Anybody else get this request
 

I received a letter from one of the school districts I work for stating that all officials are going to be paid by direct deposit.

To do this direct deposit they need my address, SSN and banking information. I understand the benefits to the school district of eliminating checks but I am not sure I am comfortable with them having all of this information. I do not know what sort of security controls they have in place and they make no mention of any controls in the letter.

Am I off base with my concerns? And has anybody seen this type of payment situation before.

Never heard of that from an officiating standpoint, but I know that my district has used the direct deposit to pay the employees for years. I have used it for at least 10 years and have never had a single problem. Lots of employers use that type of banking - not sure why it would concern you that much. Simply call the financial office of the district and ask them your questions - they will be able to answer all of your concerns.

I guess the only concern is that your info gets spread around to far more places...perhaps each district. And, if there is a security breach, the odds of your info being compromised is increased by the number of places that have the info.

That said, the school districts often handle millions of dollars of payroll as it is. The addition of your info to their existing database will not make it any less safe than it was for all the teachers and staff that alreay use it.

I don't know why they need your SSN. All they should need is your bank account number and routing number. I would wonder about them considering you an employee and taking taxes out of the paycheck if they have your SSN.

Are you saying that if you are an independent contractor without a federal tax ID number, they don't need your Social to issue you a 1099? This request and the request for banking info could be two separate issues.

I worked a game in the district where I worked in an emergency situation. Payroll put my game fee in my paycheck, taxes taken out. I asked the payroll person about this, she was less than helpful. Aside from the obvious, potential conflict of interest, this made me never do a game in this district again.

However, the post above is correct. A district handles a pretty wide ranging payroll and direct deposit is pretty common (and easy for them). Most districts around here prefer it for all employees. I have not heard of it for officials though.



*I do not work in the high school and at this time, none of my students had reached high school so I felt I could do this game without compromising anything.

I don't believe I have ever given my SSN to a school. I could be wrong beacuse the schools that I am currently working I have already worked at least once before. You only get a 1099 if you make over $600 in any given district.

$600 is true but if they're paying you as an independent contractor, they can require that information from you. I've worked playoff games that I've never been to before and still had to provide that information.

Some schools here ask for SS numbers on pay vouchers, and some ask for your official's number that the state provides you. I've never had a school take out taxes either way.

In Ohio, we're required to provide our SSN and DOB at every school we work. One of those vouchers would make life easy for an identity thief.

The state requires DOB in order to check up on deadbeat dads. :eek:

If their were no deadbeat dads, there would be no reason for the "check up" just like if there were no unsportsmanlike coaches, there would be no reason for technicals.

Qui Transtulit Sustinet ...
 

Same here in the Constitution State, except change "some" to "many".

You've never given a technical to a player? So when are you going to finally work your first game? :D

My football crew works 3 subvarsity football dates at a district here. One of the guys teaches at the high school (we wouldn't work a varsity date and it's no issue working lower level games -- done all the time here). The interesting thing is that he has taxes withheld from his check.

I've told him that he should get hurt one day and file a workman's comp claim.

It's workers' comp. These days, if you're not politically correct, you can wind up singing soprano. :eek:

If one is really concerned about the personal information issue, why not simply provide the schools with an incorrect number or one in which a few digits are transposed?

For DOB I would just give them my father's and change the year.

Right - give them a phony Social Security number and if you earn over $600 from the same organization they will be issuing you an incorrect 1099. Yeah, that's smart. Oh yeah, don't forget to let the IRS know this.

As to DOB, why not use April Fools Day?

Seems like that might be a good way to earn a REVERSE TECHNICAL.

Seriously, not sure that's a good idea for officials. Isn't part of our gig building a reputation for being honest and credible?

Go ahead. Make me an employee. Make my day.
 

I have never had a problem giving hte SS number to a school. I am also self-employed and have a Federal Tax ID number that I could use.

However, if any school district takes any kind of taxes out of my pay, then I become an employee, and there's a long list of labor laws and rights that would then become effective as regards my employment. I think that's why none of them try any foolishness such as requiring direct deposit (the failure to participate in which is not a defense to a civil action alleging breach of contract for non payment) or taking deductions for FICA and the rest (which make me an employee and subject to a raft of statutory and common law labor law)

MP--You got me. I will not go back and edit the original, however, just imagine that it said coach/player, etc., on the original. Thanks.

It would be if your contract stated that they had the choice to pay you that way.

This would be preferable to the norm around here: filling out a voucher or some kind of form with all your info (name, address, phone, SSN, etc.) that sits at the scorers table or at the ticket seller's table for most of the night until the AD picks it up. I always turn it over and ask whomever is collecting the info to keep it out of sight. Sometimes that even helps.

Some of our schools are going to RefPay. Not bad, except that RefPay wants to charge you a fee for more than one transfer out of your account per month. Talk about a scam. :(

Ref Pay
 

As of right now most of my high school games I get the check on the spot, however I could see this Ref Pay system tricle down to the highschool rank soon. What it does is the schools put your funds in the ref pay account then you get your money from that account. They use it at the collegiate level and it would make sense and also allow the government to track earnings better. (which would hurt some of us, who don't pay taxes on our games)

Those that don't should get hurt.

Death And Taxes ...
 

So you're the one !!!