Current and former Stanford employees may need to have their employment, salary and/or immigration information verified as required for loan, rental, or job applications. Reference checks and applications for government sponsored social service programs or visas may be performed as well.
Stanford does not respond directly to employment verification requests. A third-party verifier, such as a mortgage company, can use The Work Number, a website provided by Equifax Verification Services. Verifiers are required to register with The Work Number, and most large verification services are already registered.
All employment and salary verification transactions are protected by Equifax. However, employees should safeguard their information by keeping their Social Security Number and password confidential. The account password can be changed at any time on the The Work Number website.
- The Work Number is the nation’s number one employment and income verification service, used by tens of thousands of businesses every day to verify a person’s employment status.
- The data comes directly from the employer’s payroll system, so the information is accurate.
- The Work Number service uses stringent security standards to help protect this data. These protocols include advanced data encryption, physical security controls in the data centers, and user identity verification through multiple steps (often referred to as multi-factor authentication). There are also controls required under the FCRA to help protect privacy.
- The Work Number database is governed by the FCRA, which requires that employees be able to see who has requested their information and that the employee can check their data and dispute anything that may be wrong or inaccurate.
- A secure account is created for each employee in The Work Number. Employees log in by entering Stanford’s name, or code (10526), in addition to their user ID and password. If the employee does not have an account, it can be created on The Work Number website.
- For further assistance, contact The Work Number Employee Service Center at 800-367-2884.
To provide proof of employment, employees should:
- Ensure the verifier is from a reputable organization.
- Provide the verifier with Stanford’s Work Number Company Code (10526) and their Social Security Number.
- Direct the verifier to visit The Work Number website or call customer service.
To provide proof of employment, employees should:
- Ensure the verifier is from a reputable organization.
- Provide the verifier with Stanford’s Work Number Company Code (10526), their Social Security Number, and a salary key (optional).
- A salary key is a single-use, six-digit code to provide to a verifier as consent to access an employee’s income. Most verifiers with existing accounts with Equifax do not require a salary key. If the verifier does not have an account with Equifax, the employee must authorize the release of their salary information by obtaining a salary key from The Work Number.
- Direct the verifier to visit The Work Number website or call customer service.
The Work Number service offers a fast, private way to help provide proof of employment or income to certain governmental agencies including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services, and some foreign governmental agencies or embassies.
Employees who require documentation of employment status to submit with immigration verification forms should:
- Obtain an Employment Verification Letter for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from The Work Number website.
- Provide a printed copy of the verification letter with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) paperwork.
Note: The Immigration Verification Letter does not satisfy the requirements for the following immigration forms:
- Application for Family Unity Benefits (Form I-817)
- Application for Temporary Protected Status (Form I-821)
- Application to Preserve Residence for Naturalization Purposes (Form N-470)
