Social Security No-Match Letters

Social Security No-Match letters are correspondence that employers receive from the Social Security Administration (SSA) when the name and social security number provided by employers on their wage reporting forms does not match SSA records. Employers receive these SSA issued no-match letters if they have more than 10 mismatches, and the wages related to those mismatches account for more than one-half of one percent of all the wages paid. The no-match letter includes a listing of the names and social security numbers of the employees whose records do not match.

In August of 2007, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a final Social Security No-Match rule (Final Rule). The Final Rule provides that an employer's failure to take reasonable steps after receipt of a Social Security No-Match letter can lead to a finding that an employer had "constructive knowledge” of the fact that an employee is an unauthorized alien. Under the Rule, employers would be exposed to increased liability if they fail to take a prescribed course of action termed a "safe harbor" upon receipt of a no-match letter.

The rule, while temporarily prevented from going into effect by a federal court in California, in many ways is only a codification of obligations employers have had since 1986. The Rule requires employers to take certain affirmative steps to resolve questions about an employee's employment authorization; if the employer fails to take those steps, it can be found to "know” that the employee was not authorized. These steps are outlined in detail in the articles set forth below.

Klasko, Rulon, Stock & Seltzer, LLP regularly provides employers with guidance regarding the Rule as well as its impact on the government's recent enforcement efforts. We also assist employers in preparing compliance programs to protect them from discrimination claims while at the same time complying with government regulations and verification requirements.

Social Security No-Match Letter News

• The Administration's New Work Site Enforcement Initiatives: Focus on Employer Compliance Will Increase Audits and Investigations (PDF)
  Published in Business Law Today, Volume 19, Number 3, Jan./Feb. 2010. Copyright 2010 by the American Bar Association. Written by: Elise A. Fialkowski
  
  
• DHS Rescinds No-Match Rule
  October 8, 2009 by Neelam Ihsanullah
  
  
• DHS Does Away With the Social Security No-Match Rule in Favor of E-Verify
  July 16, 2009
  
  
• No-Match Regulation Delayed Again
  June 15, 2009
  
  
• Obama Administration Inherits Defense of Bush Immigration Policies, The Legal Intelligencer by Jonathan Willmoth
  January 21, 2009
  
  
• DHS Issues Supplemental Final Rule on Social Security No-Match Letters, Klasko Newsletter Excerpt
  November 2008
  
  
• DHS Issues 'No-Match' Supplemental Proposed Rule, Klasko Newsletter Excerpt
  April 2008
  
  
• SSA Says No-Match Letters Will Not Be Sent this Year; DHS Will Revise Rule, Klasko Newsletter Excerpt
  December 2007
  
  
• Judge Grants Motion for Preliminary Injunction Enjoining DHS Implementation of Final Rule on Employer 'No Match' Obligations, Klasko Newsletter Excerpt
  October 2007
  
  

Resources/Links

• Avoiding Jail and Fines When Employees May Be Out of Status: What Employers Need to Know about Immigration Rules for 'Constructive Knowledge' and Social Security 'No match' Letters, Klasko Client Alert (PDF)
  September 12, 2007