How can I keep my current address confidential from a previous employer?

January 15, 2019 1:03 PM

I parted ways with a very bad company last year due to a bullying/harassing boss. After I left, I moved and now have a new home and physical address. My former employer needs my new address to mail my W-2 for tax purposes. I don't want this boss to know my current physical address, for my personal safety and other reasons. How can I get around this?

I left a very small company (3 people, including myself) on some pretty bad terms last year. The other two employees were the main boss and another fellow employee who has no authority there. The boss proved herself to be a horrible bully, and I chose to leave for other employment. In the time since I left, I moved to another part of town. Part of this decision was for personal reasons; the boss knew where I lived and would routinely show up on my doorstep.

The former boss contacted me via text today to ask for my current address so she can send the W-2 tax forms to me for 2018.

I am very distressed about this. I do not want her having my current physical address. I don't feel safe around this woman.

The post office stopped forwarding my mail as of about 6 months ago.

There is an attorney for the company whom I have gone through to handle other business matters. Would it be possible to go through this attorney in order that my address be kept confidential? Is there another better way? Or am I just screwed and have to give her the address and face whatever consequences that may (or may not) come? I am open to any and all options.

posted by chatelaine to Work & Money (18 answers total)

Can you use a PO Box? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_office_box#North_America
posted by richb at 1:05 PM on January 15, 2019 [7 favorites]

Best answer: You can ask your attorney, get a P.O. box, or ask a friend whom you trust whether you can use their address as though it was your own (and tell your boss to send it to "Your Name, care of Friend's Name, 123 Friend's Street, FriendsCity, USA ...")
posted by gauche at 1:06 PM on January 15, 2019 [9 favorites]

Give this boss a friend's address. Or offer to go pick it up from the other employee.
posted by hepta at 1:11 PM on January 15, 2019 [1 favorite]

PO Box at a United States post office, or a private mailbox at a business like FedEx Office Print & Ship Center. I looked into this somewhat recently, and in my city the USPS post office box was MUCH cheaper than the FedEx Office box (FedEx was 3x the price), mostly because the FedEx Office is open much longer hours than the post office.
posted by honey badger at 1:12 PM on January 15, 2019 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Definitely ask your attorney before renting a PO Box. IMO that is the best option as a) there’s a decent chance it will be free as opposed to a PO Box and b) “please send this directly to my lawyer” is an extremely unambiguous way to say “I am not fucking around.”
posted by A god with hooves, a god with horns at 1:14 PM on January 15, 2019 [26 favorites]

The cheapest option would be to pick it up in person. A friend could even do that on their own, if you felt unsafe, or could accompany you so that you wouldn't have to be left alone.
posted by tchemgrrl at 1:16 PM on January 15, 2019

Note that it's not the OPs attorney, it's an attorney for her former employer (the company, not the boss). I see your options as

1. Get a P.O. Box, and not particularly near your home
2. Use a mail forwarding service, not sure if that's cheaper for a one-time thing.
3. So cheap it's actually free, have it sent to General Delivery and pick it up from the post office. You don't even have to use the post office nearest your home. This page is for information for people displaced by disaster, but anyone can use General Delivery.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 1:21 PM on January 15, 2019 [7 favorites]

Best answer: I rented a PO box so a previous landlord would not find me. Worked perfectly. Three months for the smallest box is $24.
posted by mochapickle at 1:22 PM on January 15, 2019 [5 favorites]

From the IRS website, it looks like the employer has to provide the employee's correct address for a W2, so I'm not sure any of these solutions are really workable. IANAL, so it's possible I'm misreading. Maybe the last paragraph suggests that it's OK.

Employee's incorrect address on Form W-2.

If you filed a Form W-2 with the SSA that reported an incorrect address for the employee, but all other information on the Form W-2 was correct, do not file Form W-2c with the SSA merely to correct the address.

However, if the address was incorrect on the Form W-2 furnished to the employee, you must do one of the following.

Issue a new, corrected Form W-2 to the employee that includes the new address. Indicate "REISSUED STATEMENT" on the new copies. Do not send Copy A of Form W-2 to the SSA.

Issue a Form W-2c to the employee that shows the correct address in box i and all other correct information. Do not send Copy A of Form W-2c to the SSA.

Reissue the Form W-2 with the incorrect address to the employee in an envelope showing the correct address or otherwise deliver it to the employee.


Edited to add: yeah, I think I'm wrong per the final line. Should have read more carefully before posting. Sorry. (Mods, feel free to delete.)
posted by FencingGal at 1:27 PM on January 15, 2019

That’s not OP’s problem. It’s for employers who fuck up because it’s the employer’s responsibility to ensure the employee gets it. The key phrase is at the end where the employee is to “otherwise deliver it to the employee.” It can be emailed, hand-delivered, etc.

Yeah, I see that now. But I do think the OP should be aware and have a plan in case the employer claims it's required.
posted by FencingGal at 1:33 PM on January 15, 2019

If OP rents a PO Box, that is, in fact, an address of OP.
posted by praemunire at 1:35 PM on January 15, 2019 [5 favorites]

Response by poster: I just checked with a friend who said they'd be happy to take it and then send it on to me. Yay!

Thank you, everyone--
posted by chatelaine at 1:43 PM on January 15, 2019 [10 favorites]

PO boxes also have an optional feature where you just put in the street address of the post office they are in plus a box number, so it looks like a regular street address. this is useful for deliveries to places that "don't" deliver to PO boxes. you can even have your UPS / FEDEX stuff sent there.

My only mailing address is a PO box, since the small town I live in doesn't have a carrier and I don't live on the Rural Route.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 1:45 PM on January 15, 2019 [2 favorites]

Ask it to be emailed. Mine is always delivered electronically, no problem.
posted by sunflower16 at 2:27 PM on January 15, 2019 [2 favorites]

the boss knew where I lived and would routinely show up on my doorstep

I don't think involving your friend's physical, home address is a good idea.
I think taking advantage of that "otherwise deliver it to the employee" bit, via email, is the way to go.
posted by Iris Gambol at 4:34 PM on January 15, 2019 [1 favorite]

Best answer: The company’s lawyer should likely know that ex-boss contacted you, unless ex-boss is in payroll, given prior behavior.

Delivery to a friend should be fine if the behavior was more about a bad interpretation of the prior work relationship, as that is no longer between you.
posted by childofTethys at 4:43 AM on January 16, 2019

I'd ask her/the lawyer to scan it and email it to you at a throwaway email (and never check it again).
posted by Pax at 7:18 AM on January 16, 2019

Response by poster: Even if the W-2 is emailed, the employee's address (mine, in this case) still has to be input into the form.

I had the ex-boss send it to my friend/CPA, in another state.
posted by chatelaine at 10:22 AM on January 16, 2019