An employment verification letter, also referred to as a confirmation of employment letter, is a written record that offers employer confirmation of an employee’s present or former occupation status. An employment verification letter can be asked through an outside service, such as an employee’s landlord or creditor. Businesses typically provide verification letters on company letterhead, signed and dated by the company.
In this guide, we provide you with free employment confirmation templates for current employees and former employees, and sample letters showing ways to respond to requests from different agencies (monetary, real estate, and authorities ). We will also offer ideas and shortcuts to earn employment verification easy.
Free Employment Verification Letter Templates
The letter you write depends upon whether the employment verification request is being made on behalf of a current or past employee. Below are the two Kinds of employment verification letters, and a few cases of requests you will receive:
1. Letter to Confirm Your employee currently has a Work
Click here to download the template in Google Docs or PDF. These are utilized for:
- Home or automobile loans
- Rent or lease arrangements
- Credit card applications
- Social providers
- Immigration visa or green card
Use an evidence of employment template like this to confirm a current employee is working for you (if you print it on letterhead, omit the company address data at the peak of the correspondence ).
2. Letter to verify a former employee worked for you in the past
Click here to download the template in Google Docs or PDF. All these are Used for:
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- Job applications
- Credit applications
- Government advantages
Utilize an employment verification template such as this to confirm that a former employee did, in fact, work for you. (Again, even if you print it on letterhead, omit the business address information at the peak of the letter).
Proof of Employment Letter: Things to Include & Cases
You need to include the following in an employment verification letter:
- Employer business name and address (or use letterhead)
- The current or former employee’s occupation title/responsibilities
- trademarks of employment
- Eligibility for rehire if former worker (Many employers ask this question as part of employment verification, and also you can opt to respond appropriately, or react generically by saying something such as (“all former workers may be eligible for rehire impending review.”)
- Salary (depends on type of petition )
- Bonus/raises (depends on type of request)
- Your title, signature, and your contact info
The major rule with employment confirmation letters is to adapt your letter based on the reason you are being asked for it, and only provide the minimal information requested. The chart below shows what to include/not include based on the type of organization making the employment verification request:
Employment Verification Requests & Things To Include
| Requestor | Job Status/Job Title SupervisoryResponsibilities/ Hours worked |
Length of Service/Employment Presents | Eligibility for Rehire | Wages (including bonus advice )* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Credit Real Estate | ✕ | ✔ | ✕ | ✔ |
| New Employer | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | Optional |
| Social Service Education |
✔ | ✔ | ✕ | ✔ |
*Best practice — just provide financial information in the event the worker authorizes you to do so.
As you can see, that the info that you want to supply will vary. For instance, a financial institution will want to understand salary and bonus as well as duration of service to be sure the worker is credit worthy, whereas a former employee’s new employer will want to validate the employee’s job title, duties, and if the candidate is eligible for rehire. Here are some examples:
Example 1 — Current Employee Buying a Home: Kristoff is purchasing a House. The lender wants to verify his length of employment and earnings. Kristoff asks you to write a proof of employment letter he can contribute to his or her bank.
Example 2 — Former Employee Seeking New Job: Bobi worked for you 2 decades ago, and left amicably when she transferred from state. She recently received an offer by a new company who wants to verify she had been honest on her job application and was not dismissed for cause. The new company sends you a petition asking you to confirm her employment. Here, you may not need to include Bobi’s income (unless your new employer specifically asks for this ), but in addition to employment dates, you might indicate’yes’ to the question about whether she’s eligible for rehire.
Example 3 — Current Employee Applying for Social Services: Karen applied to get an income-based preschool scholarship for her twin 2-year old sons. The school needs proof of her income level in order to qualify her boys for the program. Since Karen works part time as a day delivery driver, you’ll want to include her work hours at the employment verification letter.
What NOT to Include In a Proof of Employment Letter
To protect yourself as a employer, ensure the employee has accepted the sharing of financial advice together with the requestor. Often, the employee will be the one who brings a request to you. As an instance, your bookkeeper Susan would like you to provide a proof of employment to attach for her lease application for a condominium she is hoping to rent. The landlord would like to confirm that Susan now has a job and gets paid enough to afford rent. If so, have your employee Susan signal the request in the landlord and also save that request document together with your employment confirmation letter.
Otherwise, Don’t…
- Provide financial advice unless asked and approved by the worker
- Supply illegal/protected-class advice, such as health issues or marital status
- Provide confidential information, such neglecting to pass a drug screen, or not having a valid driver’s license
- Share reasons why you Wouldn’t hire the Individual, like poor performance
Example: Your worker Juan has minor health difficulties and occasionally misses work due to his asthma. Since medical advice is protected by the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act, HIPAA, it is illegal to provide this information to a requester.
You can learn more about HIPAA by reviewing our post Federal Labor Laws Every Small Business Should Know.
Careful what you place in composing
Whatever you put in writing (especially anything negative) is subject to future legal discovery so be cautious that you don’t accidentally set yourself up for retaliation in the event the worker is not hired by the company requesting evidence of employment. In fact, many employers refuse to provide any reference advice other than to verify that the employee’s job title, employment dates, and salary. Some employers refuse even to respond regarding an employee’s eligibility for rehire.
