Taking care " but not too much " with I-9s

For well over a decade, Jacqueline Longnecker and her employees have preached this gospel: Employers need to exercise care with the citizenship status of their newly hired workers.

If they don't, they face the possibility of big fines and negative publicity.

So shouldn't the dramatic increase in attention paid to citizenship issues after the attacks of Sept.

11, 2001, be good news to Longnecker's Reno-based company, Employment Verification Resources Inc.? In a word, no.

If anything, the nation's renewed vigilance brings more sadness than joy to Longnecker as she sees more instances of employment discrimination by overzealous bosses.

And her company has undergone tough times as aftershocks of the attacks continue to rumble through the economy.

Employment Verification Resources Inc.

makes sure its clients comply with immigration law in their employment practice.

In shorthand, it makes sure that clients keep their I-9 forms and processes straight.

(The name comes from the title of the citizenship verification form completed for new employees.) It's a service that many companies are more than happy to outsource.

Employment Verification Resources counts among its clients companies ranging from a 74,000-employee organization down to a 200-worker fast-food chain in the Midwest.

No matter what the client's size, the company's experts have a straightforward message: "Employers have to be able to show good faith, and they have to honor that good faith." But good-faith efforts at many companies took on a new look after Sept.

11.

"Everybody has to contribute," Longnecker said a few days ago.

"It's not just the government and the Immigration and Naturalization Service patrolling the border.

But the scary part is knowing where you draw the line."

In northern Nevada, she said, some employers routinely cross the line as they check the status of Hispanic employees.

They ask to see a green card, which is appropriate.

But it's illegal for employers to ask for more proof than that.

The issues have become all the more challenging since Sept.

11, when workers from the Middle East have faced greater scrutiny by employers.

"Somebody could be turned away from a job just because they're Middle Eastern," said Longnecker.

"But they may be the best person for the job."

Helping the best person for the job meet immigration standards has been Longnecker's specialty since she learned the ropes in worldwide staffing management at Time Inc.

a company that routinely shifted reporters, editors and managers across national boundaries.

She further honed her skills with Salomon Smith Barney Inc.

and IGT before setting off on her own in 1996.

That was just in time to catch the big employment surge in the high-technology industry a surge in which employers relied on foreign nationals to help fill many critical vacancies.

Like other companies that boomed with high tech, Employment Verification Resources felt the pinch when the tech euphoria came to an end.

Its current staff of six is down from 11 at its peak.

"Right now, we're just holding our own," Longnecker said.

"But we have faith the economy will bounce back."