An ICE INSider's View of I-9 Auditing and Worksite Enforcement: 5 Part Webinar Series
Part 2: So you received a Notice of Inspection...Now what ? Thursday, May 3, 2012 at 1PM EDT ♦ Register Now!
Being served with a Notice of Inspection always comes at the most inopportune time for any company. With only three days to pull material together and respond to the government, most businesses find themselves scrambling, making last minute corrections, tracking down lost documents and seeking critical expertise to mitigate vulnerabilities.
The risk of receiving an NOI is real. As recently as March 31st, ICE sent another 500 Notices of Inspection to companies just like yours. Over the last year, ICE conducted over 3,000 audits and promises many more this fiscal year. You need to be prepared and know how to respond appropriately to avoid huge fines or even jail time.
In fact, recently two Houston area companies had to pay $2,000,000 each in forfeitures for violations related to employing unauthorized workers and violations in the I-9 process.
Learn from an insider (former ICE investigative agent) about the critical steps you should take after receiving a Notice of Inspection. The webinar will discuss the NOI process including:
1. Agency correspondence such as Notices, Letters and Dispositions of Cases.
2. An overview of ICE’s auditors, their backgrounds, credentials, prior employment, authorities.
3. Penalties – Criminal and civil.
4. Warnings – What do they mean and what will happen later?
5. Aftermath – What to expect after the inspection is completed.
Your business can't afford to be caught off guard. Register today for this free webinar and receive valuable insight.
Part 1: Preparing for a Notice of Inspection (NOI), February 28, 2012: Did you miss this informative session? Contact us and we can get you up-to-speed!
Part 2: So you received a Notice of Inspection...Now what ?
Thursday, May 3, 2012 at 1PM EDT
Part 3: Taking the Sting out of NOIs: Building a Comprehensive
Compliance Plan
Part 4: Winning Favor with ICE: Joining IMAGE and Expectations
Part 5: E-verify: Good Compliance, but Watch the Pitfalls.
This incredible insider information is yours for free!
Bill Riley - served as a Special Agent with both the INS and ICE for 20 years. Mr. Riley investigated and supervised hundreds of I-9 audits and criminal worksite enforcement investigations. Mr. Riley was ICE’s first Unit Chief for Worksite Enforcement where he implemented the ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers (IMAGE) and where he created the current ICE I-9 audit program.
Introduction presented by Julie Myers Wood - served as a former prosecutor and former head of the Department of Homeland Security's ICE.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND? Human Resource Managers
Corporate Counsel
Risk Management Directors
Compliance Program Directors
The Current Immigration Enforcement Climate:
Several Federal agencies have the authority to review your I-9 forms, these agencies consist of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), The Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) and the Department of Labor (DOL), Wage and Hour Division. Each of these components looks for various violations in the I-9 process and employers need to be prepared for a visit from any one of them.
ICE has recently announced increased enforcement efforts noting new records in enforcement related statistics in the area of I-9 compliance. ICE has backed off of directly targeting unauthorized workers focusing an ever increasing amount of their resources directly at employers. An example of this was in a recent press release that noted the following employer related enforcement statistics. In FY 2011 ICE:
Conducted 2,496 I-9 audits;
Initiated 3,291 worksite enforcement case;
Criminally arrested 221 employers;
Issued 385 Final Orders for $10,463,987 in fines; and
Debarred 115 individuals and 97 businesses
These enforcement statistics should be troubling to any employer. Just looking at these statistics shows that their mission is to investigate, audit, fine, prosecute and debar employers.
Further, one statistic that is absent is the number of individuals for whom ICE issued a Notice of Suspect Documents or a Notice of Discrepancies. Both of these notices can be issued to employers who are otherwise in compliance with the law but have unwittingly accepted fraudulent documents or whose employees may have purchased a U.S. citizen’s identity to defeat the employment eligibility verification (I-9) process. Employers have had to terminate thousands of suspect workers causing diminished productivity, decimating employe morale and costing businesses increased training and recruiting costs to replace the suspect workers.
A recent ICS Consulting List Serve bulletin noted increased ICE auditing goals of 3,000 audits for FY 2012 so there is no better time to establish a compliance program or to bolster you compliance program with an identity fraud component.
