What Can My Employer See If They Check My Social Security Number?
Employers are now increasingly using background check services when making new hires. Pre-employment screening is done by companies to help confirm that job applicants have given truthful and accurate information about their identity, previous work history and education, in addition to running criminal background checks. For some jobs, they may verify driving history and records, as well as confirm whether the applicant holds any credentials, certifications or professional licenses required to perform the job.
Another important element that employers check is the Social Security Number (SSN) that candidates put down on their job applications. This is done to prevent various forms of fraud, such as identity theft, which is sometimes committed by individuals who want to hide certain things in their background or to obtain employment while they’re not authorized to work in the US. While SSN verification is done by nearly every employer, many job applicants are concerned about what the employer can see when they run a check.
Pre-employment screening services get their data from a variety of public and commercial databases. The first thing employers see when they run a check is an alert if the Social Security Number provided has never been issued or belongs to a person reported as deceased, as these are likely indicators that either there is a mistake in the SSN provided or that the application is fraudulent.
Other details an employer can see include: all names and aliases or spelling variations associated with that particular SSN, current and previous addresses, dates at addresses listed, phone number, date of birth and previous employers.
In general, a simple SSN verification won’t return specific details related to past employment history, such as the salary and the reason why the employee left. Employers are also aware of the fact that in certain cases, not all prior employers will be listed or that employment information may not be available at all.