What information can be released for employment verification

When hiring someone, their prior employment history is an important consideration in their ability to perform.

Unfortunately, falsifying or exaggerating previous employment experiences is common. Because of this, employers frequently perform employment verifications as part of their background check programs.

An employment verification is when an employer, or a designated 3rd party such as a background check company, validates a job candidate’s employment history. This article provides an overview of employment verifications for recruiting professionals.

What are Your Employment Verification History Options?

An employment verification will usually verify a candidate’s title, employment dates (start and end), and occasionally salary history and job duties. Salary related questions are becoming less frequent as local laws are prohibiting those types of questions. An employment verification may also ask while an employee is no longer with the organization and if they are eligible to be re-hired. As an employer, you also want to determine how many years or previous employers you wish to verify. The more senior the position and/or the more technical the skill, the longer we recommend you verify employment history (typically 5 to 7 years for these types of positions). We typically see the most frequent employer verifying the last three years of employment for more junior roles.

The fees for a background check party almost always depend on how long or how many employers you want to check. Depending on your volume, employment verifications can often cost between $7 and $15, not including any 3rd party verification services fees like Equifax’s The Work Number.

The Challenges of Employment Verification

Employment verifications are either really easy or really hard.The really easy verifications are those that the background check company can verify through a 3rd party service such as the Equifax Work Number solution. These services collect data, typically from larger companies, that background check companies can utilize to complete the verification. These types of verifications almost always return under one business day. The challenge is these 3rd party services are expensive, and the background check company will usually pass these fees onto the end customer. The more challenging types of verifications are smaller employers, employers who have gone out of business, or international verifications. In these instances, a recruiter or your background check company needs to reach out to the former employer to complete the verification. This situation means lots of emails, calls, and even faxes to reach HR managers and hope to get enough information to verify the candidate’s prior work history.

An even more significant challenge is when the prior employer has gone out of business. In these cases, many background check companies will simply say they can’t complete the check. However, really good firms will work with the candidate to get additional information, such as a W2 that helps verify work history. You need a background check partner that goes the extra mile on these challenging verifications so your recruiters don’t have to worry about additional work with their candidates.

Questions to Ask Your Background Check Partner

To ascertain if your background check partner is maximizing their employment verification performance for you, we suggest asking the following three questions.

These questions will give you a good sense of your current vendor partner, and if you should consider finding a new partner or even taking employment verifications in-house for your recruiters. Taking verifications in-house should always be a last resort, given your recruiter’s time is better spent finding great talent versus chasing down old W2s!

What is your unable-to-verify rate (UTV)?
Unable-to-verify rate is the percentage of verifications a background check company is unable to complete. This situation can occur because the employer went out of business, the candidate does not have adequate documentation or there is no third-party record of the information. Best-in-class background check companies have a rate that is under 10%, but many companies have a rate that is over 20%. The problem is that when a background check company declares a verification can’t be verified, the work then falls back on your recruiters to do the work. This is absolutely the worst situation, as then your recruiter is doing the heavy lifting on the most challenging verifications.
How do you define an “attempt”?When speaking with your background check company, you want to ask them how many attempts they make to complete a verification. The standard answer is “we will make 3 attempts”, but you need to push them to clarify what is an attempt. Gold-standard firms define attempts as “one attempt = one call, one email, and one fax”, but many others will define it as just an email or a simple phone call… often made after office hours when part-time labor for the background firm is less expensive. The goal in ensuring a robust attempt is so the background check company does not push work back onto your recruiters.
How do you measure your verifiers?Most background check companies measure verifiers on how many verifications they complete in a day. This approach incentivizes the verifier to close out the verification without going the extra mile to complete the verification. This incentive then leads to a high UTV rate, which leads to more work for your recruiters.
You should look for background check companies who measure their verifiers on completion rate. This KPI is a much better measure of quality over quantity that impacts your recruiter’s ability to source great talent.

ScoutLogic Employment Verifications Is Best-In-Class

Employment verifications are a specialty of ScoutLogic. ScoutLogic has an unable-to-verify rate under 5% because we measure our verifiers on their completion rate, not how many verifications they can get through in a single day. At ScoutLogic, we know recruiters don’t have time to be following up with candidates on W2s. Recruiters need to be out finding great talent for your organization.

Beyond employment verifications, ScoutLogic offers everything you need in background check services to run high-quality background checks with great service. If you would like to learn how ScoutLogic can help, click here to schedule your program’s free assessment.

By Indeed Editorial Team

Updated July 11, 2022 | Published September 29, 2021

Updated July 11, 2022

Published September 29, 2021

Individuals or institutions may ask for employment verification to corroborate the information you provide to them. Employment verification helps a third party to confirm that you do in fact work with the company you say you do. A good verification letter will provide the required information without compromising your privacy.

In this article, we explain what employment verification is and why you may be asked for it, and we discuss what information your employer may provide and how they may do it. We also include some sample verification letters as examples.

