Form I-9 and E-Verify Services from The Facet Group, a First Sun Partner

Effective 5/21/2009, employers are required by law to verify employment eligibility of all federal contractor and sub-contractor employees. Some states also require participation in certain situations. All other public & private employers are encouraged to use E-Verify voluntarily

Electronic Form I-9 and E-Verify Services

First Sun Partner, The Facet Group, is pleased to announce the offering of Electronic Form I-9 and E-Verify Services through alliance partner, Form I-9 Compliance.

What is E-Verify?

E-Verify is a Web-based system that electronically verifies the employment eligibility of newly hired employees through Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security databases. Effective May 21, 2009, federal contractors and subcontractors will be required to begin using the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ E-Verify system to verify their employees’ eligibility to legally work in the United States.

Who may use E-Verify?
Federal contractors and sub-contractors are required to use E-verify. In addition, more than a dozen states also require or strongly encourage E-Verify on certain employees. All other public and private sector employers may use the system voluntarily. The Facet Group recommends that you use E-verify on ALL newly hired employees to keep your hiring process consistent and compliant.

Employers who currently employ federal contractors or sub-contractors are required to verify all of those existing contract employees, as well as all newly hired contract employees going forward. All other employers may verify newly hired employees only; you cannot use E-Verify on existing employees unless they are federal contractors or sub-contractors.

What is included in your E-Verify service?
Our check uses the federal E-Verify program to electronically query DHS and SSA databases and verify new employees’ U.S. work eligibility. The query result confirms whether the social security number submitted belongs to an individual who is legally permitted to work in the U.S. Enhanced capabilities include email alerts and reports that help track and monitor tentative non-confirmations.
What are the benefits of the E-verify service?

• Significantly reduce your potential risks of non-compliance which would result in exposure to financial penalties and consequent negative publicity.


• For employers who knowingly hire or knowingly continue to employ unauthorized workers, civil penalties range from $250 to $11,000 per violation


• For employers engaging in a pattern or practice of knowingly hiring or continuing to employ unauthorized workers, criminal penalties can be a much as $3,000 per unauthorized employee and/or 6 months imprisonment


• Help ensure workforce stability and assist in eliminating the potential for disruptive and costly turnover created by the mandatory removal of legally unauthorized employees.
  
• Minimize the potential for attracting legally unauthorized candidates by acknowledging your participation in E-Verify.


• Seamlessly integrates with our existing ordering system; process background checks, Electronic I-9 forms and e-Verify through one portal


• Employee information will be carried over to the E-Verify screen to reduce data entry.

How do I begin using these services?
Contact Phil Brattin, at the Facet Group, or simply fill out the required Registration Form & User Agreement as well as the Memorandum of Understanding with our Alliance Partner. You must also display the required E-Verify and Right to Work notices where employment applicants can see them. (The Facet Group will provide you with these notices.) Please see: http://facetgroup.com/background.html

How do I order these services on a newly hired employee?
Upon the posting of a completed report to our online ordering system, you will be provided with an option to utilize the E-Verify service directly from the ‘Results’ screen. Simply click the ‘EVP’ button and it will take you directly to the E-Verify site. The employee’s information (name, SSN, etc) will be pre-populated into the E-Verify screen to save time and reduce data entry. (You must receive completed background verification reports through our online system in order to use this service.)

What is the cost for these services?
-- For newly hired employees, the cost to use E-Verify is $5.00 per person.
-- For existing employees (federal contractors and sub-contractors), please contact our office for information & pricing.
-- To set up additional client locations: 0-5 locations: no charge; 6+ locations: $50 per location.

What is Electronic Form I-9?
This service provides a comprehensive error-detecting electronic Form I-9 solution that virtually eliminates processing errors and simplifies the document completion process.

What is included in your Electronic Form I-9 service?

• Secure, paperless Form I-9 storage, with 24/7 access for updating, re-verification and governmental inspection.
• The ability to e-sign the I-9 form, utilizing a high-security, DHS-compliant click-to-sign solution.
• “Add eDocuments” feature, which allows you to electronically attach related I-9 documents to employees’ I-9 Forms.
• 90, 60, and 30-day e-mail alerts to be forwarded to you prior to the expiration of work authorization documents.
• The ability to run reports by client location.

