DHS Outlines Best Hiring Practices

As part of the ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers (IMAGE) program (see the previous article in this issue), DHS recommends the following “best hiring practices”:

• Use E-Verify to verify the employment eligibility of all new hires.
• Use the Social Security Number Verification Service (SSNVS) and make a good-faith effort to correct and verify the names and Social Security numbers of the current workforce.
• Establish a written hiring and employment eligibility verification policy.
• Establish an internal compliance and training program related to the hiring and employment verification process, including completion of the I-9 form, how to detect the fraudulent use of documents in the verification process, and how to use E-Verify and SSNVS.
• Require the I-9 and E-Verify process to be conducted only by an individual who has received appropriate training, and include a secondary review as part of each employee’s verification “to minimize the potential for a single individual to subvert the process.”
• Arrange for annual I-9 audits by an external auditing firm or a trained employee not otherwise involved in the I-9 process.
• Establish a procedure to report to ICE credible information of suspected criminal misconduct in the employment eligibility verification process.
• Establish a program to assess subcontractors’ compliance with employment eligibility verification requirements. Encourage contractors to incorporate IMAGE Best Practices and when practicable incorporate the verification requirements in subcontractor agreements.
• Establish a protocol for responding to letters received from federal and state government agencies indicating that there is a discrepancy between the agency’s information and the information provided by the employer or employee (for example, “no-match” letters received from the Social Security Administration).
• Establish a tip line mechanism (e.g., inbox, e-mail) for employees to report activity relating to the employment of unauthorized workers, and a protocol for responding to employee tips.
• Establish and maintain appropriate policies, practices, and safeguards against use of the verification process for unlawful discrimination, and to ensure that U.S. citizens and authorized workers do not face discrimination with respect to hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral for a fee because of citizenship status or national origin.
• Maintain copies of any documents accepted as proof of identity and/or employment authorization for all new hires.

The hiring practices and related information are available here.