audit, they become patterns. So let's talk about those real world gray areas you're seeing using that q and a feature and where things tend to get complicated. Fantastic. So we have a little bit of an interactive scenario for you all. I'm gonna release a series of three polls, which will be these scenarios, And you'll vote on the poll whether the situation is a red flag, high risk, or green light, compliant, or low risk. So I'll go ahead and release the first poll, and that is a remote hire complete section one on day one. Section two is completed on day four because the hiring manager was traveling. So I'll give everyone a few moments to answer the poll. About ten more seconds to submit your final answers. Alright. So most of you did vote red flags, so high risk situation. Do you want me to add a little context there, Mariana? Yeah. Yeah. This is a... So the team got it right. This is definitely a red flag, situation. If you're not aware, section two of the I nine needs to be completed, no later than three days from the employee's first day of work for pay. So by completing section two on day four, technically, that, event is considered to be late, even if there's a good reason, as to why section two may have been completed late, this is typically, treated as a... Would be considered a paperwork, violation, in the event of an audit. So it's definitely in your best interest, to make sure that you're getting your I nines, completed timely, specifically with section twos, completed no later than three days from the employee start date. Thanks, Paul. And we'll go ahead and segue into the second situation. So HR notices a minor typo in section two during an internal review, but decides to fix it later during an audit. So I'll go ahead and release the second poll. Few more seconds to get your answers in. Alright. We'll go ahead and share the results for this poll. And Moe shows red flag situation for this one. So, Paul, feel free to provide some color on that one. Yeah. The team got it right, once again. Great audience here, today. Acknowledging and delaying corrections on an I nine can be, a risky action to take. It's in your best interest, to correct those errors, as soon as they're discovered, using, proper correction methods, such as, you know, striking through, the issue that's on the I nine, correcting the value, making sure that you date and initial, that correction. If you delay on taking that corrective action, until, an audit, that can actually make you look, very reactive, and undermine your position, being in good faith, with regards to running a compliance, I nine program. So... Thanks, Paul. We're good to start the last, poll question there, Mariana. Awesome. So third, a rehire within three years is onboarded without completing a new I nine because the original form is on file. Few more seconds. It looks like we're neck and neck here. Alright. This one again, another red flag. What's the winner? So this one really kinda depends on your, interpretation of of the question because I feel like it could be a little open ended here just depending on how you're reading this, from your, through your lens or your frame of reference. But, technically, if that rehire event is occurring within three years from when, that employee's original I nine was completed, then, technically, you can leverage, the original I nine. Now that's not to say that there's no action that's required, by you. If you do determine that you can leverage, the rehire's original I nine, that you still need to record, that rehire date, and also sign and date that, within supplement b, of the, hires, I nine. And then also note that there could potentially be, a reverification requirement that might be needed, of the employee's, work, authorization documents. If that I... If that employee is a foreign national, and if that employee's documents, that were inspected at the time, their I nine was originally, completed, have since, expired. So, again, overall, green light, but I can see why, some members, of the, audience may have flagged this as a, red flag item. Perfect. Thank you, Paul. Yeah. Sure. Awesome. And now it's your guys' turn. So use that q and a feature and start asking Paul and myself some questions that we can answer live for you. We'll try to get through as many questions as possible. Great. And looks like we have a few questions coming into the chat. But one to note to kick things off, I think this one's for you, Alex. But it's, if an employee never started work, should they keep or delete the I nine? Yeah. Great question. You know, USCIS rules... Retention rules say that you must retain a completed I nine for each employee on your payroll file who received compensation. So, technically, if a person never worked or started employment for pay, no I nine is actually required. If you did prepare an I nine nonetheless, USCIS guidance will tell you to, attach a signed and dated explanation of the situation and retain it through the usual retention period. So three years after a hire or one year after employment ends, whichever is the latter. Thanks, Alex. And then we do have one for you too as well, Paul. This one is, what if section two is completed late? Yeah. Great question. Actually, just kinda touched on that, during the poll, that we just took. But just to reiterate, in almost all cases, section two of the form I nine needs to be completed no later than three days from the employee start date. So it's in your best interest, as an employer to make sure you maintain compliance, and ensure that, section twos, get completed, timely. In the event that you discover, that section two was not completed timely, then it's not in your best interest to go ahead and, backdate, the date in which section two is signed and falsify the information. That would not be, a permeable event. Instead, you should probably acknowledge the situation, add an explanation included with the I nine as far as, what took place. And then you should really kinda take a step back, to look at, what the underlying root cause is for that late signature