What are the benefits of the Electronic Form I-9 service?

• Simplify and improve the efficiency of your Form I-9 process.
• Substantially decrease human errors in completing I-9 Forms through the use of our error-detecting functionality and built in user guidance.
• Save time and increase security by utilizing our proprietary 2048-bit encrypted, electronic signature solution to electronically sign the eForm I-9. (Compliant with the E-SIGN Act and Department of Homeland Security regulations).
• Reduce storage, retrieval and labor costs associated with maintaining hard copies of I-9 Forms. Scan and index your current paper I-9 Forms into our database, thereby creating a totally paperless process.
• Avoid federal civil penalties: For employers who fail to properly complete, retain, or make I-9 Forms available for inspection, fines range from $100 to $1,100 per individual I-9
• Automated Email Alerts enable your employees to renew work authorizations and continue to work without interruption.
• Cost effectively reduces your exposure to government audits, financial penalties and negative publicity resulting from non-compliance.
• Seamlessly integrates with our existing ordering system; process background checks, Electronic I-9 forms and e-Verify through one portal
• Employee information will be carried over to the E-Verify screen to reduce data entry.

How do I begin using these services?
Simply fill out the required Registration Form & User Agreement.

How do I order these services on a newly hired employee?
Contact Phil Brattin, at the Facet Group.

Upon the posting of a completed report to the online ordering system, you will be provided with an option to utilize the Electronic Form I-9 service directly from the ‘Results’ screen. Simply click the ‘I-9’ button and it will take you directly to the Electronic Form I-9 site. The employee’s information (name, SSN, etc) will be pre-populated into the I-9 to save time and reduce data entry. (You must receive completed background verification reports through our online system in order to use this service.)

What is the cost for these services?
-- The cost to use Electronic Form I-9 is $5.00 per person.
-- To have your existing I-9 forms and supporting documents scanned and stored in our system, please contact our office for pricing information.
-- To set up additional client locations: 0-5 locations: no charge; 6+ locations: $50 per location

PLEASE NOTE: The above is presented as general educational information. It is not legal advice, either express or implied. Consultation with legal counsel is recommended for all employment law matters. This information is subject to change without notice.

Upcoming Webinar - Co-Hosting with VisualCV: Incorporating Social Media in Your Job Search

Upcoming Webinar: Incorporating Social Media in Your Job Search

Please join us for a webinar April 14th at 12pm EST to learn how to leverage social media in your job search.

Mark your calendar and register now for the April 14th webinar today!

April’s webinar will teach you how to get more out of online social media in your job search. You will learn how to make good use of your time when using LinkedIn, VisualCV, Twitter and more.

The webinar will cover:

• Web 2.0 and the job search
• Presenting your strengths in a VisualCV
• Social media resources for the job search
• An efficient use of social media in the job search
• Social media job search success stories

Karen Masullo, career transition and corporate outplacement expert, and VisualCV's Nathen Harvey will lead the webinar.

Please register here today! We look forward to you joining us for the second webinar in our series on building a VisualCV.

Your First Day of Work

Your first day of work for your next employer is your last day of work for your former employer.

Everything you do from the point of separation forward becomes an example of your work product to your next employer. You HAVE to get this.

I was recently contacted by someone I did not know via LinkedIn.com. I visited the gentleman’s profile, and found four typos in the first 10 lines. There were other challenges with his profile, so I did what I generally do in this situation; I wrote back asking if he was open to a couple of suggestions. He was.

I first verified that English was his first language, and took time with my response, pointed out the typos, explained the theory behind my primary suggestions, and kept it short and to the point. I also spell-checked my response.

The gentleman wrote me back and sounded enthusiastic regarding the changes he made based upon my suggestions, so I re-visited. The four typos were corrected; however, there were now 3 new ones. That’s where I stopped.

And that’s a shame.

How can anyone possibly recommend you to their network if the first example of a work product you present is half-hearted?

This applies to everything you do – from telephone conversations to your web presence to your demeanor on the golf course or at the supermarket; you are your Brand! Preserve it, build it, and make it better.

And for goodness sake, copy any text into Word or whatever program you use and spell-check it, and then have someone objective review it.

Please.

