Employment verification is the process of confirming the credentials of an applicant before or during employment. Oftentimes, employers also have to reply to requests from lenders, employers, the federal government, and more who need to confirm a person’s past or current job status. A company’s human resources (HR) department is meant to handle and release employment verification upon request by employer, lender, or government. However, HR must receive the consent of the former or current employee before releasing any information.
Employers require employment history and an overall employee background check to confirm the work experience you might have stated in your application. Employers will check for job titles, start and end dates for each job, salary, job duties, and other details. Most candidates claim to have years of experience when they do not, and this has made employers wary. Sometimes, a candidate might put in false details about their past titles, responsibilities, and achievements. Therefore, the information provided by the candidate and the background report released by the employer will be compared.
What Can Employment VerificationReveal?
There are laws and regulations concerning getting a background check on a candidate. Some states in the U.S. may not allow some information to be disclosed, but some of these might be revealed:
- The companies the job applicant worked at
- The work start and stop dates of the applicant at each company
- The titles and job responsibilities they held
- Sometimes, the applicant’s previous salary too
- Reason for job termination at a previous job
- Eligibility for rehire
You may be wondering how an employment verification may benefit a company. It helps companies to confirm that a job candidate is experienced enough to fill a certain position. The organization can also discover if the applicant was fired because of incompetence, neglect, or serious faults. They can also find out if an applicant lied about their past employment on their job application.
All About Verification of Employment Requests
All requests about employment verification should be directed to the Human Resources department of the company. No other employee in an organization is authorized to provide an official employment verification for the company. The Human Resources staff are specifically trained to respond to employment verification requests. Here are the people who can send verification of employment request:
- Prospective employers of former or current employees
- Former or current employees
- Financial or lending institutions
- Governmental agencies
- Rental agencies
A request for employment verification must contain the former or current employee’s signature authorizing the release of background information. If the employee is still in employment, the HR department will notify the employee when such information is requested. They will also be aware that former employees had signed permission to release employment verification information. When the HR office verifies that a signed permission signature is present, they will release information about former and current employees.
Verification of employment requests from collection agencies and landlords
Employers will often receive verification of employment requests from landlords or collection agencies. The HR department may choose to ignore this type of request from them. But if they think the employee may want them to respond, the HR can seek written permission from the employee before releasing any information.
Verification of employment request from government agencies
Employers will receive verification requests from government agencies. The HR team is required to respond to this promptly. The government agency will also provide information concerning the law that states that the company has to release such information.
Verification of Employment Requests from Lenders
Employers can receive either a written verification or verbal verification request from lenders. Lenders ask for written verification of employment when a previous or current employee applies for a loan. This is to check all the companies where the applicant held a job within the last two years. The lenders require an employment verification to check employment status, title, dates, and salary. Current employers will have to do verbal verification of employment before the loan is funded. This helps lenders determine whether the person is still in employment. While employers are not required by law to respond to these requests, most of them choose to respond in good faith for the sake of the employee.
