Virtual Entrepreneur

FOX News:

Get ready. The no-match letters are coming soon to a small business near you – and maybe even to your own. ‘No-what?’ – you ask.

Pay attention. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently announced its final ‘no-match’ regulation, which takes effect Sept. 14, designed to make it harder for illegal immigrants to use phony Social Security numbers to get a job. Letters will soon be flowing from the Social Security Administration (SSA), DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff said, to notify businesses that an employee’s name and Social Security number don’t match government records.

‘They will not send all of them out at once, they’ll probably send about 15,000 out a week, over a period of probably about eight to ten weeks,’ Chertoff said.

15,000 a week? That’s a lot of letters. So what does it mean if you get one in your mailbox?

It means the DHS is checking the legal status of your employees. In effect, it’s part of the wider government crackdown to ensure all workers across the country are legally authorized to work in the United States.

The new regulation outlines the procedures that businesses must take when they receive a no-match letter from the SSA. As I mentioned earlier, this type of letter informs a business that a Social Security number submitted for an employee does not match the agency’s records. The no-match rule also applies to ‘Notice of Suspect Document’ letters that firms may receive from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to let them know there are inconsistencies with the immigration status or employment-authorization documents of an employee.

An employer must follow ‘reasonable steps’ outlined by DHS in order to qualify for ’safe harbor’ status. However, even if a business owner follows the steps and procedures exactly as written by DHS there’s no guarantee that they won’t be fined or penalized. After all, DHS could surmise that an employer had ‘constructive knowledge’ that someone on the payroll was not authorized to work in the United States. DHS will certainly find that a business had ‘constructive knowledge’ if they fail to take the ‘reasonable steps’ necessary upon receiving a no-match letter.

Continue reading: ‘Safe-harbor’ regulations

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