What an Employment Verification Letter is NOT
An employment verification letter is NOT meant to serve as a benchmark, background check, or social security number (SSN) verification. Let’s review these different kinds of requests that outside organizations can make about your present or former employees:
Employment confirmation letter vs. background check
Background checks verify everything from former home addresses and employment to criminal background. Background checks are provided by companies that specialize in this sort of information. While you can verify former and current employment at your location of business, you should not supply other details about a worker’s background in your job verification letter to avoid violating the worker’s privacy.
See our article on Best Background Check Companies for Employers or see our recommended background-check service, Goodhire.
Employment verification letter vs. SSN verification
It is the responsibility of the requesting organization to verify the worker’s SSN. If it’s for job purposes, the new employer can use eVerify, a vendor like Goodhire, or contact the Department of Social Security. SSNs are deemed confidential and never to be shared within an employment verification letter for risk of violating the employee’s right to privacy.
Employment verification letter vs. references
Reference checks are sometimes confused with employment confirmation. They are not the same. Whenever someone calls you for a former worker’s reference test, you typically share details about the employee’s performance and contributions at your own organization. In contrast, you do not share performance details within an employment verification letter.
Sample Employment Verification Letters/Proof of Employment
Once you review the examples below, you might find it much easier to compose your own evidence of employment letter. Click here to see sample employment verifications using false names and different scenarios showing what different kinds of job verification may look like.
An email can be rather informal. Here is an email example to confirm employment in reaction to some other employer asking to verify that your former worker worked together with you. Make certain that you include your telephone contact information in the event the requester has followup questions.
A letter is a bit more formal and should be printed on your company letterhead, answering the requester’s questions. Here’s an example employment verification letter for a landlord.
Form
A form is often the simplest way to confirm employment. You may download and customize this sample form template to your enterprise and print/make copies to be filled out whenever a worker asks you to verify employment for any purpose.
Easier Ways to Verify Employment
Based on the kind of information requested and whether or not the requestor supplied a form, you might not need to compose anything. Here are some examples.
Proceed through your HR/Payroll seller
If you’re using an HR/payroll seller like Gusto, you may not need to confirm employment via letter. For instance, when financing a house purchase, a bank may request proof of income. That can be offered by printing YTD payroll information from your payroll system.
Can the requester supply an employment verification form?
Most requesters will provide their own form that you fill in. If so, read the form carefully, fill in the blanks as best you are able to sign it and return it to the requester. As an HR best practice, you might want to maintain a copy of the signed form from the employee’s personnel folder in case you are asked about it later.
More info is provided in our current article Personnel File — What it Must Contain.
Consider an employment verification system or vendor
If you’d like to escape the employment verification procedure entirely, consider using a confirmation service such as TheWorkNumber, Inverify, Intellicorp, or even Hireright. These services typically provide the employee with a website and code they could provide directly to requesters wishing to verify employment.
Pick up the telephone
Often, all that’s needed is a telephone call. Contact the requester by phone or ask the requester to call you so you can say,”Yes, Adolfo functioned here in 2016.”
Employment Verification Letters FAQs
Imagine if the employee hasn’t started working for me ?
If your new lease is moving and needs to rent or purchase a house, landlord or fund company will wish to make sure they have a job. In this case, provide the requester or the employee with a copy of this signed offer letter.
Check our Free Offer Letter Template and How To Guide to Find out More.
Imagine if the organization necessitates the information to be set to their form?
If the requestor provides a type, they frequently prefer the data be input using their record. There’s no need to do anything but fill in the blanks, sign, and return their kind to them.
What if the company asks for information I’m uncomfortable sharing?
If you do not feel comfortable providing the information requested, by all means, don’t supply it. For example if the new employer asks how many days the employee took off sick each year, you would be violating HIPAA by answering that query. Or if the requestor asks about protected-class details such as marital or gender status, then you can write’decline to reply.’ It’s simpler than saying’it is none of your business.’
What if the worker wrote the letter and asks me to sign?
It depends. If you’re comfortable with the information that the worker wrote, go ahead and sign it. Employees frequently draft letters themselves as they know precisely what information has been asked, and to save time. As a best practice, ask the worker to sign above/below your signature, and maintain a copy of the letter on your own files.
What if the worker does not /never has worked for me personally?
It is possible the requester has erroneous info. In that case, respond by stating nothing more than”that I don’t have any record of this individual as a worker. Unable to complete request as supplied.”
Bottom Line on Employment Verification Letters
As an employer, you wish to assist your current and former workers in meeting their needs to verify employment so they can obtain home, services, or charge. Make it easy on yourself and reduce your organization’s risk by providing only the information asked, and only information that’s not confidential, illegal, or none of the requester’s company.
If it’s possible to provide the confirmation data on the requester’s form or by printing out of an current HR/payroll system such as Gusto, all the better. The tools provided in this article, including templates, forms, and samples, and are meant to assist you manage this administrative petition quickly, and get you back to running your company.
