Jun 7, 2021 @ 4:26 PM EDT | United States
Quest will be performing a planned maintenance on Friday, June 11, 2021, from 12:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. ET. As a result, electronic drug test registrations via Quest will be unavailable during this time frame. Drug test registrations with LabCorp and eScreen will be accessible. Thank you for your patience.
May 28, 2021 @ 6:05 PM EDT | United States
On Thursday, May 27, 2021, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced an extension of the flexibility in complying with requirements related to Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, due to Covid-19. This temporary guidance was set to expire May 31, 2021.
Because of ongoing precautions related to Covid-19, DHS has extended this policy an additional 90 days until August 31, 2021. This provision only applies to employers and workplaces that are operating remotely. See the past news release for more information on how to obtain, remotely inspect, and retain copies of the identity and employment eligibility documents to complete Section 2 of Form I-9.
May 28, 2021 @ 5:56 PM EDT | United States
In observance of Memorial Day on Monday, May 31, 2021, several U.S. courthouses, schools in session, and businesses may close. As a result, criminal searches and verifications with external dependencies are expected to be delayed by 24 to 48 hours. We also recommend that candidates and employees call their chosen collection site to verify hours of operation. For reference, here‘s a list of 2021 holidays. Thank you for your continued trust in Sterling.
May 24, 2021 @ 7:14 PM EDT | United States
As part of Sterling’s ongoing commitment to strengthen our Form I-9 offering, we are excited to announce several new and upcoming feature enhancements in Q2 2021.
What’s New
Effective immediately, you can take advantage of the following new I-9 features and benefits:
- New “Form I-9” Tab. We are excited to introduce a separate Form I-9 tab, so that you can easily manage your I-9 program in a centralized location.
- “7 Day Work Week” Preference. If you operate outside of the traditional five-day work week, you will now be able to have I-9 due dates reflect the actual days your organization conducts business – allowing increased flexibility of your I-9 program that reflects more accurate Form I-9 automated due dates.
- Removal of “Applications” Tab. To further streamline the Form I-9 process, the Applications tab has been removed. However, applications and questionnaires can still be conveniently searched under the Onboarding tab.
Coming Soon
In addition, several other I-9 feature enhancements will become available in the coming weeks:
- “New Hire Document Upload” Preference. You will soon be able to choose if a new hire uploads a copy of their I-9 supporting docs vs. forcing their Section 2 agents to complete this mandatory task. This decreases the burden of responsibility on Section 2 verifiers, while capturing/retaining accurate I-9 documentation more efficiently.
- “New Hire Selected Section 2 Verifier” Preference. You will soon be able to add a requirement for a new hire to identify someone to complete Section 2 on their behalf from our I-9 Verifier Network. This preference will appear as an option in the initiation workflow and provide clients with increased flexibility, especially for remote hires because the Verifier Network has locations in every state.
- Term & Purge Report. Sterling has created a new report allowing you to delete I-9 records that meet USICS purging requirements. By extending this reporting functionality, we can help you remove I-9s that you no longer need to keep, thereby lowering your auditing risk and increasing the overall integrity of your I-9 program.
- “Organizational Hierarchy/Transfer I-9” Preference. In complex organizations, sometimes there’s a need to silo access to I-9 data by location. The Organization Hierarchy preference on Form I-9 allows you to easily assign users to an organization and control how much of the company’s I-9 program those users have access to. In addition, for employees that move from one organization to another, Sterling has enhanced the Organizational Hierarchy functionality to allow you to “transfer” I-9 documentation with them.
For questions, please contact your dedicated Sterling Client Success representative. Thank you for your continued trust in Sterling!
May 24, 2021 @ 6:12 PM EDT | United States
On Monday, May 24, 2021, the System for Award Management (SAM-GSA), the Office of Inspector General (SAM-OIG), and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (SAM-OIG-FDA) Government website integration became unavailable. As a result, we are anticipating 24 to 48-hour delays on SAM-GSA, SAM-OIG, and SAM-OIG-FDA searches. Technical teams are currently working to resolve the integration issue, and will continue to keep you updated as new information becomes available. Thank you for your patience.
May 19, 2021 @ 7:53 PM EDT | United States
On Tuesday, May 4, 2021, Alaska statewide and multi-county criminal searches became unavailable, due to a technical issue with the court systems. Please note the court resumed fulfillment on Monday, May 17, 2021, and the backlog will be processed within the next 48 hours. Thank you for your patience.
