Overview
With all of the intricacies that come with the I-9 process, it can be hard to keep track of all of the updates, and tasks requiring follow-up.
Fountain has made this process easier by automating notifications to both you and your employees, at all stages of the I-9 process, along with customization options for some notifications.
For easy follow-up, notifications sent to you as the employer will include a direct link to the indicated employee’s profile in the I-9 Center. Messages sent to your employees will have a direct link to their worker portal.
See below for a summary of all available notifications, grouped by each step in the I-9 flow:
Notifications Sent to You as the Employer
Section 1
Section 1 of the I-9 form is filled out by the employee themselves at any point after an accepted offer of employment, and needs to be completed on or before their first day of employment for pay.
Notifications related to Section 1:
Upcoming I-9 Section 1 deadline: Workers whose start date is in the next 5 days, who have not yet submitted their Section 1 form
Overdue Section 1 form: Sent when a worker has not submitted Section 1, and it’s the end of their first day of work.
Section 1 completed: A worker has submitted their Section 1 form
Section 2
Section 2 of the I-9 form involves reviewing & confirming the information and documents provided by the employee in Section 1. This must be completed no later than three days after the employee’s first day of work for pay.
Notifications related to Section 2:
Upcoming I-9 Section 2 deadline: Workers who have submitted Section 1, but who have not yet completed Section 2 or scheduled a verification meeting for it yet.
This notification will also specify the employee’s deadline for this form (3 days after their first day of work)
Authorized Representative completed Section 2: Section 2 was completed by an authorized representative for an employee
Section 2 appointment reminders: Based on your Section 2 verification method setup (outlined here) and calendar integration setup (outlined here), all meeting invitees will receive notifications for any enabled reminders, including:
Meetings scheduled by your workers (for both on-site and virtual meetings)
A reminder sent before the meeting
Meeting rescheduling and cancellations (by you or the employee)
E-Verify
If your company is enrolled with E-Verify, a federal program used to confirm the eligibility of employees to work in the U.S., then you will receive the notifications outlined below for case updates:
E-Verify Case Pending: E-Verify is processing a case, but needs more time to resolve it (this serves as an FYI, as there is no action needed on your part)
Action Required - Photo Match Required: E-Verify requires you to manually review an employee’s photos in the E-Verify website
Action Required - Unconfirmed Data: E-Verify requires you to confirm information that the employee provided on their form.
Case Close & Resubmit: E-Verify requires you to close the current case and submit a new one for the employee.
The Fountain I-9 center will automatically close this case for you, so if you receive this notification, you will just need to start a new case with the employee
Tentative Nonconfirmation: E-Verify has returned the case with a status of Tentative Nonconfirmation, meaning that the provided information does not match current goverment records.
This requires you to review the case with the employee and determine their next steps
Final Nonconfirmation: E-Verify has returned the case with a status of Final Nonconfirmation, meaning that the government was unable to confirm the employee’s work authorization.
Reverification
A notification will be sent to you once a worker’s documents have expired and require reverification. This email will include a link to the I-9 Center to being the process of re-verifying the worker’s documentation.
Notifications Sent to Your Workers
Workers will receive the following notifications to their email:
Section 1
Section 1 missed deadline: Sent to the worker at the end of their first day of work, if they have not submitted Section 1 yet
Rejected I-9: If you reject the employee’s section 1 form, then they will receive an email letting them know, along with your specified reason for rejection
Restart the I-9: If you click the Restart I-9 button in an employee’s I-9 profile, then that will reset their I-9 task to Not Started, and have them start the process all over again. The notification will let the workers know about this status update.
Section 2
Section 2 missed deadline: Sent to the worker if it’s three days past their first day of work, and they have not completed Section 2 or scheduled a verification meeting yet
Verification appointment reminders: If a worker has scheduled an on-site or virtual meeting to confirm their documents for Section 2, then they will receive these same set of reminders that you do as the employer:
A reminder sent before the meeting
Meeting rescheduling and cancellations (by you or the employee)
E-Verify
Once an employee’s case gets submitted to E-Verify, they will receive notifications if their case results in any of these statuses:
Tentative Nonconfirmation: This will include a copy of their Further Action Notice, which provides details about the case mismatch. Workers can review, fill out, and sign this document from directly within their worker portal.
Case Referred to DHS or SSA: If you as the employer move the case into this status once the employee confirms that they will take action on the case, the employee will get a notification about this status update.
Final Nonconfirmation: E-Verify has returned the case with a status of Final Nonconfirmation, meaning that the government was unable to confirm their work authorization.
Reverification
Once a worker’s documents have expired, they will receive an email notification letting them know. This will instruct them to follow up with you, the employer, to complete the reverification process.
Enabling & Disabling Notifications Sent to You
The Notifications section in the Profile activity (accessible in the left sidebar) allows you to enable or disable each category of I-9 notifications (general, Section 1, Section 2, E-Verify, and Reverification).
You can also indicate how often you want to receive a summary of I-9 events: instantly, hourly, or daily. These notifications will be sent to your email, as well as populated in the Notification Center.
Summary of notifications:
Notification Summary | Recipient(s) | Next Steps for Recipient |
Section 1 |
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Section 1 hasn’t been submitted, but is due in the next 5 days | You (employer) | Message the worker to check in on their Section 1 process |
Section 1 is overdue (end of the worker’s first day) | You (employer) and the worker | Message worker to submit Section 1 |
Section 1 has been completed | You (employer) | Worker has submitted their Section 1 form |
Section 1 form has been rejected (by you, the employer) | Worker | Review the reason for rejection, and redo Section 1 |
I-9 form has been restarted (by you, the employer) | Worker | Redo the Section 1 form |
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Section 2 |
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Section 2 has not been completed (nor has a verification meeting been scheduled), and is due soon | You (employer) and the worker | Message the worker to get Section 2 authorization completed |
Authorized representative has completed Section 2 | You (employer) | None (FYI only) |
Section 2 appointment reminders & notifications | You (employer) and the worker | None (FYI only), or message the worker if the meeting was cancelled |
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E-Verify |
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E-Verify Case Pending | You (employer) | None (FYI only) - keep an eye on the E-Verify case status |
Action Required - Photo Match Required | You (employer) | Click on link to log in to E-Verify, and take action on the case |
Action Required - Unconfirmed Data | You (employer) | Click on link to log in to E-Verify, and take action on the case |
Close Case & Resubmit | You (employer) | Submit a new case for the worker (Fountain will automatically close the initial case for you) |
Tentative Nonconfirmation | You (employer) & the worker | Review the TNC case & discuss next steps with the worker |
Case Referred to DHS or SSA | Worker | Review the Referral Date Confirmation document, and follow up on the case with DHS or SSA |
Final Nonconfirmation | You (employer) & the worker | Close the case in E-Verify |
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Reverification |
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Documents have expired and need re-verification. | You (employer) & the worker | Initiate the Reverification process in the I-9 Center |
Related Articles
⬅️ Previous article: I-9 Worker Table
➡️ Next article: I-9 FAQs