My technician job takes me to my employer’s customer’s facilities. Many of them require some sort of security sign-in which can include issuing a visitors/contractors badge. Some have taken an additional step of requiring a visitor/vendor to surrender their state-issued driver’s license while at the facility.
It’s the last part I don’t like. It seems there is a wide window for abuse of the personal information on my license. It’s an annoyance if I accidentally leave without my license. It seems to me that the license belongs to me, not my employer and where I leave it is up to me. If my employer’s customers require ID for entry that is fine. If they require I leave an ID with them while I’m at the site then my employer should provide said ID. If the customer requires a state-issued ID then that’s between my employer and them.
The facilities that insist on this are largely casinos but at least one industrial site has required it lately.
Do I have the right to refuse this? I’m not asking for legal advice, only opinions or personal experience.
I’ve expressed my opinion to my immediate supervisor who wasn’t very helpful. I asked him if our employer, either at the district or corporate level, had a policy. His reply was “They don’t care.” I’m not sure if he’s correct in that.
The only next step I can think of is to ask Human Resources at the corporate level if there is a policy.
Kind of wordy I guess. Please tell me what you think or know about this subject.
I suspect they want the DL to make sure you return their security badge which they don’t want floating around. Since you want your DL back you['ll be sure not to forget. I presume this would also be true about any ID card though maybe less so if they were easier to replace.
The main issue then seems to be one of personal security against ID theft, etc. DLs in CT used to have your Social Security number on them which I’d be hesitant to leave behind. If your DL has no personal information beyond name and address, I don’t think there’s much risk in leaving it. On the other hand, I don’t see how they could require a DL unless your job required you to drive and it would seem that would be between you and your employer not you and the customer.
go to your local DMV [if you are in CT, not sure about the other states] and get a state photographic ID. Use that when they require you leave something.
I’ve never seen a state which willisssue both a driver’s license AND an non-driving ID. Not to say they don’t exist, but everywhere I’ve lived it’s been either/or.
As to the OP: there are lots of situations like this. Rent a car or stay in a hotel? Somebody will either xerox your DL or enter it into some computer.
Illinois asked me, when last renewing my driver’s license, if I wanted a second copy to use as a state photo ID. This was unprompted, so apparently it’s standard procedure to offer one in some places. Maybe it’s a revenue source.
You have the right to refuse to surrender your DL, certainly, but what then happens to the job you were sent there to do? The company won’t let you in. Then your employer has to what? Send another more agreeable employee to the location? I’m willing to bet that would only happen once and you’d be out on your keister. Is this really a hill you want to die on? Get a grip.
I shortened the quote to the two lines I needed to comment on. Ask your State DMV if it is your license, or they (DMV) are just letting you use it. I broke a law in my state and they took back what I was told was theirs. YMMV.
Let them take it.
Go to the DVM and tell them that they took it from you and you need another one.
Next time you go there, tell them they already have it.
Yeah Illinois used to not allow this but they’ve allowed both since at least 1990. In today’s day and age, I’d always have a back up.
I have known people that have had their wallet stolen with their driver’s licenses in them when they are in a different city they’ve flown. It’s a nightmare trying to get on a plane these days without a state issued ID or driver’s license. It is possible but it can be difficult, as it is ultimately up to the airline and the TSA to accept a police report of a stolen ID.
I worked with one guy we have to have his mother fed ex him his passport when he lost his license. Another guy I know he was stuck in NYC and had to have the county clerk where he was born overnight him a birth certificate.
It’s a good idea to have both
But as for the OP question, a lot of place require you leave a license. My gym won’t give you a towel unless you leave your license. The library’s closed stacks require a DL and your library card to use the material.
That is a little different though, since they are not interested in keeping the actual physical license. The security desk is likely keeping the license as a deposit for their security badge, which as another poster indicated they don’t want floating around.
My own companies home office will take your car keys or your drivers license. They’re not interested in keeping your license specifically, just something you’ll want back on your way out. Keys are probably a safer bet since you couldn’t get out of the parking lot without them - it sure would suck to discover your ID was still back at the office as you were trying to get through airport security, etc.
I think it’s a reasonable concern, although there may be no good solution. For renting opera glasses and such, you are choosing to leave the license for your own personal reasons and you could easily refuse and choose a different activity. For your job, however, you can’t realistically refuse if you want to remain employed. Plus there is a theoretical possibility that if the place you are visiting has a problem with your employer they could try to hold your license hostage, even if the issue is beyond your control.
I agree this is an imposition. Just because I’m there to service the copier, or advise the CTO on Sarbanes-Oxley, or jump out of a cake at the CEO’s retirement or whatever, doesn’t mean the guy at the front desk is entitled to my home address. I think the appropriate thing would be for you to have an employer ID that you leave, with your work contact information.
The tough thing about this is making the point delicately to the customer. We used to think nothing of collecting everyone’s SSN. Now, companies realize that every SSN they collect needs be under lock and key (or their digital equivalent) and don’t collect them unless absolutely necessary because it’s an exposure if the information is misused. They probably ought to feel similarly about birthdates, physical descriptions, and home addresses of visitors to their sites. If you were to be a victim of a stalker or identity theft, their handling of your information should come under scrutiny. You might try offering an employer ID and saying that you have had problems with misuse of your personal information and are now extremely careful about it.