How Do I Verify Employment Verification?

Employment verification, a crucial step of the background screening process, can confirm where and when a candidate worked at a previous employer. By checking the details listed by the candidate on their resume against what previous employers have in their records, the verification process gives hiring managers a quick and objective way to evaluate the authenticity and accuracy of an application. 

With just some simple employment data, like job title and employment dates, prospective employers can get a good read on an applicant’s reliability, integrity, and honesty––a glimpse into what they’d be like as an eventual employee. 

It’s also a good way to find out if the candidate has actually learned the skills necessary to do the role (since job titles are a pretty good indicator of skill sets), a key insight for maintaining workplace safety, keeping overall productivity high, and mitigating other risks associated with making a bad hire. 

Here’s how to set up a quality employment verification program at your organization. 

Consider Federal and State Laws

Employment verification is heavily regulated by several Federal laws, including The Immigration Reform and Control Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Plus, different states have a wide range of rules about what questions and information are allowed during employment verification. Employment verification laws at the state level generally fall into two categories: laws that protect the employer and laws that protect the employee. In order to stay compliant, it’s critical to understand how these laws work in the applicant’s specific state before moving ahead with verification. 

Ask the Right Questions 

There are a range of questions that can be asked, and data that can be collected, via employment verification––it depends on what you’re looking for (and what you’re allowed to look for). The most basic form of employment verification simply confirms that the candidate was employed at a certain company, but a more in-depth verification process might also include: 

• Start and end dates
• Job title or position
• Reason the employee left the company
• Salary information
• Job performance
• Certifications 

Usually, state law will be the deciding factor around what employment data can be collected off this list. Other times, the role and job requirements might dictate what questions are asked (i.e. a healthcare role that requires special certification). Some organizations might even seek out the quickest, most efficient route-to-hire, making their employment verification list a lot shorter. It all depends on where your business operates, where you’re hiring, and what the open role demands. 

Leave It to the Professionals

Verifying a candidate’s employment history typically involves contacting each workplace provided by the candidate to confirm their employment, job titles, tenure, and more. While verification may seem like a simple, straightforward task, it usually takes way more time and effort to get in touch with (often under-resourced) HR departments than expected. Not to mention, the need to be available for multiple callbacks and to stay compliant with all applicable laws. 

That’s why most employers choose to partner with a professional background screening service to outsource employment verification and other screenings—since teaming up with a background check company speeds up the verification process and is highly cost-effective. 

Often equipped with knowledgeable, in-house compliance experts, reputable background screening services can also help you sort through the complexities of federal, state, and local laws around employment verification—so you don’t have to. At S2Verify, for example, our reporting is backed by an adjudication team proficient in FCRA compliance with criminal justice backgrounds. Plus, we collaborate with customers to develop legally-approved scripts for use during reference calls—to ensure that all the information they want to collect (and are allowed to collect) is gathered. 

To learn more about employment verification, click here.