‘No-match’ Letters Halted Indefinitely

On Oct. 10, Judge Charles R. Breyer of the Northern District of California ordered a halt to a new rule that would force employers to fire workers if their Social Security numbers couldn’t be verified within three months. After reviewing a lawsuit protesting the new rule, Breyer delayed the rule’s implementation until the court reaches a final decision – which could take months, according to news reports.

The rule was originally supposed to take effect in September, when the Social Security Administration (SSA) was to mail out “no-match” letters to an estimated 140,000 employers. Such letters are mailed to employers if the Social Security number on an employee’s W-2 form doesn’t match SSA’s records. The “no-match” letters were to be accompanied by a letter from the Department of Homeland Security, giving employers additional guidance on how to respond to the new rule. The mailings were delayed Aug. 31 by another judge in Breyer’s district, then delayed again by Breyer on Oct. 1.

Breyer’s latest delay will give the court time to settle a lawsuit brought against the new rule by the American Civil Liberties Union, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the AFL-CIO and about 50 trade groups in the construction, lodging, farming, meat packing, restaurant, retail and service industries.

The plaintiffs said the new rule could lead to plant closings, harvest interruptions and other destabilizing consequences for the U.S. economy, as well as discrimination against immigrant workers.

According to Office of Inspector General data included in the court documents, 17.8 million SSA records contain discrepancies that could result in a “no-match” letter being sent to a legal worker. Of those records with errors, 12.7 million belong to native-born Americans, according to news reports.