You need an I-9 form for every employee you hired after 1986. This form confirms that the employee has provided a legal name, address, and Social Security number (where applicable) or other acceptable documentation that allows the employee to work in the United States (such as an Alien Registration Number).

Recently, New Hampshire’s requirements for employers to obtain documents were changed but if you already are completing your I-9 documents properly, the change probably won’t affect you. The change puts the definition of “acceptable documentation” squarely on the shoulders of federal law. That way if federal requirements change, state requirements still match.

The title of RSA 275-A:4 used to be “Illegal Aliens Prohibited” and is now “Undocumented Workers Prohibited.” The current wording of the law states, “No employer may employ any employee without obtaining documentation showing the employee’s eligibility to work in the United States. The employer shall maintain such documentation for the period required by federal law. Acceptable documentation of eligibility to work in the United States shall include documents required by federal law or supporting documentation that satisfies the requirement of federal law.”

You should check the language in your Employee Handbook or Guide to make sure your language models the new text; or contact HR Compliance 101 and we’ll check it for you.

Another new law also has limited effect on business owners since it exempts private residences from inspecting and certifying boilers. I like to bring laws like RSA 157-A:6 to the attention of business and building owners just in case they mistake the scope of the change. In this case, the exemption applies only to individual private residences and apartment houses of three or fewer family units.  Any business owner or the landlord of a building with more than three family units still needs to get the building’s boilers, air compressors, and water heaters inspected and certified every two years.