E-302: Wage Record Requests
Boards must ensure that when an individual comes into the Workforce Solutions office requesting wage record information, Workforce Solutions office staff take the following actions:
· Verify the identity of the individual by:
- Reviewing a state-issued photo identification card such as a driver’s license
- Asking the individual to provide his or her Social Security number (SSN) via keypad/number pad, in writing or verbally (individuals who choose to provide their SSN verbally should do so in a secure location)
· Sign on to the TWC mainframe and access the WRIR screen to:
- Verify that the SSN provided matches the SSN recorded
- Check for any anomalies—for example, wages listed for a name that is not the individual’s name (anomalies do not include wages listed under an individual’s maiden name)
Note: If anomalies exist in the wage record, Workforce Solutions office staff should explain that when wages are listed for a name other than the individual, it is most likely due to a reporting error by the employer. When reporting employee wages, an employer can inadvertently transpose two digits in a SSN, or make some other error that results in another employee’s wages being reported under the requesting individual’s SSN.
· If there are no anomalies on the wage record, print the screen and provide the wage record to the requesting individual. Do not provide wage records that include wages belonging to another individual. Wage information reported under another name is considered Personally Identifiable Information and cannot be released, even if the wages are incorrectly reported under the wrong SSN.
· If there are wage record anomalies that need correcting before the records can be released:
- Verify the individual’s identity by:
§ Reviewing the individual’s state- or government-issued identification card
§ Reviewing the individual’s Social Security card or other correspondence from the Social Security Administration reflecting the individual’s name and full SSN (a verbal identification of the SSN is not acceptable)
- Send an ENCRYPTED email to with:
§ The individual’s SSN
§ A statement detailing which wages the individual is requesting to have corrected or removed from association with the SSN
§ A statement from Workforce Solutions office staff indicating that staff confirmed the individual’s name on the Social Security card and state- or government-issued identification card, and that the photo on the identification card matches the individual requesting the wage correction—DO NOT send copies of the documents
- Instruct the individual to return after seven days for an updated record. At that time, Workforce Solutions office staff will follow the same protocol as presented above to generate a wage record for the requester.
If the individual’s need for the wage record is urgent (for example, to prevent eviction or qualify for public assistance medical treatment), indicate the urgency in the tax wage record correction email and request to be notified when the correction has been made. Workforce Solutions office staff can then call to notify the individual that the wage record is ready.
Boards must be aware that TWC Tax Department staff will remove the identified wages by changing the SSN for the incorrect wages to a “pseudo SSN” based on the account number.
Additional information:
Wage record information can only be corrected during the three years that begin on the posting date in the TWC mainframe system.
“Zero wage” entries will not be removed from the wage record. A zero listing means that wages have previously been removed from the requested SSN file. The most common reason for a zero listing is employer clerical error. Zero wage entries will not be removed from the wage record because they provide a historical record of changes to wage data for the TWC Tax Department.
Boards must ensure that Workforce Solutions office staff with responsibility for handling wage records requests are provided with access to the WRIR screen in the TWC mainframe system through the Resource Access Control Facility (RACF).