Dealing with "No-Match" letters

From the Law Office of Beeson, Tayer & Bodine

Every year, the Social Security Administration sends out several million "No-Match" letters to employees and their employers. A "No-Match" letter says that the Social Security number provided by the employer for that employee does not match Social Security’s records because the number is not that employee’s Social Security number, or the employee has no valid Social Security number.

Some employers have tried to use the letters as grounds for investigating, and even terminating employees, claiming that the letters indicate that they cannot legally employ the "No- Match" employee because he or she is undocumented.

In August 2007, the Department of Homeland Security issued a rule intended to force employers to investigate their employees to determine their immigration status when they receive a No-Match letter. Under the rule, if the employee is unable to verify his status, the employer is required to terminate the employee. However, in October of 2007, the AFL-CIO successfully sued to block Homeland Security’s rule with an injunction. As a result of the court injunction, the SSA announced that it would stop sending "No-Match" letters to employers while the injunction remains in effect.

A big part of the reason the court blocked the rule is that Social Security’s database has an extremely high error rate. Social Security admits that a wide range of errors, unrelated to a worker’s documented status, can cause it to send a "No-Match" letter. Mistakes such as misspellings, typos, out of date maiden names, and reversed hyphenated names can lead Social Security to send a "No-Match" letter. Social Security estimates that about 3.3 million entries misclassify foreign-born U.S. citizens as aliens.

In response to the injunction, Homeland Security recently proposed another version of the same rule which, like the old rule, requires employers to investigate, and possibly terminate, employees when the employer gets a "No-Match" letter. Homeland Security claims the new rule should not be blocked by the court because it claims it has addressed many of the errors in the system that led the court to block the first rule. The fate of the new rule is uncertain, nor is it yet clear whether Social Security will use this new rule as their excuse to resume sending "No- Match" letters, although there have been reports that some employers may recently have received them.

 

What does a No-match letter from the Social Security Administration mean for an employee?

There are two letters the SSA sends when the database shows a "No-Match:"

* An "employee letter" sent to the employee stating that the database results did not match the name or information on your W-2 form and asking the employee to correct the discrepancy personally within 90 days. These letters are not subject to the court case described above. If you receive this letter, it does not necessarily mean that you are undocumented. It does not mean that any information has been sent to your employer and you are not required to give it to your employer; or

* The "employer letter" is sent to the employer notifying them of the "No-Match." The employer letter is sent to employers if Social Security is unable to contact the employee or if more than ½ of 1% of the employer’s total work force generated "No-Match" letters.

 

What do I do if I receive a no match letter?

There are several easy steps you can take if you receive a "No- Match" letter at home: * Do NOT notify your employer of the "No-Match" letter;

* If you can, attempt to resolve the discrepancy with Social Security yourself within 90 days of the receipt of the letter.

If your employer questions you about their receipt of "No-Match" information:

* Notify the Union of the employer’s request and exercise your "Weingarten Rights" to ask for representation before talking with your employer about the letter.

* Do not discuss your immigration status with your employer.

* Ask your employer for a copy of the "No-Match" letter and the date they received the letter.