Work Number Dispenses Salary Info

[AGDLynn]

Most Americans carefully guard the details of their paychecks, sharing this information with only the boss, the spouse and the Internal Revenue Service.

'It's critically important that we do all of the right things to protect the data,' said Stacey Simpson, The Work Number's president.

ARE YOU ON FILE?
• To find out if The Work Number's database includes information about your employment history and to review that information, call The Work Number's customer service department at 1-800-367-2884. The Work Number also takes consumer complaints at this number.
• To find out more about The Work Number, go to www.theworknumber.com.
• To file an official complaint about any consumer reporting agency or data broker, contact the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov or 1-877-FTC-HELP (877-382-4357).

But these days, someone else is in on the secret.

The Work Number, a little-known product of Atlanta-based Equifax, captures the salaries and job titles of 46 million Americans every time they collect a paycheck. That represents about a third of the American workforce.

For the past decade, The Work Number has been warehousing and selling this information to lenders and employers who want to verify incomes or conduct background checks.

Dozens of large Georgia employers send their employment information to The Work Number, including Coca-Cola, UPS, Home Depot, Delta Air Lines, Georgia-Pacific, Georgia Power and Emory University.

Even if you've never heard of The Work Number, chances are good that it has heard about you.
http://www.ajc.com/business/content/...mber_0120.html

[UGAalum94]

In Georgia, if you're a state employee, you're probably listed by name here:

https://www.audits.state.ga.us/esa/confirm.aud

So, blocking the work number thing wouldn't do a lot of good for some of us.

I guess it's a downside of getting paid by the state.

[Benzgirl]

Our company uses The Work Number, but I was never aware that salary information was on it. We use it in QC to verify the position of a borrower plus the dates of employment.

[preciousjeni]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

In Georgia, if you're a state employee, you're probably listed by name here:

https://www.audits.state.ga.us/esa/confirm.aud

So, blocking the work number thing wouldn't do a lot of good for some of us.

I guess it's a downside of getting paid by the state.

I just checked my mom. I never knew how much she made, but whoa! She makes more than my husband's and my salary combined. Go Mom!

[DeltAlum]

I imagine there are more companies out there doing the same thing.

[AGDee]

Our health system is using that service now too.

[bluefish81]

Interesting how many companies participate - my company does not.

Re: the state salaries, is that public info in all states? I know in Iowa it is, the Des Moines Register provides a search engine on their website for all State of Iowa employees.

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by bluefish81

Re: the state salaries, is that public info in all states? I know in Iowa it is, the Des Moines Register provides a search engine on their website for all State of Iowa employees.

In general, state employees' salaries are covered under various "freedom of information" policies, although it varies somewhat by state. Most have at least some place you can look this up.

As to the OP, the rationale behind not giving out salary information is to prevent problems for/between employees. While an understandable policy, it seems like a bit of an anachronism at this point, and I really don't have any problem with companies giving out or selling this information to a third party company.

[nikki1920]

I use it frequently in my daily job to verify employment and salary.
If your company participates, then the info will be on there. My employer does NOT participate, but as a county employee, anyone can request my salary info via FOIA.

[texas*princess]

Whoa... I've never heard of this before. How do you know if your company participates?

ETA: WHOA.. I just found my company listed on their site. That's kinda messed up... I would think we would have been notified at the very least that the info was being shared with a third party...

[nikki1920]

You can check with your HR.

[AGDee]

Our HR publicized it greatly so that we would know how to refer financial institutions to it for loan, mortgage, etc. applications. Although we're the 6th largest employer in the state, our HR department isn't that big and they were probably spending a lot of time on such verifications. We have to call a number and get a security code which we then give to the lender so that they can verify our employment and salary.

[JonInKC]

Yeah, Walgreens uses it too.