Posted by hp/MD on 1/5/11 7:06am
Msg #367043

Employment Verification

Last week UDX wanted me to verify this person's employment. They emailed me the one page employment verification form and 2 pages of instructions. There were two sections on the form. Section 1 for employee and section 2 for employer. UDX wanted me ( the notary ) fill out section 2 which was the employer section and verify his employment. I called UDX to let them know I can't do this. Has anyone encounter this?

Reply by ReneeK_MI on 1/5/11 7:34am
Msg #367045

Are you talking about the I-9 Form?

Our NR colleague, Marian Harmon, has the best info regarding this form on her website:
http://www.highdesertnotary.com/services-and-fees/68-i-9-forms-for-remote-employees

Reply by Glenn Strickler on 1/5/11 10:57am
Msg #367090

Why can't you do it?

Are they asking you to notarize anything and if so, is it in compliance with your state's laws?

I have been asked to perform many tasks, some related to my notary commission, others, like taking pictures of a house, not related to my notary commission. Or fill out a vehicle condition report for a credit union.

Reply by A S Johnson on 1/5/11 11:27am
Msg #367097

The I-9 form is for a business to verify the person they are employing. It does not have a Notary Cert or room for your Notary Seal. You can not attach a Notary Cert because you are signing the I-9 thus would be notarizing your own sig.
HR people in the business wanting you to ID thier hire and fill out the form think that you need to Notarize it because you are not a company employee and they need to know you did the ID properly.

Reply by taxpro on 1/5/11 2:18pm
Msg #367137

Someone recently called and asked for me to fill out the employer's section of her I-9. Apparently, she had been hired by an out-of-state company, and she would be working from her home here. Since she wasn't going to have a face-to-face meeting with them, the employer wanted a notary to complete the employer's section and sign it. The employer attached a cover letter explaining that the notary was to sign as an Authorized Representative of the employer, but did not need to notarize anything. I had no problem with it. I verified her ID, filled in the information from her ID documents in Section 2, and signed my name, Notary Public. Under "Title", I put Authorized Representative. Not a big deal.

Reply by MichiganAl on 1/5/11 4:58pm
Msg #367189

I agree, there's no problem in doing this

You're not notarizing anything and you're not signing as a notary, you're signing as an authorized rep. All it takes for you to be an authorized rep is for the employer to say, "we authorize you to be our rep." Notaries are often called for this because it's similar to what we do as notaries, which is identifying someone.

Thanks to Renee Kovacs who recently showed me the light on this one.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 1/6/11 6:45pm
Msg #367384

There was another recent discussion on this. Your situation is an excellent example of how it should be done right. As MichiganAl said, they probably choose notaries because we should know what to look for in a proper ID.

Only thing I would do differently is to not put "Notary Public" after my name. In some states, including mine, we're not allowed to use that title except in the act of notarizing a signature.