No need to reverify expired driver’s license

Q. I was interested in your recent article discussing reverifying employees’ I-9 documents when they expire. Does this mean that if a worker shows a driver’s license as verification, we need to ask for the worker’s new number and recheck the information when the license expires? —H.F., Florida

A. No. The law says you need to reverify I-9-related documents only if: (1) An employee indicates in Section 1 of the I-9 that she’s authorized to work only until a specific date, or (2) An employee has shown you a document from List A or List C that has an expiration date for when the employee’s work authorization will expire.

You don’t, however, need to reverify documents from List B that establish a person’s identity, such as drivers’ licenses, school ID cards or U.S. military cards. (The exception to this rule is Resident Alien Cards—also known as “green cards”—which should be reverified after they expire.)

If employees’ I-9 documents must be reverified, create a system that automatically reminds you of the expiration date in advance. Give workers 90 days’ notice to reverify their documents.

Note: To make reverification official, you must review the employee’s new documents and complete Section 3 of the I-9 (“Updating and Reverification”) or complete a new I-9 form no later than the old document’s expiration date.