Related: What Is a Letter of Employment? Definition and Samples

What is employment verification?

Employment verification is a request to prove your present or past employment status to a third party. A government agency, for example, may ask for employment verification to confirm a range of details such as your salary information, current employment status, job role, training or achievements and employment dates.

These requests for employment details are also typically part of a larger background check to make sure you are who you say you are, so that the third party may continue carrying out a service or request. A bank, for example, may ask for employment verification before opening a particular kind of account or signing for a loan. A hiring company, too, may inquire about your past work performance, current job responsibilities, salary history and rehire potential for employment reasons.

Related: A Guide to Employment Verification Letters

Why do companies ask for your employment verification?

As already hinted at above, a company or institution may ask for your employment verification in order to meet their business needs, making sure all of the information you provided checks out. Hiring companies, landlords and bankers, for example, ask for employment verification letters mainly to verify your financial position regarding financial obligations at hand, including your current job, salary amount, job title or work responsibilities. Some of the most common reasons why a party may request an employment verification check include:

Loan offer

Before lenders offer you a loan, they typically require your employment verification. Financial institutions need assurance that you can make timely loan payments and afford the amount you requested. They may ask your employer about your salary and job security to evaluate your creditworthiness. Verification of employees helps the institutions to confirm if you provided accurate details in the loan form. Lenders usually require a verbal confirmation over the phone, but they may ask for written confirmation from your employer.

Issue of a lease

Property owners usually conduct employment background checks before they issue a lease, as they want to make sure you can afford the lease payments. While property owners may consider savings and passive income as verification, your landlord may want to verify your monthly income and job title from your employer directly.

Immigration purposes

Government institutions typically have an immigration policy in place that requires people to show proof of work and income before they can process immigration papers for residency purposes. Often you must demonstrate that you can support yourself financially before a government offers a visa, for example. The details a government agency can ask your employer for include salary, job title and duration of employment.

Related: How to Find Jobs in Canada (With Steps and Benefits)

Job recruitment

A recruiting agency or company may ask for your employment verification to confirm the details on your resume. The potential employer may need to check the accuracy of your past work history, job responsibilities and reviews or recommendations from others. The process enables the employer to determine whether you have the right skills for the job and would fit in with the company.

Related: Guide to the Process of Recruitment (With Tips)

Salary offer

Most hiring companies require candidates to indicate their current salary and how much they would like to earn in their new position. The company may request employee verification with salary details for benchmarking and setting your new salary, for example. Hiring managers may also verify salary amounts to determine a new position or job description within your current pay range.

Methods of employment verification

Your employer may use various methods to diverge your employment details to third parties; it's not always just a letter. The best method of employee verification depends on the details a party needs, the purpose of the information, and the rules that govern employee privacy. A simple phone call is enough when a third party only needs to confirm your employment status, but government agencies may require a formal letter from your employer. Some of the employee verification methods your employer may use include:

Verification letter

The third party can request a proof of employment letter from your employer, which contains details about your job such as salary, job title, responsibilities and work history information. The letter needs to be written on your employer's letterhead. Ensure all the details provided match with your resume, including accurate dates of your employment.

Reference call

A third party may require verbal confirmation when they need to make a quick decision. A phone call to your employer allows the individual or organization to confirm your details in real-time instead of waiting for the formal letter to arrive, for example.

Contracts and agreements

In some instances, you can use job placement letters and contracts for verification. The contracts and agreements that indicate your job roles may act as adequate proof of employment. The third party, though, may also request alternative verification methods in addition to any contracts or agreements you may provide.

Pay stubs

Third parties that require only your salary details, like landlords and lenders, may request you to provide several pay stubs. Some companies may ask you to attach your pay stubs to your job offer if they want a quick snapshot of your job title and responsibilities, too.

Read more: Where and How to Get Pay Stubs if You Need a Replacement

Requesting an employment verification letter

Here are some simple steps you can follow when requesting employment verification from your employer:

1. Make it a formal request

Make sure you request information at the earliest time possible to give your employer adequate time to prepare for the letter and adhere to the set guidelines. Some companies mandate employees to sign out a request form or send a formal email. Contact your human resource department for guidelines to follow when requesting employment verification.

2. Offer your guidance in composing the letter

It is not mandatory to provide your employer with reasons for requesting a job verification letter. However, you can still offer guidance for your employer in terms of formatting or how to structure the letter (see the samples below). The same procedure applies to financial institutions or landlords.

3. Give details on how to forward the letter

Give details on how your employer should forward the verification letter. If the party requires the employer to send the letter directly via mail instead of email, provide the right channels and the deadline to submit the letter. Ensure that letter contains your handler's contacts or the person tasked to write your employment's verification details.

Related: How to Request Employment Verification From Your Employer

Samples of an employee verification letter

Employment verification letters are typically short and to the point, structured around the essential information. Keep the length of the main body of your letter to 100 words, unless more information is explicitly required. Take a look at the following employer verification letters and customize yours to fit your own needs: