| Q: What is a Social Service Agency? |
| A: An agency that provides state or federal aid to qualified applicants, e.g. human services, social services, family services, Social Security Administration, Housing Authorities, Work Programs, and Medicaid. Child Support Enforcement Agencies are also considered social service agencies.
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| Q: How/Why do I register to use The Work Number? |
| A: Register to use The Work Number by completing and signing a Service Agreement. By registering, you identify your agency to The Work Number and protect employees against unauthorized access of confidential information. The contact person for the service agreement should be a spokesperson for your office. We may need to contact this person to verify your information or explain changes to the service.
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| Q: Am I registered yet? |
| A: You will be registered within 24-48 hours of faxing your signed registration Agreement to us. Check by using the Login form on the Social Services home page. If you're registration has been processed, your fax number will allow you to process a verification. Remember, inaccurate or incomplete information on your registration will delay or prevent us from processing your request.
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| Q: Can more than one person use the service in our office? |
| A: Yes, The Work Number may be used by anyone in your office that is authorized to receive verification information. You may register multiple fax numbers or multiple offices on one registration form.
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| Q: How do I use the service once my agency is registered? |
A: It's really very simple. Just enter your registered fax number on the web page or call 800-660-3399 and follow the prompts. You will need your registered office fax number, the public aid applicant's Social Security Number, and the Company Code for their current or previous employer.
If you do not have the Company Code, The Work Number will allow you to request a list of Company Codes for all of our employers.
Once you enter the correct information, The Work Number will confirm that the verification is being processed, when it will be delivered, and will voice or display a Reference Number for the verification. This Reference Number can be used to check the delivery status or perform quality control audits.
If you are already registered, download our simple instruction cards here.
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| Q: How do I get a list of Employer Codes? |
| A: On the Internet or by phone. Employer Codes are five-digit codes The Work Number has assigned to each of the employers that provide their employment data to us. It is not a list of the agencies who use The Work Number to request verifications.
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| Q: What Information is Provided? |
A: The Work Number provides information given to us by Employers: Employee Name and Social Security Number, Employment Status, Most Recent Start Date and Termination Date (if applicable), Total Time with Employer, Job Title, Rate of Pay, Average Hours per Pay Period, Total Pay for Past 2 years, and the most recent twelve pay periods of Gross Earnings.
The verification can provide up to 36 months of pay dates, period ending dates, number of hours worked, and gross earnings.
All of this information is as current as the most recent pay period.
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| Q: What is the source of The Work Number's information? |
| A: The Work Number receives new information directly from its Employers' payroll systems on a "per pay period" basis. We do not manually key or scan any information into the database. Our Employers send us information in a specified file format at specified time intervals. We then "load" that information directly into The Work Number's computer database.
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| Q: Do I need Authorization from the Applicant? |
| A: Absolutely. The Work Number is to be used only when the public aid applicant has expressly given their permission, through a written signature, for your department to verify their employment and income information. Child Support agencies are the exception, since Employers are legally required to respond to their requests. The Work Number audits a percentage of all verifications performed, and your signed Agreement gives us the authority to audit your specific activity. When an audit is performed, we look for the authorization signature from the applicant.
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| Q: How do I designate that the verification gets sent back to my attention? |
| A: Phone: you will be prompted to enter your telephone number and extension number. Internet: enter your name in the "Fax Attention" box. Either your phone extension or your name will be printed on the verification that is returned to you.
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| Q: What are the benefits of using The Work Number? |
| A: Your agency will save time and money by using The Work Number. The verification process will be much less cumbersome, allowing your caseworkers to devote more of their time to the clients they serve. Also, The Work Number will help you identify and prevent fraud more quickly and accurately.
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| Q: I faxed my agency's verification form after I registered. Why haven't I received a response? |
| A: The automated system takes the place of having to fax any forms to The Work Number. By registering, you will be able to request verification information directly from our database.
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| Q: The Work Number has been defined as the "Sole Source" provider. What does this term mean? |
| A: Employers who send records to The Work Number use this service exclusively; in other words, they do not supply other vendors with the same payroll data, for the purposes of employment and income verification. Therefore, The Work Number is the effective "Sole Source" provide of automated access to these records.
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| Q: How many employment records are available on The Work Number database to date? |
| A: The Work Number contains
over 180 million
employment and income records which are made available to federal, state and local Social Services agencies, or their contracted vendors, for the purposes of assisting with program eligibility, fraud control/prevention and quality assurance.
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| Q: What is the current annual growth rate of employment records added to The Work Number database? |
| A: The Work Number database has grown at a rate of about 12 million employee records a year for the past several years.
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| Q: What types of employers might I expect to find on The Work Number? |
A: The over 1,850 employers who provide data to The Work Number include:
- Many national employers in high-turnover, low-wage industries such as retail, staffing, hospitality, restaurant and gaming. These employers include: Walgreen’s, Sears, Kroger, Domino’s Pizza, Costco, Adecco, Station Casino and many others.
- About half of the Fortune 500 employers, including Boeing, Du Pont, Hewlett-Packard, Kraft Foods, and Microsoft.
- 85% of the federal civilian population, including the Department of Defense, Veterans Administration, the Social Security Administration, and the Internal Revenue Service.
- Local employers, including dozens of hospitals and school districts.
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| Q: Got questions or comments?
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| Submit your questions or comments here. |
