Social Security Administration Issues Letter Clarifying Intent of SSA Mis-Match Letters

The Social Security Administration (SSA) issued a letter to Congressman Costa from California earlier this week related to the “Educational Correspondence (EDCOR)/Employer Correction Request (i.e. “no-match”) letters.  Click Here to read the letter (letter posted courtesy of Dowling Aaron Incorporated).  In this letter, the SSA describes their letter as “educational” and states that the purpose of the letter is to alert employers about the no-matches and to provide useful information that will help the employers improve the accuracy of their wage reporting.  SSA further states that the role of SSA is limited in scope to trying to ensure that they credit each employee with his or her earnings to determine eligibility for and the amount of program benefits.  They also point out that the EDCOR letter specifically advises employers not to take an adverse action against an employee based on the letter, and that a name and SSN no-match is not an indication of an employee’s work authorization or immigration status.  Finally, they state that they will not take any action against employers for non-compliance with the letters.

This letter has a very different tone than the original letters sent out, and it is very encouraging to that SSA has put these clarifications in writing.  As we have discussed in earlier posts, there are different opinions being expressed by experts in this field, and we are trying to relay these opinions as they are received.  At this point, we are still recommending that you determine which of your records are mismatched, and that you correct these records if you can determine the source of the mismatch.  If you are unable to determine the source, you should notify your employee of the mismatch.   Reading the letter referenced above, it would seem that once you have notified your employee of this mismatch, then there is not much more you can do as an employer.

Kelli Gavin from the law firm of Richard A. Gump, Jr. P.C. will be speaking at our Summer membership meeting on the subjects of H-2A workers and these SSA mismatch letters.  We hope to see you all there in a few weeks.