Most companies, independent of their size, face the need to verify previous employment data as a regular course of business. For instance, a business may want to verify the employment history of a potential new hire, whereas a lending institution may seek to verify a potential borrower’s income to help make a qualified lending decision.
Either way, a business must decide if it will manage the process internally, or decide if it would be prudent to confirm the relevant data using a third party employment verification service?
Using a third party employment verification service helps reduce the confusion about –
- Who should be contacted to complete the request,
- The ways to remain compliant with relevant law, or,
- What information is essential, to name a few.
What is an Employment Verification?
Employment verification is a process that formally confirms the nature, length, and other details related to an individual’s relationship with an employer.
The most common way to verify employment is to use a Proof of Employment letter, which is simply business correspondence that contains the following information –
- The Job Title
- Employment Dates of Employment,
- Responsibilities, and,
- Salary information, if permitted by law, among other relevant items.
And if an employer has not yet created an employment letter, they must generate a Proof of Employment ad hoc.
The reality is that outsourcing an employment verification to a third party verification service permits employers to spend more time on more mission-critical hiring tasks.
4 Benefits of Using a Third Party Employment Verification Service
An employment verification service offers a business several significant benefits compared to companies who chose to handle the employment verifications themselves.
Ensures the Information About Each Employee Remains Secure and Protected
Verifying someone’s employment history requires access to sensitive information that may include the person’s –
- Job description
- Length of employment and
- Earnings history, if allowed by law, among others.
Sending an individual’s employment details through digital pathways may compromise the data; however, a third party verification service will often encrypt the information in their transmission to protect the security and integrity of the personal and sensitive information.
Many third party verification services will implement an extra security step by requiring that the employee give their OK before the sensitive employment information is released to the requesting business.
Provides Fast Turnaround to Requests
Many employment verification requests are time-sensitive and often expire after a specific pre-set timeframe. Many employers completing these verifications find it challenging to verify the required information from a variety of different departments within the allotted time. A third party verification service can generate a complete Proof of Employment letter quickly and safely by email or even a text message.
Organizes Open Requests
Many businesses will be working on several employment verifications simultaneously as they narrow down the available field of job candidates or work with several borrowers vying to secure financing. While the third party verification service will manage the brunt of the required work to verify an individual’s employment, the individual requesting the verification will be given a digital dashboard to help manage their verification pipeline.
Helps to Ensure a Business Complies with Employment Verification Laws
Each state has the authority to set forth its verification laws. Twenty-one states (including Puerto Rico and Washington DC) have enacted bans that preclude businesses from asking applicants for a job about their previous salary history.
Much of this legislation is aimed to eliminate pay discrimination, with some states prohibiting employers from using a salary history when making a new employee a job offer. For example, New York prohibits all employers from inquiring about an applicant’s prior salary during the hiring process. In Delaware, home to one of the oldest bans regarding salary data, employers cannot ask about a job candidate’s prior salary. Still, they can confirm this information after making the candidate a job offer.
Third-party verification services typically tailor their services to comply with state/local laws and regulations, which effectively ensures the verification requester remains compliant with relevant law.