Bogus SS Numbers and ID

Red

We are a manufacturing company with one of our factories in Nevada. When we hire someone we require the proper I-9 information and, as long as we have no reason to dispute it, we accept it. We currently have several ridiculous scenarios going on. Socoal Security sent a list of about 20 people with bad SS #'s. We asked for proper documentation. Several people just quit and several gave us other documentation which we accepted. Upon closer inspection it seems that much of this was also bogus, going as far as giving us ss"s of former and even some surrent employees.The plant manager is frantic. He wants to get proper ID but is very much afraid to fire someone who will yell "discrimination".

What are we required to do and what should we do in this situation? Thanks.

Squishypig

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 05-09-02 AT 04:25PM (CST)[/font][p]I have never come across this situation but first hand but this is what I think (without any research that is) . There is a number that you can call to verify social security numbers. I have seen it on these boards somewhere but I can't seem to find it right now. You should probably start calling on every new employee since this seems to be a problem.

Call for the ones you think are bogus right now. Once you get verification that they are fake, ask the employees for other documentation. If they do not produce it, terminate the employees. You are not discriminating against them because of a protected class, you are terminating them because they gave you false ID. They would not have been hired in the first place had you known that the IDs were false. The employees knowingly presented you with false ID and if you continue to use those IDs knowing that they are fake, it is unlawful according to the IRCA.

Again, I am totally speaking off the cuff here so if anyone else has something different, please post. And if anyone has that number, please post as well.

Johnette
[email]johnette@deangelospizzeria.com[/email]

Gerri

Red:

Visit the Social Security site at: [url]http://www.ssa.gov/employer/ssnv.htm[/url]

This is the information page for employers. It will explain to you why it's important to have the correct numbers and what the penalties are for not having correct information. I'm not an attorney, but if your employees are providing you with false ID, and they cannot provide adequate documentation, I don't believe you have anything to worry about regarding discrimination. You, as an employer, have a legal obligation to provide legitimate documentation once you've been notified the documentation you received is false.

TALLEY

I've used the SSA verification service(EVS)frequently. We use a service to run SSN verification and criminal background on all new hires, but often found with younger employees or recent immigrants, there was no record found to match the SSN. So now I've decided to verify all new hires through EVS. They will verify SSN for current/former employees only, I believe it's up to 5 via phone, some other maximum number (maybe 10), in writing and for your entire database or larger groups there are specifications to follow.

Be careful, though, on two different occasions I was advised that two of our employees' SSN and names did not match. When the employees insisted I was wrong, I re-verified with them sitting in the office and was told the SSN & names matched. Maybe doing everything in writing would be better.

I asked one of the phone people at EVS about the SSA logo on the cards. There are so many different versions of SS cards; some are printed around the circle with "Social Security Administration" and some are printed with "Department of Health & Human Services Department". The EVS person told me valid cards should have "Social Security Administration" printed in the circle. Well, that's not correct.

Good luck - it's a less than perfect system, but it's all we've got.

Ruskanen

Check out my posting on the topic. [url]http://www.hrhero.com/employersforum/DCForumID14/951.html#[/url]

We had the same problem and if you don't get the information you need from the postings, you can email me and I'll tell how we handled the situation. My email is [email]lruskanen@ankmar.com[/email].