Chapter 3
How Employment Records Get Verified
In today’s computerized world, people might expect that their employment records are kept in databases that can be accessed with the click of a key. Indeed, many records are kept that way. However, there are also many records that are not kept that way.
In fact, it might amaze you how poorly some records are kept. Records that are needed to verify your past employment.
First, we’ll look at who provides the verification information, and then you’ll learn how employee records are stored.
When pre-employment screeners call a company to verify your former employment, they usually speak to people who work in either the human resources or payroll departments. Previous managers are not called for two main reasons:
Here’s a true story that illustrates that point:A young man applying for a technical position requested that we contact his previous supervisor, rather than HR, for verification of his employment. This job was the core of his technical experience, so it was essential that this particular employment be verified.Although he had requested otherwise, we followed our standard policy and contacted human resources. The HR Manager had no record of this individual ever being employed by her company.The applicant had also listed his supervisor as a reference, so we called him. The supervisor stated that the individual had indeed worked for him at the company. He told us that the applicant had been employed for two years in a technical position, and he gushed about the applicant’s hard work, technical abilities, and honesty.
Naturally, we went back to human resources with this information. Had the HR Manager misfiled his personnel record? Had she looked at the wrong database? The HR manager spoke to the supervisor and called us back.
It turns out that the supervisor was a personal friend of the applicant’s and he had agreed to lie about his friend’s experience. I don’t know if that supervisor lost his job, but he should have. And as for the applicant…well, he didn’t get the job. |
If you have an extraordinary reason for the verifier to bypass the HR department of your previous employer, explain it on the application. Otherwise, your request will usually be ignored.
Pre-employment screeners like getting employment verifications from HR and payroll. Those verifications are usually fast, easy, and precise. However, not all verifications go through those two departments.
Some smaller companies don’t have human resource or payroll departments, so they do send all employment verification requests to the former manager or to the owner. Sometimes records are unavailable, and verifiers must speak with former colleagues or business associates. I’ve verified employment through secretaries, security guards, and dispatchers.
When a verification is done by any of these other types of individuals, there can be problems.
People outside of HR or payroll generally do not have access to your personnel file. The most they can do is make an educated guess about your term of employment.
They may be right or they may be wrong. They may agree with the information you provided on your application, or they may tell the verifier that your dates are totally wrong.
Some of these people could do additional checking and get accurate information, but many won’t.
Previous managers and company owners generally make an effort to provide exact information to a screener, but I have had many of these people tell me that they simply did not have time to look up the information.
Why do verifiers talk to these people? Because it’s always better to get some information than to get no information. Even if the dates are off, a verifier has spoken to someone who can vouch for the fact that you were employed at Company A. Your background report does not get returned with a glaring hole where the Company A
employment should be.
Most verifiers will add a note to the background report stating that the dates are approximate and were not taken from a personnel record. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen.
As you can see, incorrect information can easily end up on your background report.
In Chapter 11, you’ll learn how to protect yourself from these “guesstimate” verifications.
It should be clear by now that getting information verified through human resources or payroll is the preferred method. However, even these departments can fall short because of the way that employment records are kept.
Let’s take a look.
Where Employment Records Are Found
Employment records are kept in a wide variety of ways. From computerized databases to a box in a back room, there is no standard way that these records are stored and maintained.
Here are the four general ways that your records might be stored:
HR/Payroll Systems |
The majority of employment records are kept at company sites and they reside with human resources or payroll in computer databases. In fact, usually both departments have records that could verify your date and job title information.
Your employment information is verified using your social security number (SSN) and name.
Those two pieces of information (name and SSN) are critical to verifying your employment. To insure that they’ve got the right record, most companies want two types of identification before they release information.
The HR or payroll verification clerk will usually look up your record using your SSN, then verify that the names on the personnel record and the job application match. If either of these identifiers does not match what is in the personnel file, the information is generally not released. In Chapter 9, you’ll learn how to make sure you provide complete identifiers on your job application form.Some of your former employers will release employment information over the phone. However, a growing number of companies want to see a release signed by the former employee that allows them to provide the employment information.
When you fill out the job application, you will be asked to sign a form that provides permission for former employers to verify your information. The verifier will fax a copy of your signed release to your former employer, usually accompanied by a form that asks them to fill in your employment information. The former company completes the form and faxes it back to the requestor.
Payroll and HR databases are the absolute best way to get an employment verification. You have a professional looking at a personnel record that contains exact information. If there is any discrepancy (their information does not match what you provided), the verifier can ask the HR or payroll person to check additional records or pull a paper file. |
Automated Databases |
A growing number of companies are using automated databases. These databases are accessed from a computer or over the phone. Generally, a person’s SSN is entered (via keyboard or phone keypad), sometimes accompanied by a person’s name, and the date and title information is provided. No HR or payroll person is required to be involved, so it can be a significant savings for a company.
Some companies have their own automated databases, Chase and Firestone being just two of many. However, most companies who want to automate the verification process turn to businesses that specialize in automated employment verifications. These specialized businesses take a company’s payroll information and store it in a way that allows verifiers to access it.
The big kid on the automated verification block is The Work Number. A service of Talx Corporation, The Work Number database contains over 100 million employee records. Over 1000 employers, including more than half of all Fortune 500 companies, use The Work Number to provide their employment verifications.
When your employment is verified through The Work Number, a verifier gets a report that has your beginning and end dates, the total time you spent with the company, and your ending job title.
The Work Number charges verifiers when they access the system to get an employment verification. Occasional users pay $12.50 to verify an individual’s employment at one company, while high volume users are provided discount pricing. For an additional fee, and with your specific permission, a company may also be able to verify your salary information at The Work Number.
