Areas Processing Employment Data
related resources
Social Security numbers (SSN) are often collected when processing employment documents such as job applications, I-9's, and other personnel documents. However, the majority of the time, after it has been collected at the point of hire, the SSN of the employee is no longer needed by the department that did the hiring.
Once the SSN has been transferred to the Payroll Service Center for tax purposes, all local copies of it should be securely destroyed. Below is a list of places where SSN may have been collected.
Items To Be Securely Destroyed
Departments, Labs and Centers (DLCs) are not expected to keep the following (they may be securely destroyed):
- Copies of job applications; if you have originals, they should be sent to the Payroll Service Center (see attached cover letter).
- Copies of I-9 forms for employees. Original I-9s should be sent to Payroll Service Center; do not make (or keep) photo copies of I-9 backup documents. NOTE: As of 5/1/10, I-9s for all students are kept by Student Financial Services; I-9s for RA's and TAs processed prior to 5/1/10 should be kept in the department, in secure files, until they can be securely destroyed.
- Intellectual Property forms signed by new hire. Original IP forms, with SSN redacted if necessary, should be sent to the Technology Licensing Office NE25-230.
- Copies of any new hire paperwork, such as employee tax withholding forms, direct deposit, and/or health insurance; employee should use the online forms or fill in such paperwork and send it directly to the area responsible for processing.
- Any Personnel Action forms prior to 7/1/06 – after 7/1/06, SSN was no longer printed on the form. NOTE: there is no requirement to keep Personnel Action forms – SAP/Optix are the official systems of record.
- Copies of emails or other personnel documents, such as background check authorization, new hire confirmation, Post Search reports, Performance Reviews, Resignation Letters, disciplinary actions such as Warning Letters or personal notes that may have the SSN. If the person leaves your department for another department at MIT, you may forward such documents to the Payroll Service Center for scanning into Optix (see attached cover letter).
- Old time cards, time reports, and/or vacation reports that may have SSN.
- FMLA leave requests or follow-up that include medical/health information (HR Disability Services keeps the official files).
- MIT Affiliate Card requests prior to 7/1/07, where SSN was filled in.
- Excel files with employee SSN (e.g. pre-2004 merit review files, when 'EE ID' was SSN) including downloads from the Data Warehouse prior to 4/1/08 which may have SSN.
- Databases (FileMaker, Access or other types) with employee or affiliate PIRN.
