Ask HN: Can a PEO rightfully expose your income to other employers? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Can a PEO rightfully expose your income to other employers?

29 pointsamevo24 comments

In 2019 I worked for two companies that made use of the same professional employer organization (PEO). This PEO generated a single W-2 for 2019, combining my income from the two companies. Both companies can view this combined income W-2. Simple W-2 less payroll math would reveal to each company what the other paid.

This doesn't sit well with me for myriad reasons, and I can't imagine this is entirely legal. While the PEO reps are empathetic in correspondence on this issue, no resolution/progress on the matter has been made whatsoever over the last few weeks. Any advice/counsel is appreciated.

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Many companies provide employee pay data to equifax, and equifax sells it to many people:

https://www.fastcompany.com/40508924/equifax-could-be-sellin...

Note: the Work Number is effectively a collusion of employers against labor, an employer's "union" of sorts . Much lie the one where "competing" employers agreed not to recruit from each other to avoid bidding eats. Remember that next time your employer tells you you don't need a union.

No, this is not right. The PEO is paying you "on behalf of" a specific employer (even if your check is coming out of the PEO's account). So you should get 2 W2s with separate amounts from each employer.

TriNet (a large PEO) stores employees as SSN so if you have ever worked for a company that used TriNet as their PEO, you are in their system. As an employee, you should see a dropdown at the top and you can only see ONE employer at a time and you have to use the dropdown to switch around.

The only reason you can get ONE W-2 is if you work at a temp agency. The employer technically pays the temp agency and the temp agency pays you. So even if you got billed out to 10 different "employers", you are still an employee of the temp agency and you get ONE W-2 but technically, this is NOT a PEO situation

Yeah so a big name PEO definitely doesn't do this, I have the same situation right now. Both companies were rolled into one W2 for me. FTE, engineer in both cases.

Edit: I also get this is likely legal but didn't sit well with me. I also learned when I move employers but the PEO stays the same my insurance through the PEO doesn't refresh which got me into a small jam.

My understanding is exactly the opposite.

If you do work for a client of a PEO it is as an employee of the PEO. Therefore you would only get one W2 from the work you did.

that's what he said, if you are an employee of a contractor who contracts you out to different companies, you are an emplyee of only one company.

No temp agency. I was an employee of two separate and unrelated companies.

On your employment records, you should have 2 hire dates which means that they HAVE TO KNOW that you were hired at separate times by 2 separate companies. Think of it this way: if you have vesting stock, the 2nd company will NOT count the time you were with the 1st company (that would be excellent but it obviously doesn't work this way)

Check with an attorney (a consult is usually no cost) if "26 U.S. Code § 7213.Unauthorized disclosure of information" [1] or "26 U.S. Code § 6103.Confidentiality and disclosure of returns and return information" [2] applies to this situation. If applicable, your attorney may consider contacting the PEO's legal department to inform them of their violation of federal statute.

[1] https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/7213

[2] https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/6103

Thank you. Which kind of attorney would handle this: data privacy, tax, consumer protection, something else?

If I was in your position, I would start with a labor attorney. First off, there are plenty of them. Second, they specialize in the employee/employer relationship. Privacy is one very common aspect of this relationship.

If they are not able to help, they should at least point you in the right direction.

Your PEO is making the W-2 available to the companies you did work for? That's weird. I can't think of a reason why that would be necessary at all... the W-2 is between you, company who is paying you (your PEO), and the IRS.

I would clarify their policy around this, and perhaps ask the IRS what the rules around W-2 disclosures are.

Correct, both companies can see the same combined income W-2 within the PEO's site.

Who is the PEO? Some PEOs have very stringet legal teams that would make a big fuss about this. Depending who your PEO is, you might just reach out directly to their legal department.

Source: I worked for a large PEO.

And if you can't get this fixed, you might consider changing to a different one.

Your pay comes from the PEO, on "behalf" of the employer, right? Technically you "work for" the PEO, so this sounds fine to combine them. I bet they can't even do anything about it.

In that case, it's concerning that the PEO is sharing the W-2 with the companies the OP did work for. If the OP doesn't have an employment relationship with these companies, it seems like a huge privacy breach for the PEO to be sharing W-2s with these companies at all.

I was hired and employed by both companies. They both make use of the same PEO. I’m not sure it’s legally correct to say I only have an “employment relationship” with the PEO.

So does your check / payroll deposit come from the PEO? W2's are about who paid you.

On the bright side, if both companies are large, it's unlikely your manager at either will ever notice.

Who is the PEO?

Post says in the first sentence

The post answers "what is a PEO", but not "what is your PEO". The second is what's meant by "who is the PEO?"

No it doesn't.

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