ABIL Member Firms Offer Clients I-9 Hotline and Electronic I-9 & E-Verify Compliance Package

ATLANTA, GA, October 06, 2010 (Press-News.org) The Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers (ABIL), the exclusive group of 20 top American firms, has created a Compliance Package that would allow hundreds of US employers access to the I-9 compliance programs most in demand. The announcement followed ABIL's Fall meeting in Vancouver last week, two days after the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) published news of a $1,047,110 fine settlement against clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch for "technology-related deficiencies" in the company's electronic I-9 system. This is the highest reported fine in US history based solely on I-9 software. While ICE concedes it found no evidence of any unauthorized workers at Abercrombie, the Special Agent in charge of the investigation cautioned:

"Employers are responsible not only for the people they hire but also for the internal systems they choose to utilize to manage their employment process....We are pleased to see Abercrombie working diligently to complete the implementation of an effective compliance system [Tracker I-9].
This settlement should serve as a warning to other companies that may not yet take the employment verification process seriously or provide it the attention it warrants." Full ICE Release

I-9 and E-Verify Compliance Packages are available with preferable rates for both the Tracker I-9 software and the I-9 Solver Hotline (staffed by an ABIL member firm), for instant answers by experienced legal professionals to I-9 or E-Verify questions most hours of every day. Interested employers should contact their ABIL member firm or ABIL Administrator Lauren Anderson.

"Thousands of venerable employers are being audited, including those not suspected of any illegal hiring," notes ABIL President Charles Kuck."The current enforcement focus on absolute and technical compliance underscores the need for experienced counsel, who can help employers get their I-9 house in good order and set up a reliable system for I-9 self-auditing going forward."

In addition to improving the employer's I-9 and E-Verify programs, ABIL's legal professionals are highly versed at both full-scale mitigation audits as well as "mini-audits" (a sampling of an employer's I-9 files to gauge compliance risk levels and identify patterns of errors) and other cost-effective methods of avoiding I-9 penalties.

About ABIL:

The Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers (ABIL) offers a single point of contact for I-9 and Immigration services through the collaboration of over 700 legal staff in 36 cities around the world. Corporate counsel, human resource professionals, in-house immigration managers and other corporate decision-makers turn to ABIL attorneys for outstanding legal skills and services. ABIL's work also includes advocating for enlightened immigration reform, providing speakers and media sources, presenting conferences, publishing books and articles on cutting-edge immigration topics, and sharing best practices, all with the ultimate goal of offering value-added services to business immigration clients.

Contact: Charles Kuck, ABIL President
(404) 816-8611 | charles.kuck@abil.com

Website: http://www.abil.com/