If you are running your own back-office for contract placements, you will need to start using a new version of Form I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification) soon.

Employers are required to have an I-9 completed for each new hire to verify that they are authorized to work in the United States. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services recently released the new form, which employers must start using by May 7.

This marks the first time in four years that the I-9 has received a face lift. While the information and requirements are essentially the same as before, the form has a different look and has been expanded from one page to two.  Other changes include:

• The addition of fields for employee email and phone number in Section 1. These fields are optional.
• Expanded instructions.
• Additional fields for List A documents that must be accompanied by other documents.  For example, Form I-94 must be presented when a foreign passport is being used for List A.  The I-9 form now allows room for information from both documents.

You may continue to use forms with the revision dates 08/07/09Y and 02/02/2009N until 5/7/2013 to verify new hires, but you must use the new form immediately for reverifications and rehires.

You can get a copy of the new I-9 at http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-9.pdf

Debbie Fledderjohann is the President of Top Echelon Contracting, Inc.