Is my place of work invading my privacy?

I work for a world-wide food corporation. Now they are wanting all team members to submit a copy of last year's tax return (all figures may be marked out) by August. They are telling us it is for an insurance audit. I have never heard of this & HR informed me other companies are doing the same. Could I ask for the name of these companies so I may verify that this is true? Also, if we fail to submitt the return, I was informed that any/all dependents would be dropped. Is this legal for them to do this? I even volunteered to re-submitt our marriage license, social security card, medicare card (he is on a disabilty) &/or other info with joint names.

Many team members are afraid not to do this as for many this is the only insurance they have. Also, this is a non-union plant & people are afraid to speak out in fear of retalliation or being terminated from work.

Here's the deal. The insurance company has a right to ensure that all dependents that it covers are actually your dependents. This would be verified by the tax returns. You get to black out all figures, including identification numbers, so no private data is being provided.

The Government would not be allowed to do this. However, the employer gets to set the rules of employment and benefits. Here, what they are saying is: You must prove that your dependents are actually dependents, or they will not be covered by insurance.

It seems to me that this may not be a fight worth having. Of course, the next question is: what happens to divorced couples who "divide" the children for tax purposes. Neither of them would show all children on their return. Further, one of them may have been ordered to provide coverage for ALL minor children. So in that instance, you would have a real issue.

In your case, you are offering to provide far more private data than they seek: They want the identity of all dependents. Whether married, whether they have a social security card, etc. just does not matter. You get to redact all financial information. Why would you give them more PRIVATE data then the redacted tax return?

So ... bottom line ... they can probably request the return, and limit your benefits if you do not.

It is probably not worth the fight, especially here, where you are willing to provide even more private data than they seek.

If you can submit without the figures whats the difference?

I would think that depending on your job this would not be illegal - for instance they want to make sure all their staff are filing returns (and complying with the law) because of a government contract they might have

I can also assume for insurance purposes they might be checking for illegals, who are less likely to file income tax returns - no reason to insure them - that is for sure!

What they are asking you to do is pretty basic. It is the only way they can verify legal dependents, marital status, etc. for the purposes of insurance coverage. It is not an invasion of privacy as they have asked that you mark-out the financial information.

Insurance audit is pretty basic; and failure to submit can be grounds for drop by the insurance company.

What's the difference?