This new law requires all Oregon employers to provide notice to employees when they are contacted by a Federal agency that intends to audit records of forms and any other documentation (such as Form I-9) used by the employer to verify the identity and employment eligibility of its employees. This law is already in effect as of June 6, 2019, but model notices will not be available until January 1, 2020.

Upon receipt of notification from the agency, an employer must notify employees of the action within three business days. The notice must be posted in a conspicuous and accessible location and provided in English and any other languages the employer typically uses to communicate with their employees. In addition, the employer must make “reasonable attempts” to individually distribute notifications to employees in their preferred language.

If the employer is not provided notice from the agency prior to the audit, employers are still required to provide notice to their employees within three business days, regardless of the inspection date.

Notice requirements for employers
The law states specific information that the notice must contain:

• A copy of the inspection notice provided by the federal agency;
  
• The date of the inspection;
  
• The scope of the inspection, as stated on the federal agency’s notice;
  
• What information has been requested in the federal agency’s notice; and
  
• A telephone number for a hotline operated by an advocacy agency related to immigration and refugee worker’s rights. BOLI has selected Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition at 1-888-622-1510 for this purpose.

Employers can prepare for an audit by reviewing their I-9 process and ensuring that I-9’s are collected and filed where they can be easily accessed if an inspection were to take place.

BOLI will develop templates for employers’ use and post them on their website. The templates will be available in English as well as Chinese, Korean, Russian, Spanish and Vietnamese. While the state law requires employers to give notice, the new law does not include any actionable penalties for not doing so.

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