Can An Employer Require an Employee to Show Their Social Security Card?
June 24, 2021
Can An Employer Require an Employee to Show Their Social Security Card?

Did you know that you cannot ask your employees to use their Social Security Card for I-9 purposes? However, you can ask them to present their Social Security Card for payroll reasons. According to the IRS, “You are required to get each employee's name and Social Security number (SSN) and to enter them on Form W-2. (This requirement also applies to resident and nonresident alien employees.)”


Requiring a Social Security Card for Payroll

 
According to the IRS, an employer needs to acquire the name and social security number for every employee and enter them on the employee’s W-2 form by requesting the employee to show you their Social Security Card. The employer may make a photocopy of the card as the preferred method as it prevents errors.


If you want a quick way to verify a social security number without requesting your employees Social Security Card, you can go to the Social Security Number Verification Service site here. According to ssa.gov, you can:


  • Verify up to 10 names and SSNs (per screen) online and receive immediate results. This option is ideal to verify new hires.
  • Upload overnight files of up to 250,000 names and SSNs and usually receive results the next government business day. This option is ideal if you want to verify an entire payroll database or if you hire a large number of workers at a time.


While the service is available to all employers and third-party submitters, it can only be used to verify current or former employees and only for wage reporting (Form W-2) purposes.


Form I-9 Documentation Request Limits

For I-9 purposes, an employer may not request an employee's Social Security Card and specific documents.  Employees must be given the opportunity to choose what method of documentation to present to the employer from either List A or List C. List C shows established employment authorization but must also show a document from List B which proves identity, such as a valid driver’s license.  If your employee decides to use their Social Security Card to authorize employment, they need to show the employer their card.


Unless the employer uses E-Verify, they do not need to make copies of I-9 documents. If an employer decides to keep copies for legal defense reasons, the employer needs to have copies for all employees to avoid any antidiscrimination laws.


An employer should not accept a Social Security card that has restrictive wording, like “Not valid for employment, valid for work only with INS work authorization, or valid for work only with DHS authorization.” If an employee presents you a card with such wording, let them know it’s not an acceptable I-9 document and they need to choose another document from the I-9 list.

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