What is The Work Number®? The Work Number® is a service available 24 hours a day that provides employees with an automated process to handle employment and income verifications. It allows employees to have their employment and income verified within a matter of minutes. This fast, secure service is used for mortgage applications, reference checks, loan applications, apartment leases, government aid or most other applications that require proof of employment. It is quick, convenient and best of all, it’s easy.
Is the information secure? The Work Number® is SSAE16, FISMA NIST 800-53 and ISO 27001 certified. The Work Number® employs risk based authentication and data encryption technologies and house The Work Number® data in an isolated network.
Who is considered a verifier? A verifier can be any lending institution, property manager or other business with a Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)-compliant permissible purpose for requesting employment or income information. All verifiers are screened and credentialed before receiving system access, and authenticated at each login.
Does a verifier need anything special to obtain an income verification? The Work Number® requires that verifiers have the documented consent of the employee-consumer to access income information. Consent is generally established via a signed acknowledgement at the point of application for a loan or service. And, as with all verifications via The Work Number®, you will need to state an FCRA-compliant permissible purpose prior to accessing the data.
What information is provided? Employers contract with The Work Number® to handle employment verifications, using data from their payroll files that are sent weekly to The Work Number®. The information allows The Work Number® to provide:
Name
Most recent hire date
Termination date (if no longer employed)
Total time with UNI
Job title
Rate of Pay
Gross earnings for current year to date, including base pay, overtime, and special compensation.
Gross earnings for last year and tax years past, including base pay, overtime, and special compensation.
How does the verification process work? The following are the simple steps of obtaining employment and income information through The Work Number®.
UNI provides updated employment and income files to The Work Number® through an automated processes.
The employee provides the verifier their UID number, their employer code and employee authorization if the verifier needs income data.
The faculty and staff employer code is 17853 and graduate assistants and student employees employer code is 18051.
The verifier contacts The Work Number® via the Internet or 1-800-367-5690.
The Internet securely displays the information and the 800 number voices the information.
How do I create a Salary Key? One form of employee authorization is a Salary Key.
Once logged in, you will select the option to create a Salary Key and the system will generate a 6-digit random number. The Salary Key is displayed or voiced to the employee. A Salary Key is valid for a single use. You must create a new Salary Key for each verifier as needed, and may have up to three codes active at one time.
What is a Social Service Verification?
States and agencies may contact The Work Number® at www.theworknumber.com or 800-660-3399 to receive automated access to Social Service verifications. These verifications are not voiced but are faxed directly to a registered fax in the agency office.
Examples of State Social Service Programs:
Food Stamps (or SNAP)
Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)
Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF)
Medicaid
Women, Infants and Children (WIC)
Housing Program
State agencies and agency names may vary. State agencies will receive the following information; name, address, year-to-date earnings and two past year gross earnings totals, last 12 pay period dates, hours worked, and gross wages.
Who do I contact for additional questions?
If you have questions about this system, please call The Work Number® client service team at 800-996-7566.
