Where should I keep I-9's? In the associate file or in a separate folder.?

Question

I was told that I-9's absolutely need to be kept in a seperate binder instead of the associate file, eveyone told me it was 'the law" but no one could back it up? Could someone show me proof that I need to keep them separate.

Answer 1

Neither the I-9
http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-9.pdf
nor the summary of the process
http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/EIB102.pdf
says anything about storage, although the latter suggests a method of automatic notification be in place for expiration of the form due to expiration of the supporting documents.
The latter says that all of the I-9's must be available for an authorized officer to examine and there must be one for almost all employees. This means to me that they should be stored together because showing them by pulling each file and finding them within the file would be tedious and time consuming. Also, reviewing them for dates would be more difficult if in the associate file. I would expect that at least one authorized officer made up the "rule" after standing around watching people pull files - his or her convenience, not law.
Keeping them together also should increase security against possible theft, vandalism, and copying of supporting documents.
The manual is available here
http://www.hccpawv.com/pdfs/HandbookforEmployers.pdf
and a search reveals no instances of 'stor' 'storage' 'storing' and two unrelated instances of 'filing' and twelve unrelated of 'file'