[Staff] Before You Hire Graders and Student Assistants....

[Monte Mehrabadi]

To Engineering Faculty and Staff,

Last year, University and Foundation were audited and paid millions of
dollars of fine because faculty, or staff hired new people without having
them complete the new employee sign-in process with the Center for Human
Resources.  To comply with the regulations and to avoid paying fines, NO
GRADER, OR STUDENT ASSISTANT CAN BE PAID UNLESS they complete a packet of
forms, including the Employment Eligibility Verification Form (I-9 form).
Please work with your Department Coordinator in providing the information
needed to start the hiring process.

For more detailed information, see the email below which I forwarded to you
in August 2014.

Thanks,

Monte

From: *Stephen Welter and Chukuka S. Enwemeka* <swelter at mail.sdsu.edu>
Date: Fri, Aug 29, 2014 at 11:13 AM
Subject: Important Compliance Information
To:

August 29, 2014



*To:*         SDSU Faculty



*From:*     Steve Welter, Vice President for Research & Dean of the
Graduate School

                Chukuka S. Enwemeka, Provost and Senior Vice President
------------------------------

As you know from the multiple messages you have received from the SDSU
Research Foundation over the last few months, it is important for all new
employees hired on research foundation funds to visit its human resources
office BEFORE they begin conducting any work for your grant, project or
contract*.  It is imperative that you and your staff comply with this
policy. *



*Background*
Tighter requirements were implemented in 2009 for employers with government
contracts.  Federal law requires these employers, including SDSU Research
Foundation, to utilize the Department of Homeland Security’s E-Verify
system to verify that their employees are eligible to work in the U.S.
Because the Research Foundation and the campus are separate legal entities,
federal law requires that I-9 Employment Eligibility forms be completed
separately by each hiring unit any time an employee is hired.




*Documentation*Employees may not begin work until they have documented that
they are eligible to work in the U.S. by completing an “I-9 Employment
Eligibility” form and provided supporting documentation. Information about
what documents may be used can be found at this link:
http://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/acceptable-documents.  Documentation must
be provided in person to the research foundation’s HR office.  An employee
whose employment eligibility cannot be satisfactorily verified will not be
employed.



*Audit*
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) oversees compliance of
this law. The results of a recent I-9 ICE audit found that the Research
Foundation did not fully comply with regulations regarding the processing
of employee I-9 forms.  This means that in spite of education efforts, some
faculty allowed individuals to begin work at their facilities before SDSURF
HR was notified and new hires sometimes failed to report to HR in a timely
manner.



These findings have resulted in ICE proposing a significant financial fine,
which the Research Foundation is currently appealing.




*Non-compliance*Your compliance with this policy is critical for the
success of SDSU’s research program.  Penalties like those being proposed
are extremely detrimental - weakening the ability of the Research
Foundation to provide important services, and risking the ability of the
university to garner future federal funds for research.



Continued non-compliance will result in even more serious consequences
including additional multi-million dollar fines, personal liability, and
the loss of the ability to receive federal grants and contracts.



The Research Foundation will be implementing the following changes:

1)    new software starting on Oct. 1, 2014 to ensure timely tracking and
response for all new hires,

2)    Elimination of the temporary employment appointment form (TEAF) and
Special Pay form

3)    Conducting training sessions during the month of September to educate
all PIs about the updated processes

4)    Automation of thehiring and onboarding process to make it easier for
hiring managers and new employees to complete their new hire paperwork,
including the I-9 form

5)    Implementation of new software called I-9 Tracker, which will
eliminate technical errors (not time errors) in completing the I-9 form.  A
link to the I-9 Tracker will be included in all employee offer letters,
stressing the importance of submitting I-9 documentation before they
actually start working.

We are confident that we can rely on you to comply with this important
policy. Thank you.











Jacqueline Lane

SDSU – Engineering

Administrative Analyst

Phone 619 594-3480

Fax 619 594-6005




-- 


--
Morteza Monte Mehrabadi
Dean
College of Engineering
San Diego State University
San Diego, CA  92182-1326
Email: mehrabadi at mail.sdsu.edu
Office:(619)594-6061
Fax:(619)594-6005
*http://www.engineering.sdsu.edu/engineering/
<http://www.engineering.sdsu.edu/engineering/>*

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