subject: Know The Importance Of Verifying Employees Social Security Number [print this page] The Social Security Number is one of the most important identity documents for anyone living in the United States of America. With it, conducting background checks is easier. But before we focus on the importance of being able to verify an employee's identity through their SS number, we'll list other reasons why verifying the Social Security Number is crucial for employment.
You will know that your employee is eligible for working in the United States of America. You may be hiring an immigrant, so you have to be sure that they are legally eligible for working in the United States of America. Not only will verification ensure that you are cooperating with US Immigration laws, it will also secure the continuity of your employee's work. If your employee gets unceremoniously deported, you would have to deal with the transition of a lost employee.
To know that your employee is who he says he is. Some employees could be hiding a criminal background, or they may have stolen someone else's identity. Knowing that your employee is exactly who he identifies himself as would give you and the rest of your company the assurance that you're not working with a criminal, or heaven forbid, a sex offender or even a serial killer.
To be able to calculate your employees' withholding taxes and Social Security benefits. Being able to verify your employees' SS Numbers helps your HR, Admin and Accounting department to accurately calculate your employees' salary, as well as the taxes and benefits you need to withhold. This would ensure fairness for both you and your employee.
To show you more reasons for requesting an employee's SS number, here is a list of the benefits of being able to verify the SS card number of your employees, based on the Texas Workforce Commission Website: Job applications (for the purpose of enabling background checks) Background check consent forms W-4 (information for tax withholding) I-9 (verification of employment authorization) New hire report (reporting of new hires to the state) Professional and other occupational license applications and renewals Permits needed by the employee or the company for the job Drivers license application Some benefit applications and sign-up forms
SSN Verification is actually free via the Social Security Administration's website. The service may be located through the website's Business Services Online section. An employer may register for an account and verify from 10 to 250,000 SSN's. For manually keying-in entries of SSN's and their corresponding names, an employer or his HR staff may key in up to 10 entries. If the HR staff would like to try verifying more than 10 entries at a time, all they need to do would be to upload a file containing the SSN's and names of the employees the company would like to verify.
In employment, immigration, financial, and other official transactions, your SSN is the most crucial piece of data an applicant or employee could ever own. So if you're an employee, you must safeguard it. And if you're an employer, make it a policy to verify your employees' SSN.
