April 20, 2011
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has announced that pursuant to a directive from the SSA Commissioner, the SSA has resumed sending out “no-match” letters as of April 6, 2011. The SSA has resumed sending these decentralized correspondence (“DECOR”) letters advising employers that their employees are using a social security number that does not match the records of the SSA. The SSA had previously issued these letters between the years 1994-2007.
The new no-match letters differ from the previous version of the SSA employer no-match letters. The new version of the letter leaves out the ICE insert which informed the employer that failure to act upon receipt of the SSA no-match letter could be construed as constructive knowledge of knowingly continuing to employ unauthorized workers. In addition, the new employer letter lists only one employee per letter (as opposed to providing a list of employees and their social security numbers) and states: “We may give this information to the Internal Revenue Service for tax administration purposes or to the Department of Justice for investigating and prosecuting violations of the Social Security Act.”
Please note this letter confirms there may be many reasons for the no-match letter. These possible reasons include: name changes, typographical errors, and incomplete information. It also states, “The letter does not imply that you or your employee intentionally provided incorrect information about the employee’s name or SSN. It is not a basis, in and of itself, for you to take any adverse action against the employee, such as laying off, suspending, firing, or discriminating against the individual.”
Please note that ICE I-9 auditors now routinely request copies of all SSA no-match letters and related correspondence in audits. In addition, ICE has previously stated that SSA no-match letters have been the basis of multiple criminal investigations and prosecutions of harboring or knowingly hiring unauthorized foreign nationals.
According to the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), the employer should provide a “reasonable period of time” for an employee to resolve the issue of a social security number which is the subject of a no-match letter. According to OSC FAQs, “There are no Federal statutes or regulations in effect that define a ‘reasonable period of time’ in connection with the resolution of a no-match notice.”
