Social Security numbers

[ShetenshiSenshi]

At work, my managers often make us read and sign new policy forms (since corporate can't figure out what to do the first time around). The problem is, they want us to write our Social Security numbers on these forms. I thought this was illegal!

Last week, I absolutely refused to write it on the "Policy regarding items on the bottom of the basket" sheet I was given to read, and my manager got pissed at me. I asked her why they needed a number that's only supposed to be used for tax purposes, and she said that it saved human resources some time in cross-checking who has read and signed the form. Not my problem, I don't care about their convenience, I care about the security of my information.

I told her that I was not writing it down on some paper that was probably going to end up on a register or the customer service desk for hours during peak time and she told me that no one was going to see the number

I ended up writing my employee ID number on the paper. Is it legal for employers to require employees to provide social security numbers for matters that have nothing to with taxes or wages? Also, management of my store has a bad habit of going into employees' files, pulling their socials, and writing them in when the employees leave them out. Is this in any way legal?

[Seshat]

I don't know a thing about the legality of it, but here's a question: why have an employee ID number if you're not going to use it to identify employees?

[Becks]

You think that's bad? The numbers we use to punch in and out at the time clock are...our SSNs.

Yep.

I hate it so much.

[TNT]

It's my understanding from the thing that came with my new copy of my social security card is that any non-governmental use is between you and the person asking for it... the government takes no position one way or the other on it.

[auntiem]

It isn't illegal, but darn reckless on corporate's part. Originally SSN were never supposed to be used by anyone but the government (that was what was promised when they first issued them). Considering the seemingly rampant identity theft now adays you would think that corporate would be opening themselves up for a lawsuit if you refused to give your SSN and they put it on there anyways. If you have employee #s then why even need the SSN?

[ShetenshiSenshi]

I don't know a thing about the legality of it, but here's a question: why have an employee ID number if you're not going to use it to identify employees?

They tell us that our employee ID numbers are not "secure enough" to use.

[Millahtyme1983]

The supermarket I used to work in had you use your SSN to log into the web applications where you did all the ordering and looked up the days sales among other things. I always thought that was the dumbest thing but being a manager and having to use said apps I had to give it. Course 1 week before I left they finally switched it over to the employee ID number which is what me and a bunch of other people were saying they should do for years.

[king4aday]

They tell us that our employee ID numbers are not "secure enough" to use.

ok...that TOTALLY doesnt make sense. According to what I learned in college (B.S. in business administration) an employer can't ask you for your social security number unless there is a legality issue (taxes...background check....etc.) which they need it for. Otherwise they cant use it. Now..this whole thing about employee ID numbers not being secure enough? That is just totally flocked up. You may want to contact your state's employment beareau and ask them about it.

Just a suggestion.

[ShetenshiSenshi]

ok...that TOTALLY doesnt make sense. According to what I learned in college (B.S. in business administration) an employer can't ask you for your social security number unless there is a legality issue (taxes...background check....etc.) which they need it for. Otherwise they cant use it. Now..this whole thing about employee ID numbers not being secure enough? That is just totally flocked up. You may want to contact your state's employment beareau and ask them about it.

Just a suggestion.

That's what I thought too. And about our employee numbers, they won't let us use them because they are printed on all our schedules, weekly, and daily, and "a customer might see it, and use it." What the hell an customer would want with a number that's meaningless to them I'll never know.

I'm going to call the bureau on Monday and ask them about this.

[greensinestro]

I really never understood the problem being social security numbers are not heavily protected. It seems to me anyone out there can obtain them, and yet so many people are sensitive to providing it. What gets me though is what happens to foreigners who emigrate to the United States and do not have one. I mean, people are being hired without having to even prove they have a card.

A 24 hour 7-11 has better protection than one's social security number, let alone all other private information.

[Sylvia727]

You think that's bad? The numbers we use to punch in and out at the time clock are...our SSNs.

Our system is the same. That doesn't bother me nearly as much as the employee discount, though, because when I punch in the numbers they read as asterisks, same as a password.

However, lest you think our system decent, to get the employee discount we have to recite our SSN. In front of customers. Most cashiers will just say "Numbers?" and I can space them 1-23-45-67-89 instead of 123-45-6789, so that it sounds less like a SSN. But every once in a while I will get a co-irker with no sense of personal privacy or security who demands "Social Security Number?" so I have to reel the numbers off in front of 3-4 customers.

Bonus points if s/he makes me repeat it.
Triple bonus if s/he makes me repeat it slowly, because I was trying to say it fast enough that no one else would remember it.

[bainsidhe]

I was shopping one night at Lowes and right after my receipt printed, the cashier took a black marker at blotted out a line on my receipt. Curious, I asked why and she explained that her SSN was printing out on the receipts. As in, every. single. receipt.

Worse, she only noticed the computer glitch that night and management told her they would be "working on it". So in the meantime, she was still required to use her employee number to check out customers, while her SSN printed on every transaction. Um, a black marker won't do much to prevent me from finding out what number printed underneath, sorry. I told her they needed to get that fixed asap and she shouldn't accept her number being printed like that, it was dangerous. Her managers sound like idiots to me.

[Becks]

Our system is the same. That doesn't bother me nearly as much as the employee discount, though, because when I punch in the numbers they read as asterisks, same as a password.

You get asteriks?!?!?!? Lucky you.

We don't. Anyone standing behind you can memorize it, if they so choose.