No Change in Social Security “No-Match” Rules

October 12, 2006 by Beeson Tayer & Bodine

Recently proposed regulations regarding how employers should handle “no-match” letters from the Social Security Administration (SSA) have created widespread confusion and presented problems for Unions, especially those with immigrant members. The SSA automatically generates and sends a no-match letter to employers when it discovers that the social security number reported for an employee does not exactly match the name on record. In response to the proposed regulations employers have sometimes taken drastic action, demanding for example that workers correct the problem within fourteen days or produce a “receipt” from SSA showing that they have started the correction.

Although the proposed regulations would impose new obligations on employers in responding to nomatch letters, the important thing to know is that they are only proposed. They are not in effect, and may never be passed into law. An employer’s obligations after receiving a no-match letter remain unchanged. The employer’s only duty is to notify the employees that they have been identified in the no- match letter. Employers are not to draw conclusions about the employees’ right to work or their immigration status since the mismatch may be the result of a technical error and employers should have already verified the employees’ work authorization at the time of hire. Adverse action taken against employees based solely on a mismatch letter may violate the just cause clause of the CBA, as well as state and federal anti-discrimination laws. Union reps should also remember that employers must give notice of and bargain about any new rules relating to no-match letters.

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