I-9 Forms and Pictures in Personnel Files
QUESTION: I was told that I should not keep a copy of an employee’s picture ID in his employment folder. Is this true? Also we have a lot of immigrants that work for our second company and I was told to keep their I-9’s in a separate file. Should I keep their ID’s in that file or their employment file? Thank you!
FROM: CHRISTINE
INDUSTRY: VEGETATION CONTROL
RESPONSE:
Christine,
Keeping a picture of an employee in a file could be a problem because it clearly shows the race of the individual. The thought is if a manager is looking through a file to consider a person for a promotion, the decision must be based on criteria other than race. Personally, I think this is ridiculous (because upon interviewing someone, you should be able to determine the race of the individual), but the government agencies and the courts have ruled that such practice could be seen as discriminatory.
With regard to your I-9 forms, they should be filed in a separate 3-ring binder and filed alphabetically. Since the Immigration Reform and Control Act does not require you to keep copies of the documents, we recommend that copies of the documents used to determine identity and work authorization NOT be made and NOT be included with the I-9 forms.
However – and this is a big HOWEVER – BE SURE THE I-9’S ARE FILLED OUT CORRECTLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY. Also if you hire employees with temporary work authorizations, be sure to have a follow-up system to be sure that all work authorizations are current.
I hope this helps. Let me know if you need additional information or an audit of your I-9 forms.
Thanks for Asking Bob.