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Labor Access to Earnings and New Hire Data

Full Title:
Federal Workers’ Compensation Integrity and Care Act

Summary#

This bill lets the Secretary of Labor request certain earnings and employment data from the Social Security Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services. The stated goal is to help the federal workers’ compensation program (FECA) detect and prevent improper payments and improve program integrity. The bill requires agreements (memoranda of understanding) and procedures to share and match the data.

  • Main change: Adds a new law that lets the Secretary of Labor get SSA earnings and Social Security Title II benefit data, and National Directory of New Hires data from HHS, for one or more named employees.
  • The Secretary may request these records without asking the employee or giving the employee notice.
  • Agencies must provide the data timely, at no cost to the Secretary of Labor, and as set out in memoranda of understanding.
  • The Secretary of Labor must sign the required memoranda and set up procedures to match identity and employment status within 90 days of the bill becoming law.
  • What is unclear: The bill does not set out limits on how long the Labor Department can keep or how it must protect the data, nor does it specify notice or appeal rights for employees whose records are checked.

What it means for you#

  • Federal employees receiving FECA benefits (workers injured on the job): Your earnings records, Social Security monthly benefit payments, and employment reports (from the National Directory of New Hires) can be accessed by the Labor Department without your permission or prior notice. This could affect how your FECA payments are reviewed, adjusted, or stopped if the Department finds conflicting information.
  • People receiving Social Security Title II benefits: The Social Security Administration must share your monthly benefit payment information with the Labor Department when requested about a FECA recipient.
  • Employers: Payroll reports already sent to the National Directory of New Hires could be used by the Labor Department to check a FECA recipient’s employment. The bill does not change employer reporting rules but uses existing reports for FECA checks.
  • Department of Labor, SSA, and HHS staff: These agencies must set up data-sharing procedures and sign memoranda of understanding within 90 days. The Labor Department must also create matching procedures to link FECA recipients with the received data.
  • General public: The bill applies to FECA payments made on or after the date the law starts. It mostly affects federal benefits administration and people on FECA rather than the public at large.

Expenses#

No publicly available information.

  • The bill requires data sharing and new procedures, which could require staff time and IT work at the Department of Labor, Social Security Administration, and HHS. The bill says data must be provided to the Labor Department "at no cost to the Secretary," but it does not say whether or how costs to SSA or HHS will be covered.
  • Detecting improper payments could reduce future FECA overpayments, which could save money, but the bill provides no estimate of savings.
  • Memoranda of understanding and identity-matching systems may involve administrative and technology costs whose size is not specified.

Proponents' View#

  • The bill appears intended to improve program integrity by giving the Labor Department access to earnings and employment records needed to verify FECA claims.
  • Supporters may argue this would help detect and prevent improper payments more quickly.
  • Access to SSA earnings and benefit data and to the National Directory of New Hires could make it easier to check whether a FECA recipient is working, receiving other benefits, or has earnings that affect FECA payments.
  • Faster verification could make benefit calculations more accurate and reduce overpayments.

Opponents' View#

  • One concern is privacy: the bill allows data sharing about named employees without their authorization or notice and does not specify limits on data use, retention, or access controls.
  • The bill does not detail safeguards for protecting sensitive personal information once it is shared.
  • It is unclear who bears the cost of providing data. Although the Labor Department gets data at no cost, SSA and HHS may face extra resource demands to prepare and deliver records.
  • A possible implementation risk is errors in matching identity or employment status, which could lead to incorrect adjustments to a person’s FECA benefits if matching procedures are not robust.
  • The 90-day deadline for memoranda and procedures may be tight for agencies to design secure and accurate data-sharing systems.