Asking non-citizens for more documents results in trouble

The Immigration and Nationality Act requires a lot from employers. And even small mistakes – like asking for the wrong documents – can get companies in big trouble.

One recent example: A Glendale, CA, Macy’s location was hiring for an open position. The candidate it chose was a lawful permanent resident who produced the required work authorization documents.

But Macy’s delayed the hiring because it believed – incorrectly – that lawful permanent residents had to produce unexpired permanent resident cards. And it had done the same for other workers in the past.

Fact is, lawful permanent resident workers can produce any documents that satisfy the Form I-9 requirements, just as U.S. citizen can.

Macy’s hired the employee and gave her full back pay. But the retailer was still on the hook an $8,700 civil penalty as a result of its mistake.

List A, or List B & C

This was an honest mistake but one that cost the company money. Remember documents of Form I-9 are broken down as follows:

List A, establishing identity and employment authorization

List B, establishing identity, and

List C, showing employment authorization only.

If an employee submits a valid List A document or List B and C documents, that person has satisfied the requirements – and you shouldn’t ask for any additional documentation.