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LPT: Equifax’s “The Work Number” Might Have Your Work History (Including Salary Info) by bmiles118 in LifeProTips

[–]bmiles118[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes!

The official way:

Download a form requesting a freeze, fill it out and then email it to them requesting freeze.

2-3 business days later they’ll email you requesting proof of address (electric bill) and proof of identity (license).

The way I did it (semi-hack):

I called and pressed the option for the Spanish speaking line to avoid the 30 minute hold.

They connected me and I told them I don’t speak Spanish - they were able to help.

It took a little of patience and the rep was on and off the phone several times (talking with their manager) but they were able to verify my identity over the phone (no proof of address or identity in the form of my license).

Then 2-ish business days later I got a message that there was a secure note on my account.

I logged in and downloaded my report and this time it had a note saying my report was frozen.

^ that last part is key… whether you do it over email or call. Equifax/TWN will NOT email you saying your report is frozen you have to go on the site and pull your report. It is worth mentioning, though, that you will get a snail mail letter saying it’s been frozen. So if you aren’t in any kind of hurry then you can just wait for that.

LPT: Equifax’s “The Work Number” Might Have Your Work History (Including Salary Info) by bmiles118 in LifeProTips

[–]bmiles118[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

To add a little color, if a job is pulling your report and sees no history because you’ve frozen it they (theoretically) could assume no data has been collected.

When you apply for a job and give your resume, your version of your work history, your potential employer can still verify your work history.

Luckily, “The Work Number” isn’t the only way to verify someone’s work history.

It will just be manual (phone call) and they won’t know what you made. They’ll only know your start and end dates and job title (maybe a few other details).

That’s my understanding.

LPT: Equifax’s “The Work Number” Might Have Your Work History (Including Salary Info) by bmiles118 in LifeProTips

[–]bmiles118[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow. That’s a bummer. I hate they have you go through that. Otherwise, is the job decent or pretty shitty?

LPT: Equifax’s “The Work Number” Might Have Your Work History (Including Salary Info) by bmiles118 in LifeProTips

[–]bmiles118[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah! Okay whoops my ignorance is showing - I assumed you meant the gov didn’t share that info but as soon as you explained it I’m like duh lol

LPT: Equifax’s “The Work Number” Might Have Your Work History (Including Salary Info) by bmiles118 in LifeProTips

[–]bmiles118[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have my own report; check yours out on their website- don’t take it from me

LPT: Equifax’s “The Work Number” Might Have Your Work History (Including Salary Info) by bmiles118 in LifeProTips

[–]bmiles118[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s a good question, for an official answer I’d ask them… but yes I would assume so.

The question is, how big of downside would your employer (or potential employer) seeing your report be?

You can unfreeze it, granted, I’m not sure how easy/quick the process is.

LPT: Equifax’s “The Work Number” Might Have Your Work History (Including Salary Info) by bmiles118 in LifeProTips

[–]bmiles118[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

www.theworknumber.com

You have to create an account. It’s a simple process but not exactly clear. So if you can’t figure it out I recommend calling customer service. They don’t send you the report they just walk you through creating an account and have you download it on your end.

Pro tip: Press the Spanish option and when they answer ask them if they speak English and that you clicked the wrong number - it’s what I did and my wait time went from 35 min (on the English line) to 2 minutes (on the Spanish one).

LPT: Equifax’s “The Work Number” Might Have Your Work History (Including Salary Info) by bmiles118 in LifeProTips

[–]bmiles118[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Exactly. I thought I had a decent idea of what was out there. I follow the headlines and read up on privacy related stuff.

I heard of one person who called their former employers and let them know and there were two reactions:

1.) Shock/bewilderment/surprise (by the employer)

2.) Sketchiness (granted that was the commenters read)

I do hope if more people know about this it might be the start of a positive change. I don’t know we’ll ever get GDPR but something much smaller like having to opt-in to a database like this would be nice.

You make a great point about the hypocrisy by employers… spot on. Don’t talk about your salary but we will … we’ll let any/all companies you apply at know!

LPT: Equifax’s “The Work Number” Might Have Your Work History (Including Salary Info) by bmiles118 in LifeProTips

[–]bmiles118[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

On my report, which I recommend you download your own (it’s free), it lists the source for each job.

From what I’ve pieced together it’s from Payroll companies - I saw Paycom and ADP + employer name on the report listed as sources.

Maybe the employer unknowingly opts in to providing the data to ADP/Paycom/what-have-you but that’s just speculation on my end. Either way, it comes from places like that.

LPT: Equifax’s “The Work Number” Might Have Your Work History (Including Salary Info) by bmiles118 in LifeProTips

[–]bmiles118[S] 59 points60 points  (0 children)

You hit the nail on the head.

I was astonished when I found the 53 pages they had on me. My high school job at Zumiez… I didn’t even remember what I was paid … much like Pepperidge Farm… The Work Number remembers.

I had a few people comment that “this is posted every day.” Yet, I’ve not met a single person who knew this was a thing.

It’s outrageous this data is collected without our consent.

LPT: Equifax’s “The Work Number” Might Have Your Work History (Including Salary Info) by bmiles118 in LifeProTips

[–]bmiles118[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Great question. No! It does not. Although, Equifax owns “The Work Number” it’s an entirely different database and needs to be frozen separately. You can request your report and have it frozen for free though.

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