On-Boarding Employees in a Pandemic

During this time every industry has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, mostly in a negative manner. With many states opening how do we all begin to attempt to get back to doing business somewhat as usual.

With unemployment rates at an all time high, how does a company that is able to continue on, hire new employees to replace the ones that have found other options? Companies today have to be more creative than ever and technology has given us the ability to do this.

Conducting interviews going forward could be a challenge, many candidates may be uneasy sitting in a board room unprotected, here are some ideas of accomplishing the interview.

• Video conferencing, this option has been available for some time and many companies embraced it prior to COVID-19.
• If there is a nice area outside the office where you can conduct the interview with the proper distance between interviewer and interviewee by all means go for it.
• Not my favorite, but you can still do the boardroom with distance and require all participants to wear mask.

Once you have selected your candidate there are many options for getting paper work signed and completed.

• The selected candidate can be sent all of the on boarding paperwork via FedEx, USPS, etc, so they can fill it out at home.
• The candidate can be scheduled for a virtual meeting where questions can be asked and their ID’s can be virtually reviewed for the I-9 (may not apply to all companies).
• Employee can scan and email W-4 and direct deposit forms, using secure email encryption
• Digital photos of the documents can also be used utilizing a cell phone. 

Any sensitive information could be redacted and followed up with a phone call to the employee to get the confidential information.

Because many offices have been forced to close and abide by social distancing rules, temporary accommodations have been made for remote hiring and deadlines extended.

• Form I-9 typically requires an in-person inspection of documents, but the Department of Homeland Security has waived that requirement temporarily. DHS has suggested that employers view the documents via video conference, fax, email, etc. before obtaining copies and completing Section 2. Once normal business operations resume, though, there must be a physical inspection of the same documents and additional information added to the form. Visit ice.gov for more details about this temporary change to Form I-9 requirements.
• E-Verify has also issued a temporary policy on expired List B identity documents E-Verify has extended the time allowed to take action for resolution of Tentative Non-confirmations (TNCs) that will be delayed due to government office closures. Employers are still required to create a case in E-Verify within three business days from the employee’s date of hire. To claim the delay, select “Other” from the drop-down list and enter “COVID-19” as the reason.

Additional info about delayed action for resolution of TNCs is available at e-verify.gov.