event, because, again, in the event of an audit, that could be, something, that you, potentially incur, incur a fine for. But, basically, overall, you're gonna wanna look at, your internal, processes and procedures to make sure that you have the appropriate controls in place, to make sure that, again, your I naught get completed timely. That may involve looking at any type of documentation that you have, surrounding the online process, any job aids, checklist, that you disseminate out, to your users, or individuals who are involved, in the online process, any type of reminders, that you potentially, have in place, workflow, guardrails, SOPs, things of that nature. So, in general, section twos, if they're completed late, is, generally considered a a paperwork, violation, which would, result, potentially in a fine. But if you have, consistent, late section two signatures, then that can create, a bigger, audit exposure, for you, as well. So keep that in mind. Thanks, Paul. Yeah. Sure. And this next one, Alex, is actually for you, but is everify portal required for I nines? No. Everify is not required for all states and all I nines. So it is subject to... There are specific states that do require everify. Can't remember all states off the top of my head, but certain states do require it. Other states are optional. So it's completely up to you as the employer whether you wish to subject your employees who complete an I nine to everify if you're operating in a state that everify is optional. It's just another layer, right, to make sure that they are employment authorized and eligible to work through The United States. So it's always a, additional layer that we recommend, but not something that's required in every state. And we also have an additional clarifying question. What is considered a minor typo? I mean, it kinda really just depends. Like, it's a typo. It can actually be something that was written into the I nine, that was entered incorrectly, or sometimes people interpret a typo as the emission, of data as well. But I'd say a typo could be, you know, potentially, you know, entering an incorrect issuing authority as it relates to a section two document, potentially, transposing, a couple of digits, as it relates to, a specific number that's being recorded, on the I nine, things things of that nature. So, overall, it's in your best interest to make sure that your I nines, are completed, properly, in their entirety, per, I nine requirements. So our recommendation would be for even the most minimal of errors, that if you acknowledge those, that you take the appropriate steps, to get those, errors resolved. And, Paul, you might be able to take this one as well. But what is the best way to handle filling out and completing for an off-site employee? So it really depends on, the employer. Some employers that truly have, what are considered to be off-site or remote workers, some employers have the luxury, or the ability to bring in those individuals during their first week, for, like, new hire... Orientation or onboarding. So if you do have, that opportunity, but, obviously, you'd still be able to, meet, and adhere to the, physical document retention requirements, as released to the form a nine and meet in person, with those individuals. Otherwise, if you as, the employer are not able to, meet, with the the hire, because they're off-site, then you could, leverage, and what's considered being authorized, representative. Basically, somebody who can act in your capacity, to meet with that employee, inspect their work authorization and identity documentations, and record section two, on your behalf. There really isn't a lot of qualifying criteria as far as who can act in this, quote, unquote, authorized representative capacity. But what is clear, what is documented is that at the end of the day, you as the employer are ultimately responsible, for that I nine. So, again, it's in your, best interest to make sure that you're, you know, discussing, off-site hires within your company, and make sure that you have a plan, in order to, make sure that their I nines, get completed, timely, and compliantly. Thanks. And then this one might be for both of you guys, so you can weigh in here. But if a company was to come under an I nine audit, what would that typically look like? I'll just do a lot of you. I can start. Typically, right, if you are going to receive an audit, you're gonna receive a written, notice of inspection, so an NOI, with at least three days business notice. So at that point, your job is to retrieve and produce the requested I nines and any relay records. So audit trails, from an electronic system of who did what, provide access to the forms where they are stored, paper or electronic, and then provide them within the three business days of the request. So the USCIS doesn't provide, like, a checklist, but the inspection guidance will clearly identify what you need to do. They may follow-up with additional inform... Request additional information depending on what you provide right away, but that's really the general gist of what will happen. It may include more or less just depending on, your notice of inspection, but it should be clearly outlined there, and then you just start gathering the the lay materials. And, Alex, is it considered an error if the employee start date changes after completing the I nine? If the employee start date changes after the I nine, it is not going to result necessarily, like, say, in an error right away. It will look at, hey. Did the start date, was it three days past, anything like that between when you completed it. Right? So if it's three days past the start date, it's still gonna throw the error. But if your start date is changing, after the I nine has been completed, systems... You should be making notes why did this occur in case of an audit. So it's clearly documented, signed, and individuals are aware. If you're not documenting it and then they do see something change, that can result in those penalties that are occurring. Great. I think the key takeaway here is just making