Anybody else get this request

[JerryLundagard]

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.

[rockyroad]

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.

[Camron Rust]

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.

[SAK]

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.

[Mark Padgett]

Originally Posted by SAK

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.

[SAK]

Originally Posted by Mark Padgett

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 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.

[dsturdy5]

Originally Posted by SAK

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.

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.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by dsturdy5

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.

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.