Automated databases are usually accurate, so they are also a good resource for verifiers. However, they are not without problems. Sometimes the dates of employment don’t match the “total time spent with employer” (this can happen for a variety of reasons), and often job titles are missing.
The Work Number does not have paper copies of records that they can check, and often companies who outsource their verifications to The Work Number will not respond to requests for additional information. |
In a File Cabinet |
A large number of employment records reside in file cabinets, especially in smaller companies. Usually these records are filed by name, but they may also be filed by the state in which you worked, the year you left, or some other unusual way.
Your employment records are generally kept in a folder that holds a variety of information, from your offer letter to your performance reviews. Some of these folders are well-maintained and the person providing the verification can get information from them quickly and easily.
Then there is the other kind.
These folders are a mess. Information is difficult to find and important documents are often missing. Getting verifications from these types of files is not easy, and often impossible.
Most large companies have excellent file systems, but smaller companies may not have the manpower or the time required to develop and maintain a comprehensive filing system.
I didn’t run into these problem files every day, but I certainly ran into them multiple times a week.
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Who Knows? |
Unfortunately, there are far too many records that fall into this category. There are four main types of “Who Knows” files: The company has closedWhen a company closes, the HR and payroll records are usually destroyed or warehoused somewhere. It is nearly impossible to get access to these records. Sometimes the previous owner can search through boxes, but that rarely happens. As a rule of thumb, when a company closes, the records are gone. The company has been acquiredIf you worked for a company that was acquired, the new owners may or may not have your records. If you left before the acquisition, they probably will not. Your records are in a box somewhere or they have been destroyed.
If you stayed on after the acquisition, the new owners should have your personnel record. However, that does not mean that all of your employment history is in that personnel record.
Here’s a true story of what happened to one applicant:
A warehouse manager was applying for a new job. His application stated that he had been employed for 18 years at his previous company. He also noted that the company had been acquired three years before.
When we called HR for his employment dates, they told us he had been with the company for three years. There was nothing in his personnel file about the fifteen years he had spent with the previous owner. The new owners only retained information going forward from their acquisition.
Luckily, the new owners had a phone number for the previous owner, and we were able to contact him and verify the applicant’s remaining years of employment.
However, most new owners don’t stay in touch with old owners, so if the employment information is not in the personnel file, it is most likely unverifiable. The information is too oldThere are employment records that are simply too old to verify. Most companies keep records for at least seven years. However, that does not mean that those records are accessible.
Many companies only keep two or three years of past employment history in their HR and payroll databases. Even though they have the older records stored somewhere, getting access to them may be difficult, if not impossible.
No record is found
Sometimes records simply can’t be found. It happens. Your personnel information may have been accidentally deleted from the payroll database, someone may have grabbed your file from HR and did not return it, or perhaps the verifier simply looked in the wrong place. |
In Chapter 11, you’ll learn how to protect yourself from these “Who Knows?” situations.
Some employment records are not where you might expect them to be. It’s important to know who has your records, so you can tell the verifier where to find them.
Temporary Agency Records |
If you worked for a company through a temporary agency, it is the agency that has your employment information, not the company where you worked. |
1099 Employment |
If you were an independent contractor, a company’s HR department will typically not have any information on you, and you were probably not paid through the corporate payroll system. Accounts Receivable should have a copy of your invoice. |
Restaurant Employment |
Some restaurant chains are owned by one corporate group. Other chains franchise their restaurants to individual owners. If you worked for a franchised restaurant, corporate headquarters won’t have any record of your employment. Your records will either be at the restaurant site or at the franchise office. |
College Employment |
Students who work at a college while attending school may find their records in a variety of places. If they were regular college employees, their records will be in the university’s HR department. If a particular department helped them secure employment, their records may reside with that department. Often, student employment records are found in the Work Study department. |
Unpaid or Volunteer Employment |
Human resources and payroll generally do not keep records of unpaid employees. If there is someone in the company who handles the hiring of interns and volunteers, a record may be found with that individual. Your supervisor should have some record of the time you spent with the company. Many internships come through university programs. If that’s true for you, your record will be back at the college. |
As you can see, locating records can be a difficult and time-consuming task. You want to make sure that the verifier can find your employment records. Chapter 11 will show you how to do that.
There are two more things you need to know about employment verifications before we leave this section.
The first deals with companies providing negative information on previous employees.
Many companies are concerned about facing lawsuits from previous employees who got turned down for a new job due to a bad reference. That is why the majority of firms will only release dates of employment, job title, and eligibility for rehire when talking about previous employees. Being extra cautious, some companies will not even release the rehire information.
However, there are always exceptions to the rule, and it’s amazing what can be revealed through simple questioning by a good pre-employment screener. Smaller companies may not be aware that they are placing themselves in legal jeopardy, previous managers may not be up-to-date on what they can and can’t say, and some people may simply hold a grudge against the previous employee.
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A recent study showed that over 40% of previous employers revealed more than what was required by law. |
Over 30 states have now passed “reference immunity” laws, which protect companies from liability if they provide negative, but truthful, information about a previous employee.
As you’ll see in Section 3, if there is bad news out there, you want to be the one to bring it up first.
Secondly, you probably believe that a hiring company won’t contact your current employer without your permission.
If you request that your current employer not be contacted, most companies will honor that request. However, some hiring companies want to make sure that you’re really employed or that the job title you provided is accurate.
The most common way for them to get around your request is to call your current employer and say they need to verify your employment for credit purposes.
Your company does not keep track of which employee is buying a house or applying for credit, so they are happy to provide your date and title information to a supposed lender.
When you list your current employment on your application, make sure that all of your information is accurate.
Now, let’s take a look at how educational verifications are done.