sure that you have the correct start date, listed on the I nine. So it's understood that there are things that may occur, during the the hiring process that may delay, ultimately, someone's start date. That occurs, then, again, best practice is to make sure they record that updated start date, on the I nine and then date initial, that change. And what is the expectation for completing supplement b for rehires? Someone uses E Verify Plus, but they do not have the capability for employers to edit I nines to include supplement b. Should they be recompleting the entire process during the rehire process? So as well as for rehires, we touched on this a little bit earlier, but employers, have some discretion here. So you could potentially leverage, the employee's original I nine, and complete supplement b, recording that rehire date. As long as, that rehire event has taken place within three years for when that employee, z I nine was originally completed, there could potentially be a reverification requirement as well. Employers also have the ability, for rehire to just complete a brand new I nine, from scratch. The big determining factor is for you to, apply some consistency, in your processes, to make sure that you're, you know, not, exhibiting any type of, discrimination for, over certain types of employees, following one path versus another. Great. And I know we're wrapping up on time here, so just a few more questions. What are the policies around I nine purging? And if you use Mitratech Tracker I-9 for the first time, do they need to upload all historical I nines even if they're on paper? Let me take... If you want to, Paul. Yeah. Sure. Yeah. So, the item retention policy is, as an employer, you need to be able to provide an event of an audit, an I nine for every active employee. But once an employee becomes, inactive, whether they be, voluntarily or involuntarily terminated, there's a specific period of time in which you still need to retain that I nine, for that, inactive employee, which, some, the employer referred to as a one year three year rule. Basically, it's a calculation, that looks at, the employee's start date, plus, three years, in addition to the employee's termination date plus one year. There's a compare that takes place against both those dates. And then depending on which date is later in the future, that's how how long you as an employer, need to retain, that I nine. The benefit to you using, Mitratech, is that if there's a termination date that's been applied, to the I nine, then the application will automatically, calculate the retention period for you. And when that I nine has satisfied the retention period, then the application makes available a purge report, to select users with permissions. And those users will have the ability once an I nine, as flagged as satisfying, that retention period, to be able to, simply purge or remove that I nine, from the application, through a, couple of clicks, of buttons. There's a second part of the question as it relates to, bringing, previously completed I nines, into the Mitratech application, that there is a service, that we provide. If you want some more information, with regards to that, please let us know. We'd be happy to follow-up with you, after this call, with some more information. But, basically, our application, today supports the ability to ingest or consume, or import, I nines that were, completed outside of the application, whether they're whether or not those I nines were completed, via traditional, pen and paper, or potentially, coming over to us, from another, electronic I nines solution. Awesome. Thank you, Paul, for answering. Just because we do have five minutes left on the session, we are going to proceed. We will try to follow-up with all the questions that were asked and not answered today. So be on the lookout for a follow-up, email with some of those questions. Perfect. Paul, I'll let you go to the takeaways. Yes. A couple of things that we, touched on today is that I like compliance is shaped by everyday execution, not just policy. So it is recommended that you do have, published, procedures as it relates to, the form a nine, within your company. But those published procedures alone, aren't enough, to ensure, overall compliance. Really, it's making sure that, your employees are involved, in the online process, or executing, on those, policies, consistently and hopefully flawlessly, on an everyday basis. Second, even the smallest of process gaps can create, outsized risk, over time, especially for, larger employers that are doing, large volume hiring. Those small process gaps, can add up, over time. Then again, if those process gaps, lead to, things not being done, correctly on the I nine, that can, create, some, risk, for you, as employer, in event of an audit. Third, consistency matters, more as hiring scales, and teams are distributed, which, Alex, talked about at the very start of today's, today's session. And lastly, asking the right questions is the first step to, reducing risk. So it's in your, best interest, to make sure that the lines of communication, are open within your company, across, all layers, of leadership, to make sure that there's, you know, complete transparency, expectations are are clear, as far as, what individuals, should be doing, on a day in day out basis. So those are today's takeaways. Awesome. Thank you, Paul. And we want to really just thank everyone for joining today, and I'll let Mariana actually take it away with this slide. Yeah. So appreciate everyone's time joining today's session, and thank you, Alex and Paul. Before everyone exits, if you could just take this last exit poll question. And like I said, I know we didn't get to all the questions today, but we'll do our best to make sure, that we follow-up with you all. So going ahead and and launching our closing poll. Just a few more seconds, and then we'll close the final poll. And thanks again, everyone. Alright. Take care. Thank you, Alex and Paul, again for your time. Thanks, everybody. Bye, everyone. Have a great day. Take care.