When you hire a new employee, you are required by state and federal laws to collect certain forms from them within a certain amount of time.
Form I-9
All new employees are required to complete section one of the I-9 Form by the end of their first day of work. The purpose of the I-9 form is to ensure that the employee is legally authorized to work in the United States.
The employer must complete section two within three business days of their date of hire. It is crucial that this document is filled out correctly and that acceptable identification documents are reviewed and photocopied.
The completed form must be kept on file for each active employee. Once the person’s employment has terminated, an employer must keep a copy of the completed Form I-9 for either three years from the date of hire or one year after the date of termination, whichever is later.
The I-9 forms should be maintained in a separate file apart from an employee’s personnel documents. As I-9 audits do frequently occur, it is important that employers collect this information and file it correctly.
New Hire Reporting
Federal and state law requires employers to report all newly hired and rehired employees to the Arizona New Hire Reporting Center. Employers must do so within 20 days of the employee’s date of hire.
Form W-4
All new employees must complete Form W-4 before their first check date. The form tells the employer how much federal income tax to withhold from the employee’s pay.
Form A-4
All new employees must complete Form A-4 before their first check date. The form tells the employer how much state income tax to withhold from the employee’s pay.
Notice of Coverage Options
Under The Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare), you are required to provide ‘A Notice of Coverage Options’ to each new employee. There are two different templates available: one for employers who offer a group health plan and one for employers who do not offer health coverage. The purpose of this notice is to inform employees about their health insurance options and the healthcare.gov marketplace.
E-Verify
The state of Arizona requires employers to participate in E-Verify. E-Verify takes the information from an employee’s I-9 Form and compares it with government data. The employer must do this within three business days from the employee’s date of hire.
As you can see, there is a lot of information to collect from new employees in a timely manner. It is important that the information you collect is accurate and filled out correctly. It is also important to file forms properly in order to avoid fines and to ensure the privacy of your employees.
When you partner with Focus HR, the Focus team will provide a custom new hire packet to you for all new hires, organize and maintain all of your employee files, and complete an audit of your existing files to ensure you are compliant with the law.
