Personally Identifiable Information (PII) Incident— W-2C Mailing

USDA, National Finance Center sent this bulletin at 07/12/2022 09:32 AM EDT

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Personally Identifiable Information (PII) Incident—
W-2C Mailing

July 12, 2022
Reference Number: NFC-1655232968

Dear Customer,

The National Finance Center (NFC) recently issued Corrected Wage and Tax Statements (W-2C) for the 2020 tax year to employees that reflected the repayment of the deferred Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) taxes from March 2021 through December 2021.   

When the W-2Cs were produced, NFC did not account for employee address updates completed after the original 2020 W-2s were issued. As a result, forms were generated and mailed to incorrect/outdated physical mailing addresses. While some addresses were corrected through the U.S. Postal Service, some were returned to NFC. The W-2Cs included the employee’s full name, unmasked/full social security number (SSN), home address, and employer information.

USDA takes this matter very seriously, takes responsibility, and is committed to ensuring the appropriate oversight and protocols are in place to prevent this situation in the future. The root-cause was determined to be an oversight and absence of verification of address changes, since the original 2020 W-2s were issued. The leadership team at NFC and other key offices have conducted various assessments and are committed to putting into place the necessary protocols, including systems improvements, staff trainings, measures, and quality controls. USDA NFC is taking the following actions to ensure the safety of employee and customer PII and proper management of payroll and tax statement administration:

  1. Technical measures to automate data file feeds between the NFC W-2 Online Processing System (WTWO) and Payroll Personnel System (PPS) to correct and populate the change of address.
  2. The physical mailing address file in the WTWO system is being updated with the correct addresses; duplicate W-2 C forms with masked SSN will be created and resent to the impacted employees.
  3. By July 15, 2022, NFC will provide written notifications to those impacted. Credit monitoring will be offered to employees whose W2C was not returned to NFC.
  4. The affected Agencies will receive a listing of impacted employees by July 15, 2022.
  5. NFC will host customer meetings the week of July 11th. Additional information will be provided regarding the dates and times for the meetings. 

Please be advised that the W-2C was provided for financial records of affected employees only. No further action is required by the employee. The W-2C includes the entire deferred amount withheld and repaid in 2021 for 2020. For tax related questions, please contact your tax advisor or the Internal Revenue Service. 

NFC values the partnership we have with each of our Customer Agencies and are committed to working with each of you to ensure your employee’s data is safe and secured.  Attached are Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to assist with questions from employees.  

Authorized Agency representatives with questions concerning this notification should contact the Client Management Branch at Client.Management@usda.gov.