Why HR Compliance Management Systems Must Subcontract with Authorized Remote I-9 Verification Providers

Earlier this week, we discussed how TrendSource OnSite Inspection’s remote I-9 employee verification services can help businesses onboard remote New Hires. There, we also described in detail why remote I-9 verifications have become increasingly necessary and how TrendSource executes them. If you have questions about the actual mechanics of remote I-9 verification, check it out.

Today, we will focus on how HR compliance management companies stand to benefit by subcontracting the completion of Section 2 to TrendSource and its vast network of Authorized Representatives.

How COVID-19 Impacted Electronic I-9 Providers

More and more companies that made a temporary transition to remote work in response to COVID-19 are finding that work-from-home isn’t as detrimental to company culture as previously thought, while offering a huge savings on overhead costs and giving workers more autonomy. For better and worse (it’s better!), it seems that remote work is here to stay for many employers.

This doesn’t merely impact the businesses themselves, who are finding their old ways of onboarding New Hires are not nearly as efficient as they need them to be, particularly when working with remote employees. No, it has also helped reshape an entire industry built around helping employers onboard their new employees—an industry that has long thrived but now must necessarily readjust.

HR Compliance Management Providers Need Local Authorized Representatives for Section 2

Indeed, there is an entire sector of the HR compliance management industry built around helping employers electronically complete and manage Form I-9 for employee eligibility verification. Some providers have their own electronic HR platform (more on that later).

In pre-pandemic times, a company’s internal HR team would complete New Hire eligibility forms within these providers’ electronic platforms, completing Sections 1 and 2 for the New Hire’s onboarding. However, these HR compliance management providers have, like everyone, been thrown out of balance by COVID-19 and its attendant distancing regulations. With their clients not able to complete Section 2 of Form I-9 in person during onboarding, these companies must find alternate I-9 employee verification solutions.

Since the government requires in-person verification for Section 2, these providers need subcontractors who can help their clients complete New Hires’ Section 2 of Form I-9 in person. That’s where vendors like TrendSource OnSite Inspections, which relies on its vast network of Authorized Representatives to locally meet with New Hires, comes in.

TrendSource Directly Imports Form I-9 Into Providers’ Platforms

But it’s not just TrendSource’s vast network of efficient and responsible Authorized Representatives that makes it an ideal subcontracting partner for HR compliance management providers, it’s also TrendSource’s platform flexibility.

Indeed, TrendSource Onsite Inspections can seamlessly connect to these providers’ platforms through an API.

Here’s how the process works:

1. A company contracts with an HR management provider to manage certain HR functions, including employee eligibility. This provider may or may not have their own electronic I-9 platform.
2. When this company makes a New Hire and needs an I-9 Verification, the HR management provider contracts with TrendSource to locally complete the New Hire’s I-9 Verification.
3. Depending on the provider’s preferences and capabilities, the New Hire can either complete Section 1 of Form I-9 in this provider’s platform or TrendSource’s platform.
4. TrendSource’s Authorized Representative meets in-person with the New Hire to complete Section 2 electronically on TrendSource’s platform.
5. Once completed and reviewed by TrendSource Quality Control, TrendSource can directly imports the data from the completed Form I-9 into the provider’s platform if they utilize one.
6. The company can then view the New Hire’s completed Form I-9 in their HR management provider’s platform.

It really is that simple.

Why Remote I-9 Verification Will Remain Necessary After COVID

It’s not just COVID, of course, driving the need for this service. In a globalizing world, employees were already working remotely—COVID-19 has only accelerated this shift. This means that vaccination and herd immunity will not erode the need for remote I-9 verification services.

Said differently, this is not merely a solution to a temporary problem but rather a shift in the industry. This shift requires national HR compliance providers to partner with companies like TrendSource, capitalizing on its vast network of Authorized Representatives and platform flexibility.