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It is the intent of Tennessee Technological University to comply with the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. This legislation requires employers to verify new employees' eligibility for employment in the United States and to hire only U. S. citizens and aliens who are lawfully authorized to work in the U.S. Tennessee Technological University, therefore, will hire only United States citizens and aliens lawfully authorized to work in the United States.
6.2 Applicability
This legislation applies to all individuals, including students, employed on June 1, 1987, and later. The legislation applies retroactively to employees hired after November 6, 1986, and remaining on the payroll as of June 1, 1987. Employed individuals are those who receive a paycheck or other non-cash remuneration from the University including full-time or part- time regular and temporary employees and students. Regular employees who take unpaid leaves of absences or who are on temporary lay-offs are not required to complete the employment eligibility verification process before returning to work status when there is a reasonable expectation of continued employment. Individuals who completed this process at the time of hiring and who are rehired within three years of the initial hire date are exempt from this process at the time of rehire. Independent contractors are not subject to the requirements of this legislation. Contracts, however, shall not be used to circumvent these requirements. Each contract will be examined to determine whether it satisfies criteria for a legitimate, independent contract.
6.3 Procedure
All academic and administrative officers, deans, directors and departmental chairpersons are responsible for ensuring that new employees and students hired through their offices comply with this procedure. Departments must complete personnel action forms for new appointments (See Human Resource Services Policies and Procedures, Sections 4.6, 8.1 and 9.1) and forward the forms promptly for appropriate approvals to comply with the time requirements of this procedure. All employees hired on June 1, 1987, or later must complete an I-9 form, Employment Eligibility Verification (Exhibit P/P-26), within three (3) working days of the hiring date. If the individual is employed for less than three days, the I-9 form must be completed by the end of the first working day. The beginning of the academic year serves as the first working day for faculty with a contract date of August 1. The first day of classes serves as the first working day for adjunct faculty, graduate assistants, and graduate instructors.
New employees, graduate assistants, and graduate instructors must complete the I-9 form at the Human Resource Services Office. All students working as of June 1, 1987, and later must complete the I-9 form at the Student Financial Aid Office. When completing the I-9 form, the individual must provide documents evidencing eligibility for employment in the United States. The Immigration Reform and Control Act specifies documents acceptable for this purpose. Upon completion of the I-9 form by employees, an I-9 card (Exhibit P/P-32) will be issued by the Human Resource Services Office. The Student Financial Aid Office will issue I-9 cards to students. The I-9 card is valid for three (3) years from the indicated date of issue.
6.4 Off-Campus Personnel
The Director of Continuing Education is responsible for completion of the I-9 forms by off-campus personnel employed through that office. The Director of the J. L. Evins Appalachian Center for Crafts is responsible for completion of the I-9 forms by employees at the Craft Center. Upon receipt of the completed I-9 forms with copies of the necessary identification and employment eligibility documents, the Human Resource Services Office will provide I-9 cards to these offices for issuance to the individual employees. Completed I-9 forms will be retained in the Human Resource Services Office.
6.5 Maintenance of Records
The Human Resource Services Office maintains I-9 forms completed by employees and students for at least three (3) years after the hiring date. I-9 forms are maintained for one (1) year after termination of employment for persons employed more than three years. All records are subject to audit by officers of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Department of Labor, the State Comptroller of the Treasury and the University Internal Auditor.
6.6 Violations of Law
University departments are responsible for ensuring that new employees and students hired through their offices comply with the employment eligibility verification procedure. Individuals who do not complete the I-9 forms within the required time are not permitted to continue working and their paychecks will not be released until the forms are completed. Noncompliance with the employment eligibility verification procedure is a violation of Federal law. The penalty assessed an employer for failing to complete I-9 forms within the required time is a fine of not less than $100.00 or more than $1,000.00 for each violation. Individuals who continue to flagrantly violate this law can be criminally prosecuted. Penalties for knowingly hiring illegal aliens are as follows:
First Offense - A fine of not less than $250.00 and not more than $2,000.00 for each unauthorized employee.
Second Offense - A fine of not less than $2,000.00 and not more than $5,000.00 for each unauthorized employee.
Subsequent Violations - A fine of not less than $3,000.00 and not more than $10,000.00 for each unauthorized employee.
Persons who use fraudulent identification or employment eligibility documents or documents lawfully issued to another person or otherwise falsify employment eligibility requirements may be imprisoned for up to five (5) years, fined or both.