Due to physical distancing precautions taken by employers and employees as a response to COVID-19, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has relaxed the requirements for employers to physically inspect employee identity and employment authorization documents for Form I-9 purposes. 

What is the new protocol for completing Form I-9s?

Effective March 19, 2020, employers who have employees taking physical proximity precautions due to COVID-19 (e.g. working from home) do not need to review the employee’s identity and employment authorization documents in-person with the employee.

Instead, employers are required to:

• Inspect Form I-9, Section 2 documents remotely (e.g. over fax, video, email, etc.)

• Obtain, inspect, and retain copies of the documents within 3 business days 

Once normal operations resume (e.g. employees return to the physical office), employers (or their designated representatives/agents) should physically inspect the identity and employment authorization documents in the physical presence of the employee within 3 business days. Employers must then enter “COVID-19” in the Section 2 Additional Information field as the reason for physical inspection delay as well as “documents physically examined” with the date of inspection in the Section 2 Additional Information field, or Section 3 as appropriate.

For more details on this new policy, please see the full DHS announcement. 

This alert is for informational purposes only.  Please contact us if you would like to discuss this development further.