In case you didn’t know, the Social Security Administration will be sending out Employer Correction Request Notices or “No-Match Letters”.
The SSA has issued this type of notice in the past, but now they will resume issuing them to employers and third parties who submit W-2 forms.
If you don’t know what this notice is, it’s basically a letter informing you that the SSA found a mismatch with a name and social security information reported on your employee’s 2018 W-2 compared to what’s in their system for that name and/or social security number.
According to the SSA, “The purpose of the letter is to advise employers that corrections are needed in order for us to properly post its employee’s earnings to the correct record.”
If you receive one of these letters, don’t panic.
It’s possible that the mismatched name and social security number resulted from information being incorrectly typed or written out or your employee not changing their name with the SSA after a divorce or marriage.
When you receive this letter, it’s very important that you work on getting your employee to correct the mismatched information with the SSA.
Please know that this letter does not provide you with legal ground to fire or lay off an employee because of the mismatched information.
You must give your employee time to get their information correct with the SSA.
In order to see what name and social security info is incorrect, you’ll have to use the SSA’s Business Services Online (BSO) tool. It’s free for you to use.
Failure to respond to this notice can cause Immigrations and Customs Enforcement to assume that you have knowledge of an unauthorized employee.
One way to avoid mismatched info is by using a service called E-Verify.
With this tool, you’ll be able to check an employee’s info with the information found in the SSA’s database before you make a hiring decision.
That way, you can potentially avoid hiring an employee who ends up having a name and social security number that does not match government records.
To view the most frequently asked questions and step-by-step instructions on correcting name and social security errors, you can go to the SSA’s website.
If you have a small team or they are already at their capacity, consider hiring a company like The Orsus Group that will handle your I-9 management and e-verify.
Here are two questions you can ask yourself to determine whether you should handle this internally or hire a company like us to assist you with the process:
- Do you have the technology needed to properly handle I-9 forms and to use E-Verify?
- Does your team have the time and energy to effectively handle I-9 management and verification processes?
Disclaimer
The Orsus Group blog is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be comprehensive, and is not a substitute for and should not be construed as legal advice. The Orsus Group does not warrant any statements in this blog. Any statutes or laws cited herein should be read in their entirety. You should direct to your own experienced legal counsel questions involving your organization’s compliance with or interpretation or application of laws or regulations and any additional legal requirements that may apply.