Five Questions

Under a hotly debated regulation, companies could be on the hook for ensuring their employees’ social security records are right. Each year, employers file information about each employee—including name, social security number, wages and deductions—with the Social Security Administration. If there were discrepancies, they received a "no-match letter" requesting that they verify and correct them. This procedure became embroiled in the immigration debate when the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services stepped in last year.

Otto Immel, who heads up Quarles & Brady’s employment and immigration practice in Florida, explains the implications and what employers should know.

1. What has changed?

Last year, the [Bureau of] Citizenship and Immigration Services said if an employer gets a no-match letter, they have to [verify work authorization] within 90 days, or the bureau will conclude that you know the employee is not authorized to work.

2. What do you advise employers do if they receive one?

Within the first 30 days, the employer is to check its own records. If everything is as the employee gave it to them, then the employee must clear up any discrepancy with Social Security directly and provide [the employer with proof] within another 60 days. [If that fails], then the employer must again conduct the employment eligibility [I-9] verification, but they cannot accept the social security card as proof, and they must obtain photo identification. Many people don’t have anything beyond a driver’s license or social security card. Most employers are not going to continue to employ them; they could be held responsible for knowingly employing an unauthorized worker. Penalties can be up to $5,000 per employee and could go into a criminal penalty and a federal felony.

3. How can those discrepancies come about other than illegal immigration?