Ahead of the marcus evans Talent Management Summit 2023, read here an interview with Chapelle Ryon discussing how employers can ensure compliance to Form I-9 requirements.

1. Interview with: Chapelle Ryon,
Chief Executive Officer, WorkBright
“Form I-9 has been modernised and the
instructions for employers are shorter,
but there are still certain areas that are
error prone and confusing for employ-
ers,” said Chapelle Ryon, Chief Execu-
tive Officer, WorkBright.
WorkBright is a service provider at the
marcus evans Talent Management
Summit 2023.
Tell us about the recent Form I-9
and Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) changes. How do
they impact talent and HR leaders?
DHS hiked fines for all I-9 infractions
last year. Employers know every new
employee must fill this form within three
days, and how critical accuracy is, but
the recent changes have raised some
new questions. Virtual reviews were
allowed during Covid, but that ended in
July. That caused a lot of panic as some
employers had to get hundreds or even
thousands of forms physically reinspect-
ed. Ten days before that deadline, they
announced they were releasing a new
Form I-9 that included a new version of
virtual review called “alternative
procedure”. This new alternative
procedure would be allowed for certain
employers, but that all segments that
had been virtually reviewed before
8/1/2023 needed to be reinspected
again. Everything had to be reconciled
by the end of August.
Despite the confusion and the late
notice for many employers that had
already complied, this is a positive step.
It is the first real modernization of the
form, in acknowledgment of the chang-
ing workforce. It is simpler, Section 1
and 2 are on a single sheet, instructions
were reduced to 8 pages, the acceptable
documents list was revised, and it can
be completed on a tablet or mobile. It
has a check box to indicate when
alternative review is being used. These
are big changes that we’ve been
advocating for.
What are employers likely to get
wrong?
The way alternative procedures work,
employees have to send ahead of the
video call all the documents they will
use in the virtual review. This is the first
thing that employers are likely to get
wrong. The document says there must
be a secure method for collecting and
retaining documents. It is a major
concern that people will start emailing
copies of their passports and driver’s
licences. Employers need a process to
collect those documents upfront, and a
secure method to store them with
specifications on who can access them.
Unlike before, if you choose to use
alternative procedure you must retain
all copies of documents and be able to
produce in the event of an audit.
Another point that many employers
have not understood is that they cannot
pick and choose when to do E-Verify or
when they can use alternative proce-
dure. It must be done for all employees
if you choose to use this method. They
also ask whether they can still use
physical review in-house or via an
authorized representative. Yes, that is
still recommended as best practice. It is
still unclear how they will audit or view
those alternative procedures.
Employers also ask if their virtual review
during Covid-19 flexibilities is now
compliant. No, they need to reconcile all
those virtually reviewed I-9s. This is a
big misunderstanding right now. Even if
they completed a virtual review the first
time, they will need another virtual
review to reinspect those documents.
How can talent leaders ensure
compliance and accuracy are always
maintained?
This is a tricky one, and why many
organizations use third party providers.
If they put Form I-9 in the hands of non
-trained HR representatives, then they
must ensure there is a compliance team
on the back-end prepared to do spot
checks and annual audits. Form I-9 is
burdensome for the HR team. Compa-
nies often have a large team devoted to
the process to avoid any fines.
Compliance starts with having clearly
defined processes, and making sure that
whoever is completing the form is
monitoring the documents. There are all
kinds of issues that might arise, from
employees not knowing how to com-
plete the form properly, or not knowing
where their passport is, missing the
three-day deadline. Employers need
processes to handle not only the regular
workflow but also the errors that come
up. There are technologies that can
manage the workflow better. For
example, solutions like WorkBright use
OCR technology to pull document
numbers instead of an employee typing
in their information, which is where
most errors creep in. Companies
sticking to a paper world, sending
emails back and forth, are setting
themselves up for potential misuse of
I-9 and major security concerns. On top
of compliance, there are throughput
issues. Form I-9 is the most burden-
some new hire form and by reducing
friction on completion, you can secure
talent and get them to work faster. We
can take form completion down to an
average of 90 minutes, with no need to
wait for an HR rep.
How will these changes truly impact
talent recruitment and retention,
especially in industries where
finding talent is already difficult?
The more you can ease the burden of
I-9, the better chance you have at
moving your employees through the
whole paperwork process and securing
that talent. When it is very tough to get
talent, often times people apply to
multiple jobs at the same time. If they
complete the paperwork before they
even start their first day, they are more
likely to take that job because they are
all set and ready to start their first shift.
Compliance starts
with having
clearly defined
processes
What Talent Leaders Need to Know
about Form I-9 Changes

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About WorkBright
WorkBright streamlines form collection to get your new team members on the job in a quick, compliant, and 100% remote process.
Our suite of tools is designed to maximize the speed, accuracy, and compliance of every document submitted, while also offering a
completely remote option for Form I-9 Section 2, which requires no in-person meeting by your HR team. We’ve helped employees
complete over 13 million forms and counting!
www.workbright.com
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To view the web version of this interview, please click here:
https://events.marcusevans-events.com/talent2023-chapelle-ryon