IN THIS ISSUE:

1. Feature Story: Putting The "Security" Back In Social Security Numbers

2. Cathie's Corner: It's Snowing. Do You Know Where Your Employees Are?

3. Transgender Applicant Wins Sex Discrimination Suit

4. Free Report: Rewarding Employees In Tough Economic Times: Retention Ideas That Won't Bust Your Budget

5. HR Soapbox: The Customer Is Always Right…Except When They're Not 

AHI's We Couldn't Make This Up

Forget Revenge of the Nerds, here's a tale of revenge of the laid-off employee. A Manhattan online news and gossip service laid off an employee, but told her that she could remain on staff until the end of the month and would be compensated during that time based on the number of views received on the web pages on which her web posts appeared. To help her financial situation post-layoff, she decided to post something sure to draw lots of hits — revealing pictures of herself in little more than her underwear.

1. FEATURE STORY:
PUTTING THE "SECURITY" BACK IN SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS

Because the Social Security number (SSN) is the only permanent, unique piece of information that most Americans have about themselves, businesses both large and small have increasingly depended on it, using it as an employee identifier, or customer authenticator. Unfortunately, as the private sector's use of the SSN has grown, so too has the SSN's availability and value for identity thieves.

To combat this trend, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a new report, "Security in Numbers: SSNs and ID Theft," recommending to Congress five specific measures to help prevent Social Security numbers from being used for identity theft. The FTC believes these measures would make SSNs less available to identity thieves, and would also make it more difficult for thieves to misuse any numbers they are still able to obtain.

We've listed the five recommendations to Congress below. We've also included advice for what you can do to help safeguard your organization in the meantime.

1) Improve customer authentication. "Stronger authentication would make it more difficult for criminals to use stolen information, including SSNs, to impersonate consumers, thus devaluing the SSN to identity thieves and reducing the demand for it," the report explains. The FTC is urging Congress to adopt nationwide standards for how businesses and other organizations verify the identity of new and existing customers.

In the meantime: Don't use SSNs as the sole consumer authenticator. Consider using knowledge-based authentication in which you ask "challenge questions," the answers to which are likely to be known only by the correct individual.

2) Restrict the public display and the transmission of SSNs. "Restricting the display of SSNs on publicly-available documents and identification cards, and limiting the circumstances and means by which they can be transmitted, would make it more difficult for thieves to obtain SSNs, without hindering their use for legitimate identification and data matching purposes," says the report. Some states already have laws limiting the display and/or transmission of SSNs, but the FTC recommends adopting national standards.

In the meantime: Stop using SSNs as employee or customer numbers, and stop printing them on identification cards or on account statements, paychecks, applications, or other documents that are sent through the mail, if you haven't already. Or at least use truncated SSNs for all displays and transmissions. And never e-mail unencrypted SSNs.

3) Establish national standards for data protection and breach notification. The FTC supports adopting "national data security standards that would cover SSNs in the possession of any private sector entity," as well as "national data breach notification standards requiring private sector entities to provide public notice when the entity suffers a breach of consumers' personal information and the breach creates a significant risk of identity theft or other harms."

In the meantime: If your state already has data breach notification laws on the books, make sure you are in compliance. If your state doesn't have these laws, look to other states' standards for establishing company guidelines.

4) Conduct outreach to businesses and consumers. The report states that the FTC "anticipates disseminating additional guidance to businesses on what they can do to reduce their use of SSNs and to safeguard SSNs when they are used."

In the meantime: Limit employee access to SSNs and carefully conduct employee screening and training.

5) Promote coordination and information sharing on use of SSNs. Many organizations are discouraged by the "difficulties and expense of removing SSNs from computer systems and files, as well as the challenges of keeping up with the sophisticated and changing methods of identity thieves," noted the report. So the FTC "recommends that appropriate governmental entities explore helping private sector organizations establish a clearinghouse of best practices, enabling those organizations to share approaches and technologies on SSN usage and protection, fraud prevention, and consumer authentication."

In the meantime: Do your research! Advice on protecting SSNs and preventing identity theft is available for free on many governmental and professional websites. For example, click here for AHI's FAQ webpage that answers the question, "What additional steps can an employer take to keep employee Social Security numbers confidential?"

Would Your Personnel Records Stand Up To Scrutiny In Court?

Many federal and state laws and regulations include specific record-keeping rules and required document retention periods. You need to be absolutely confident that all of your employee records, personnel files, and documents — from pre-hire through termination — are legally prepared to defend you...whether in an OFCCP audit, an EEOC investigation, a DOL probe, or an OSHA inspection.

Employer's Guide To Record-Keeping Requirements contains must-know information on all of the records, files, and documents demands made on employers by both state and federal laws, and government agencies, as well as what you must post on company property to stay on the right side of employment laws.

Make sure your filing cabinets don't contain a lawsuit waiting to happen. Request your risk-free copy of Employer's Guide To Record-Keeping Requirements today.

2. CATHIE'S CORNER:
IT'S SNOWING. DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR EMPLOYEES ARE?

It's winter, and in the last few weeks we've had two early closings when the snow started getting too deep for comfort. On top of that, we had an ice storm one night, which meant that quite a few people, including myself, were late getting in the next morning....Continue the story.

3. TRANSGENDER APPLICANT WINS SEX DISCRIMINATION SUIT

A federal judge ruled that taking an adverse action against an individual for transitioning genders is discrimination "because of sex" under Title VII. It is important for employers to realize that their policies and practices must take into account individuals with gender identity disorder....Continue the story. 

4. FREE REPORT: REWARDING EMPLOYEES IN TOUGH ECONOMIC TIMES: RETENTION IDEAS THAT WON'T BUST YOUR BUDGE  
 

Check out the Free Report, "Rewarding Employees In Tough Economic Times: Retention Ideas That Won't Bust Your Budget," which offers lots of innovative ideas for low- or even no-cost perks, services, and practices designed to help keep employees engaged and committed both during and after the current economic crisis. The report also features guidance for managers on motivating employees through personal recognition efforts, and offers advice on how to determine which low-cost initiatives are best for your own organization.

5. HR SOAPBOX: THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT...EXCEPT WHEN THEY'RE NOT

The old customer service mantra that "the customer is always right" is not meant to be taken literally. However, some customers seem to think that it should be — and that it gives them the right to treat the employees serving them as badly as they want....Continue the story.