Ever wonder how employment background checks are done so easily or even why some financial institutions don’t ask you to prove past employment when applying for credit? That’s right - they already have access to that information. For a fee, your work history can be obtained by anyone asking for it (your salary is only given out with your permission).

The company is St. Louis based Talx. The specific system is called The Work Number and according to the Talx website, “Over half of the Fortune 500 outsources routine employment and income verifications to The Work Number, as do many major public sector employers.”

How it works: employers pay a set up fee and monthly subscription fee to be including in the The Work Number system. They agree to submit employee data, including salary, type of position, how long the position was held in the company and length of employment. In return, they also have access to all data in the Talx system. Talx does maintain that salary information is not given out to anyone without the employee’s permission.

What’s in Your File? Does this type of set up sound familiar to you? For all you credit junkies, it should, as The Work Number system falls under guidelines of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. What this means is, as a consumer, you can get a one free copy a year of the information that Talx has on file and also dispute any inaccuracies on it. The file also will tell you who has been looking at your information (inquiries). If you would like to order a copy of your report, you can print out a request form and mail it in or call 1-866-604-6570.

The funny thing is that I trained at the Talx facility in St. Louis in 1998 doing work for a client to create that annoying phone selection software like “Press 1 for questions about your credit… Press 2 for indicating your frustration with phone-based systems…etc”. I actually enjoyed the experience and was impressed with the company itself.

Do you know of someone who has requested The Work Number file?

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