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The Evolution of Dance Part 2

Just for laughs;)

Part Two: The Layoff will be Twittered

Following the previous post, important points to cover during a Reduction-in-Force project:

Keep Layoff Plans Offline: avoid emailing, creating, and communicating Reduction in Force (RIF) plans through company systems. I consulted after-the-fact to a company that found that a key and trusted email administrator was both reading, saving, and re-distributing – both internally and externally – all communication regarding layoff plans. Many employees fled the company prior to the formal WARN announcement due to this leak – employees that otherwise would not have been effected by the RIF. The loss of intellectual capital and the damage to the entire project was significant.

Never use Instant or Text Messaging to Discuss ANY aspect of a Restructuring Project: Transcripts of messages are saved, archived and may be reviewed. Just don’t do it, no matter how innocent you feel the message may be.

Allow Key Reorganization Team Members to Meet and Work Offsite as needed: Given the challenges associated with using internal technology to plan a restructuring project, teams need a “safe” environment to discuss and plan. Allocate resources accordingly.

Involve your CIO/CTO from the start: Prevent enterprise data leaks at the source. Oftentimes, technology teams are the last to be alerted of a project they already know is in progress, especially if you’ve been using internal technology systems to communicate planning. Your IT groups are the ones who cancel intranet portal access, email access, etc. for those departing employees. “Dumping” a time-critical task on them last minute creates resentment, and further exacerbates leaks – the longer you wait to formally communicate to key IT team members, the greater the resentment. Bring a trusted, key technology leader in to the process early.

Outplacement Consultants: When you work with us as your Outplacement Team, make sure you are providing your departing workforce with transition programs commensurate to their experience and length of tenure, are treating them with dignity and respect, and make sure you are alerted to trends regarding the mention of your company’s name and Brand – both positive and negative – quickly. The manner in which you deliver the message to transitioning workers is critically important; we will participate in all departing employee notification meetings to quickly give your transitioning workforce positive, next step guidelines that are in their best interest.

Need more information? Call us at 866-214-5445

Read Part I

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Let's NOT Give 'Em Somethin' to Talk About

"In the age of transparency, the layoff will be blogged." Quote from: NY Times, November 4, 2008

Recently while reviewing company name mentions on Twitter, I came across a website, Telonu, specifically for employees to voice their reactions regarding how their layoff was handled.

This on the tail of a tale related by Pulitzer Prize winning Photo Journalist Jim MacMillan (formerly of the Philadelphia Daily News and Associated Press among others). Jim was describing a group of messages he was reading on Twitter, happening as the senders were in a newsroom meeting regarding re-organization plans at the Philadelphia Daily News. Read Jim's story here: (uncensored tweets).

To modify the opening quote then: "The layoff will be Twittered."

There's nothing new in protecting a Company's image during restructuring - we've always cautioned and assisted our corporate clients to monitor emails, messages, subsequent "hate" domains and their brand carefully during a restructuring - but Telonu, driven by the power of Twitter, was quickly gaining legs.

The site, Telonu's tag line? "Rave, Rant, Rate™ your Workplace, the People there and lots of other stuff... Anonymously. Tell-on-you, get it?"

There are positive comments, there are some resources, but the below is not unusual (I have hidden the company name):


This also from their site, and while they list a variety of "uses" for the site, #1 is troubling to me:

"On Telonu you can:
Praise or bury your company or school
Add and prop up companies, schools and people for other Telonu members' comments and opinions
Follow anything or anyone in real time
Mingle with old friends and make new ones
Use the Ask section to quiz the Telonu community about anything"

In the past, these types of sites generally died out as the great community that is the web SEO'd them to the back-burner of over-cooked, under-updated sites. Twitter however, keeps the rant fresh. Twitter has become an important SEO and marketing message tool, and these types of sites don't fade away as quickly as before.

So, when you work with an Outplacement provider (you ARE using us, right?), make sure you are providing your departing workforce with transition programs commensurate to their experience and length of tenure, are treating them with dignity and respect, and are kept alerted to trends regarding the mention of your company's name and Brand - both positive and negative - quickly.

What's that you say? Your Outplacement provider doesn't do that? We do.

Call us and we'll tell you how.
Toll-Free: 866-214-5445

Read Part II


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