Pizza Marketplace - Winter 2007 - (Page 12) No-match reprieve could be short lived By Richard Slawsky Although the Social Security Administration won’t be sending out no-match letters to employers this year, it’s only a matter of time before the issue resurfaces, immigration lawyers say. The Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration had originally planned to start sending no-match letters — meant to alert employers the Social Security information contained in an employee’s W-2 form doesn’t match Social Security database information — to employers in September. The SSA scrapped the plan this year after civil, labor and business groups sued the government. A federal judge also blocked the plan in October, ruling it was too strict and could result in legal workers losing their jobs. Under a proposed Department of Homeland Security regulation, letters from the Social Security Administration alerting business owners to mismatches also would include a letter from DHS explaining that employers could face criminal charges by hiring illegal immigrants. Failure to respond properly to nomatch letters could be used as evidence in civil and criminal actions brought by DHS, subjecting employers to fines, seizure of assets and even imprisonment. In his October ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer said implementing the plan would present an unfair burden on businesses. If the new rule were implemented, Breyer said, thousands of employers likely would incur significant expense to develop costly human resource systems to comply with the provisions of the regulation. However, the issue may resurface even sooner than the spring. The Department of Homeland Security is looking at ways to rewrite the regulation in order to move it through. “We’re currently seeing what we can do to address the concerns that the judge entered in order to see whether we can get the injunction lifted, and then go forward with this regulation,” Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told Congress on Nov. 6. Safe harbor steps unrealistic The letters sent out under the proposed DHS regulation also would include “safe harbor” steps that businesses can take to avoid penalties. Employers would have 90 days to resolve any problems 12 WINTER 2007/SPRING 2008 | PIZZ A MARKETPLACE REPORT
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