This week the Department of Homeland Security issued a final ruling on the verification of I9 documents. We have been anticipating a change due to the rules modified during the COVID 19 pandemic which gave employers the ability to review and approve I9 documents remotely.
Due to the revised I9 rules that will take effect as of August 30, 2023, Pinnacle Employee Services will no longer be able to review and approve copies of I9 documents or be able to complete section 2 of the I9 form for our clients. This responsibility will shift to our clients. The new ruling has made it very clear that companies must view in person original I9 documents such as passports, drivers’ licenses, social security cards, employment authorization cards, etc.
The I9 form will now be completed by the new hire and the company contact. A completed and signed form I9 should be sent to Pinnacle with the new hire paperwork. No copies of IDs should be sent to us moving forward.
In addition, a new I9 document will be published and ready for release to the public on August 1, 2023. We will update our documents and send the revision out to you as soon as possible.
Your HR Business Partner will review the process with you and be able to answer any questions that you may have. In addition, for those companies that participate in electronic onboarding of new hires, the company contact will be set up to be the I9 reviewer instead of PES. An email notification will be sent to the company contact when an I9 is ready to review and approve for a new hire. If you are not currently using this part of our service, we would be happy to set your company up to onboard employees electronically and do away with paper new hire forms.
Please know that we are here to guide you every step of the way and we encourage you to reach out to your HR Business Partner to set up a time to review the new process.