COVID-19: Hire, Onboarding and Compensation Information for UC San Diego Staff

Departments and hiring managers should leverage technology to conduct virtual interviews instead of conducting in-person interviews.

In order to limit trips to campus, an option for hiring managers is to replace in-person, on-campus interviews with phone or video interviews over Zoom or Skype. We encourage you to offer your candidates a virtual interview option. Zoom and Skype are available as resources for UC San Diego employees. View the Zoom User Guide »

If in-person interviews are highly preferred, please follow social distancing protocols from the California Department of Public Health: don’t shake hands, sit 6-feet apart and make sure your interview space is clean and that you have disinfecting wipes and hand sanitizer readily available.

When possible, offer flexibility if candidates need to reschedule. With school and childcare closures and individual family care needs, there is a high likelihood that there will be candidates who will be completely unable to participate in an interview, virtual or in-person. During this time, hiring managers may need to accommodate candidate schedules so as not to prohibit any applicant from consideration due to circumstances beyond their control.

Please obtain consent from the candidate if it is necessary for you to record the Zoom session in case not all committee members are able to attend.

Best practices and tips for video conference interviewing:

• Resources for Hiring Managers and Search Committees 
• Resources for Candidates

Update: On May 1, 2020, DHS issued a temporary policy regarding expired List B identity documents used to complete Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. List B identity documents set to expire on or after March 1, 2020, and not otherwise extended by the issuing authority, may be treated the same as if the employee presented a valid receipt for an acceptable document for Form I-9 purposes. Please see instructions at the end of this page on how to complete section 2 under this scenario.  

On March 20, 2020, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released additional guidance providing greater flexibility for I-9 requirements. Due to COVID-19 social distancing efforts and limitation of physical presence to complete the Form I-9, employers are allowed to inspect Section 2 documents remotely over video, fax, or email. However, documents must be physically inspected once normal operations resume.

As an employer, UC San Diego will need to continue to process Form I-9s for new hires/rehires, please see below the options available:

Section 1 of the form I-9 is not impacted, and must be completed by the employee no later than the first day of work for pay. The new employee can complete section 1 on their own. 

Section 2 can be completed using one of the options outlined below: 

1) Complete a remote I-9 through an authorized representative you designate.

• Electronically via Tracker’s remote system feature (Remote Section 1 and/or Remote Section 2 with a represented agent) See instructions for creating a remote Form I-9.
• Via a paper form: Form I-9.

• • An authorized representative can be 'any person' even to include family or household member under the circumstances of COVID-19. We recommend that the UC San Diego onboarding coordinator schedule a call with the new employee and the authorized representative to support them through completion of section 2.
  • UC San Diego, as an employer, is liable for any violations in connection with the form or the verification process, including any violation of the employer sanctions laws committed by the person designated to act on your behalf.

2) Delay the inspection of physical documents and verify section 2 via videoconference, fax or email within three business days, and perform the inspection of physical documents once operations normalize.

• Additional guidance from DHS allows employers working remotely to temporarily delay the inspection of the physical documents of section 2 of the form I-9. You can verify documents by videoconference, fax or email and obtain and retain copies of the documents within three business days for purposes of completing Section 2. When this option is used, the preparer must add the following note to the additional information filed: “Physical inspection delayed due to COVID-19”.
• Once normal operations resume and normalize, all employees who were onboarded using this option must report to their employer within three business days for in-person verification of their identity and employment eligibility documentation. Once the documents have been physically inspected, the employer should add "documents physically examined on MM/DD/YYYY" to the Section 2 additional information field.

3) If the department is not working remotely, section 2 can be completed in person.

Section 3: In case of expiring work authorization, section 3 can be completed with the same options outlined for section 2 above.  

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05/01/2020 Update

USCIS Announces COVID-19 Temporary Policy for List B Identity Documents

Because many areas are under stay-at-home orders due to COVID-19 and some online renewal services have restrictions, employees may experience challenges renewing a state driver’s license, a state ID card, or other Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, List B identity document. Considering these circumstances, DHS is issuing a temporary policy regarding expired List B identity documents used to complete Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification.

Beginning on May 1, identity documents found in List B set to expire on or after March 1, 2020, and not otherwise extended by the issuing authority, may be treated the same as if the employee presented a valid receipt for an acceptable document for Form I-9 purposes.

When your employee provides an acceptable expired List B document that has not been extended by the issuing authority you should:

• Record the document information in Section 2 under List B, as applicable; and,
• Enter the word “COVID-19” in the Additional Information Field.

Within 90 days after DHS’s termination of this temporary policy, the employee will be required to present a valid unexpired document to replace the expired document presented when they were initially hired. 

Note:  It is best if the employee can present the replacement of the actual document that was expired, but if necessary, the employee may choose to present a different List A or List B document or documents and record the new document information in the Additional Information Field. 

When the employee later presents an unexpired document, you should:

• In the Section 2 Additional Information field:
  • Record the number and other required document information from the actual document presented;
  • Initial and date the change.

Procedure for List B Documents extended by an Issuing Authority

If the employee’s List B identity document expired on or after March 1, 2020, and the issuing authority has extended the document expiration date due to COVID-19, the document is acceptable as a List B document for Form I-9 (not as a receipt) during the extension timeframe specified by the issuing authority. 

When your employee provides an acceptable expired List B document that has been extended by the issuing authority you should:

• Enter the document’s expiration date in Section 2; and,
• Enter “COVID-19 EXT” in the Additional Information Field.

Employers may also attach a copy of a webpage or other notice indicating that the issuing authority has extended the documents.  Employers can confirm that their state has auto-extended the expiration date of state IDs and driver’s licenses by checking the state Motor Vehicle Administration or Department of Motor Vehicles’ website. 

Note:  For extended documents, the employee is not required to later present a valid unexpired List B document. 

The Oath of Allegiance and Patent Agreement are required documents for new hires and are traditionally completed during a witness ceremony on the new hire's start date. The Oath of Allegiance is required for all U.S. citizens. The Patent Agreement is required for all employees. 

Options for processing the Oath of Allegiance and Patent Agreement

1) Via the Onboarding Solution: 

• Schedule a Zoom meeting with the new employee. An HR representative will share the screen during the signing ceremony with new employee. When it is the new hire’s turn to sign the Oath and Patent, instead of passing the keyboard and mouse, the HR representative will give the new employee remote control access to the screen.  (Instructions for Zoom Remote Control)

2) Via a Public Notary:

• Download a PDF of the University of California State Oath of Allegiance and the Patent Acknowledgment »

During the time that UC San Diego’s operations are impacted by COVID-19, we will be processing background checks via HireRight consumer reports. Talent Support Services will obtain authorization and release for the procurement of a consumer report from applicants.