What does a California employer have to do on the I-9, and where does HR stop?

The job, in three steps

The I-9 is an onboarding task, and I treat it like one. The new hire completes Section 1 by the first day of work for pay. Within three business days of that first day, the employer examines the documents the employee chose to present and completes Section 2. A Monday start has until Thursday. USCIS I-9 Central has the current form and the employer handbook.

The step small companies get wrong most often is the documents. The employee picks which acceptable documents to show. The employer does not ask for a specific one, does not ask for more than the form requires, and does not turn away a document that reasonably appears genuine. In California that mistake carries its own penalty, covered below.

Remote hires

Examining documents over video is allowed only for employers enrolled in E-Verify and in good standing, under the alternative procedure DHS made permanent in August 2023. Everyone else needs a person to examine the original documents in person, which can be an authorized representative near the new hire. If your team is remote and you are not in E-Verify, build that step into the offer timeline, not the first week.

Keeping the file

Keep each I-9 for three years after the hire date or one year after employment ends, whichever is later. Work it out per person when someone leaves; the M-274 handbook walks through the math. I keep I-9s in their own file, separate from personnel records, so an inspection request never means handing over performance notes or medical leave paperwork.

What California adds

A 72-hour notice. When an immigration agency gives notice that it will inspect I-9s, Labor Code 90.2 requires a posted notice to current employees within 72 hours, naming the agency, the date the notice arrived and the nature of the inspection. A second 72-hour clock starts when the results arrive: each affected employee gets a copy and a written explanation of what happens next. The Labor Commissioner publishes a template for the first notice. Have it saved before you need it.

No extra documents, no unrequired reverification. Labor Code 1019.1 makes it an unfair immigration-related practice to ask for more or different documents than federal law requires, to refuse documents that appear genuine, or to use the I-9 process against a worker. Reverifying someone when the law does not call for it falls under the same rules.

Limits on E-Verify. California does not require private employers to use E-Verify, and Labor Code 2814 bars using it to check current employees or applicants who have not received an offer, except where federal law requires it.

Where HR stops

I handle the HR side of work authorization: the I-9 process, the onboarding timeline, the file, the notices, and training the person who sits across from the new hire on day one. I do not advise on visas, sponsorship, green cards, status questions or how to answer an agency on the legal merits. When a question turns on someone’s immigration status or the employer’s legal position in an inspection, the right call is an immigration attorney, and I will say so the moment we get there.

What I would do this month

Pull ten I-9s and check three things: Section 2 inside three business days, no photocopied documents beyond what your policy covers for everyone, and a retention date you can find. Save the 90.2 notice template where your office manager can reach it. Then write down who examines documents for remote hires, because that answer decides whether your process is compliant before anyone asks. If you want the whole onboarding file checked at once, the compliance check-up covers I-9s alongside the rest of California’s hiring rules, and the free checklist is a good first pass.

McKinley holds a J.D. but is not a licensed attorney. Articles here are general information, not legal advice. For your specific situation, talk with an employment attorney.

Data current as of September 2026. Sources are linked where each figure appears.