Effective April 6, 2011, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has resumed sending "No Match" letters to employers after a long hiatus. These letters advise employers that their workers are using a social security number that does not coincide with SSA's records.

The new version of the SSA employer letter has omitted the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) portion that cautioned the employer that failure to act upon receipt of the SSA no-match letter could be construed as constructive knowledge of knowingly continuing to employ unauthorized workers. Additionally, the new version of the letter contains only one employee's information per letter. This new revision also advises employers that failure to act prevents the SSA from crediting the employee with the correct wages for SSA and also warns employers that the information in the letter may be shared with IRS "for tax administration purposes" or to the Department of Justice for "investigating and prosecuting violations of the Social Security Act."

However, the current letter version further reminds employers that there are many reasons, such as typographical error, name changes or incomplete information, which could cause a "no match" and that the letter "...is not a basis, in and of itself, for you to take any adverse action against the employee, such as laying off, suspending, firing or discriminating against the individual."

If you receive a "no match" letter for one of your employees, you must tread carefully to avoid any accusations of discrimination, but you must also act timely to follow-up on the information contained in the letter in order to avoid charges of unauthorized employment. It is highly recommended that you contact immigration counsel should you receive a "no-match" letter, so that you can be advised appropriately.

For a copy of the SSA's directive to resume the issuance of "no-match" letters, see https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/public/reference.nsf/links/04052011011437PM and https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/public/reference.nsf/links/03302011095533AM.