What does verification of employment statement mean?

If you’re on the hunt for a new employee, then you’re likely to spend a lot of your time sifting through resumes and interviewing potential candidates.

The process of hiring a new staff member is time consuming, financially costly, and can have a huge impact on your business. As a result, hiring the right candidate is vital. 

But, how do you know if a candidate has lied on their resume or isn’t telling the truth about their employment history? Well, verification of employment statements are the perfect solution. In this post, we’ll take a detailed look at what the employment verification process involves and the specific details you should get verified.

What is employment verification?

The process of validating a candidate’s past work history is called employment verification. It ensures that the candidate you’re thinking of hiring has the appropriate experience to perform well in your company.

Employment verification is incredibly useful because it helps to reveal gaps or inconsistencies in a candidate’s employment history. It also helps find any false claims that a candidate may have made.

A verification of employment statement is a document provided by a candidate’s previous employer. It outlines details about their employment history with the company. When you receive this statement, you can compare the information with the details on your candidate’s resume.

How can you verify employment?

Lying about past work, achievements and skills is more common than you’d think. After all, surveys have revealed that more than half of employers have caught lies on resumes.

As a result, verifying employment details is an essential part of any background checking process, which could also include identity verification, a criminal record check, education history, professional license verification, and more.

In some large businesses, the payroll team or the human resources team may take on the employment verification process. However, several service providers can help you with the process. Steps they can take include checking the data with every workplace on an applicant's resume, using independently obtained phone numbers, confirming the exact dates, and complying with relevant government institutions (if needed).

Agencies that provide professional background checks are consumer reporting agencies (CRA) that operate under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). When an employer contacts an institution to undertake a background check, the employer must notify the candidate beforehand and get approval from them formally.

Verifying employment details involves several steps. Let’s take a look at each of these in greater detail.

Gather the employee details

The best way to start the employment verification process is with the candidate themselves and their resume/personal statement. Using this information, you can build a profile of them and their work history. You can also work out exactly who you need to speak to for more information.

What information needs to be verified?

Details about the employee you can gather include:

• Dates of employment
• Job title
• Job description

But, please be aware that the information you can check or ask for will depend on the job someone is applying for and the laws regarding what employers can ask in your location. For example, if someone is applying to work with young children, then employers are usually able to check whether a potential employee has a criminal record or whether there is a particular reason they may be barred from working with children.

On top of this, some employers may not share some of the information you ask for, such as salary information or any information that is subjective. This is for fear of lawsuits for defamation if their employee/former employee does not get the job based on the information they’ve provided.

Similarly, other organizations may not release information due to internal privacy policies. These companies often limit staff to simply sharing dates of employment and job titles when inquiries are made about former employees.

Employment statement

In order to verify the employment details of an employee, you’ll need to contact the workplaces that the candidate has supplied on their resume. By doing this, you’ll be able to compare their resume with reality.

This information is usually supplied on a verification of employment statement (also known as an employment verification letter). Before a business sends a verification of employment statement, they will always make sure they have the permission of the employee.

If the employer confirms that your candidate worked for their organization, the letter will cover how long the employee worked there, the position they held at the company and their work history (if they held more than one role). If legal in your state or area, it may also include salary details.

Please be aware that a verification of employment statement will only ever include verifiable facts. It will never include details relating to the performance or the employee’s character.

If you need to ask for a verification of employment statement from a former employer and you’re unsure what you can ask, then familiarize yourself with your state laws.

Specifics of employment

A verification of employment statement should clarify an individual’s employment status, employment dates, job title, and salary (if legal).

However, on occasion, a more extensive background check that goes into the specifics of employment may be required. In these instances, you may make inquiries about an applicant’s criminal history, credit history, or motor vehicle records. However, whether these inquiries are suitable will depend on the job the candidate is applying for.

If you have any doubts about the claims made by an applicant, then you can also call their former employer and share the information supplied on their resume or job application.

Book a consultation with Veriff

Here at Veriff, we work hard every single day to build trust in the digital world. As a result, we pride ourselves on creating products that can not only help you meet compliance needs, but can also help you connect with honest people. So, take a look at our products, and let us help you make your employment verification procedure smoother.

If you’d like to hear more about how we can help you, then book a consultation and a personalized demo today.