The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry's Safety and Workers' Compensation Division announces a new worker identification -- or WID -- number that may be used instead of a Social Security number to identify claims.
The WID number is person-specific: a unique two- to eight-character number is automatically generated within the Safety and Workers' Compensation Division computer system when a claim-creating document is received (such as a claim petition where a First Report of Injury form has not been filed).
The WID number may be used rather than the Social Security number, with the date of injury, to identify a specific case file.
Modified workers' compensation forms that allow for the WID or Social Security number to be used became available online in June 2008. At that time, correspondence from the Department of Labor and Industry also began including both the WID and Social Security numbers.