Knowing the work history of the employee is a critical first step before onboarding. Here is a comprehensive guide to everything you must know about employee history. Read on!
Employment History
While filling out a job application several firms ask recruits to write their employment history. Previous employment checks are an essential part of the recruitment process. It includes companies they have worked for, job titles, and date of employment.
Some companies ask for extensive employment records and some are interested in shorter work history. Companies perform work history checks to get insight into an employment record of candidates’ experience, job stability, and loyalty to an employer.
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What is work history?
Work history or employment history is a detailed record of jobs an employee or candidate has held. It gives the name of the company they have worked for, the job titles they have held, and the period of employment. As an employer, you may want to determine if the previous employment history and their experience are a good match for your company’s requirements.
If an applicant has held several jobs of short duration it may imply they are job hoppers and will not stay long on the job. It is commonplace to verify the information provided by the candidate and carry out an employment history check or career background checks.
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Why employment records of new recruits must be checked?
Employers verify employment history during the recruitment process. The main purpose of carrying out a job history check is to have complete confidence in the people you are hiring. Employees are an important investment you make. Investing in the wrong people can cost your business time and money.
Recommended checks can include tracking employment work record, identity checks, credit checks, work references, education, and qualification checks, and even screen their socio-political beliefs. Here are the top reasons you should screening employees,
Fraud prevention by tracking employment
More than half of the employees will lie on their resumes. This can mean you can hire an unqualified or unsuitable candidate for the post. The most common areas of fraud are past employment, qualifications and skills, and job titles and responsibilities. The fraud can impact your productivity, quality of work, and services can affect your customer and other employees. Tracking the employment of the candidate will help you verify employment history.
Ensuring data security by tracking previous work
The growth of smartphones and different connected devices helps us capture and store data in new ways. Data security has become crucial not only for legal compliance but to protect customer data. Almost half the data breaches come from an insider and half of the breaches are intentional.
Businesses need to protect themselves against intelligence theft and data loss. Tracking previous work history and doing criminal record checks is becoming an essential part of any business that handles a large amount of customer data. These checks are not limited to new employees. Reviewing the employment history of an employee where they have access to sensitive information is critical.
Reputation management verified with stable work history
Your employees are the face of the company. Employees with an unstable work history can behave inappropriately harming your brand image. Data theft can damage your brand reputation. About 70% of customers do not do business with a company after a data breach.
Damage control in event of a data breach is costly. Their several safety protocols you can take including verifying the employee has a stable work history. Periodic background checks of new and existing employees are important.
Protecting workforce by examining work record
Examining the work record of employees protects your company and your employees. Employers have the responsibility to ensure everyone associated with the organization is safe and is protected from threats.
Fraud and criminal background checks are essential in today’s uncertain climate. Examining work records while reviewing employment history can protect your staff against problems of bullying, discrimination, acts of violence, or sexual harassment.
Legal compliance by checking history of employment
Noncompliance can big issue for businesses. When you plan to scale up your business supervising everyone can be a problem. Some businesses require you to comply with regulatory bodies, you can prevent potential problems by hiring qualified and experienced employees.
By checking the history of employment especially for a management position you can avoid hiring untrustworthy people or those with inadequate skills. As an employer you can ensure your employee has a legal right to work here.
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Five key objectives of employment history check
Employers run employment history checks to avoid hiring someone who may pose a threat to the organization. According to data released 96% of employers conduct one or more types of employment background screening. Employment history checks generally include work history for the last seven years. The key objective of employment history checks is as follows,
Verifying career background
You may want to verify the career background of the employee. Consider verifying educational degrees earned or if the candidate licenses are current. The candidate must have a current and valid professional license.
Validating career history
While validating the career history of the candidate, companies typically verify the employment history. This includes past companies, designations, and tenure. It also includes the reasons for leaving the job and the eligibility for rehire.
Candidates are supposed to provide testimony that they are legally entitled to work in the US. Analysis of career history can highlight any inconsistency in the career graph. It helps to show honesty, reliability, and the trustworthiness of a hire.
Crosschecking the dates of employment
With the consent of the candidate, you can contact their past employer to verify employment history. You can verify the dates of employment and positions they have held.
Verifying employment dates
Employees often fudge their employment dates especially if they held the position for a short time. Verifying employment dates during routine employment checks can confirm gaps and reasons for leaving. You can be warned if the candidate has a history of job-hopping.
Hire an agency to verify employment record
There are several professional agencies that verify employment record of candidates. These agencies provide professional report when you ask them to verify employment history. The help you make online templates to enable your firm to get informed decision quickly.
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How to find work history?
The best way to start looking at someone’s work history is to start with their resume. According to a survey by Career builder 58% of employers have caught a lie on the resume. These lies can cause major problems and make you hire an unfit candidate.
As a person in charge it is important you choose the best candidate. You may wonder how to find work history of an employee while conducting employee verification as a part of employment history checks?
1. Research to find out exact dates of previous employment
One of the first things you may want to do is verify the dates of employment, but how to find out exact dates of previous employment. You could call the human resource department of the previous employer mentioned on the resume. The social security administration and internal revenue services keep a record of the work history. Credit check can provide the relevant information.
2. Ask relevant questions to know how to get employment history
One of the best ways to how to look up work history is to ask the candidate relevant questions in the area you want to verify. During the interview, if you ask the right questions you can determine if the employee is lying or not. Framing the right questions on areas you want to probe will give you an idea if the candidate is lying about their employment history.
3. How to find exact dates of employment using FRCA?
The FCRA or Fair Credit Reporting Act can give you complete information regarding credit information. The document is used if you want to know how to find exact dates of employment. Nearly all background checks are governed by FRCA laws but this may differ depending on the state.
4. Get legal advice to know how to look up work history
Employment history and background checks can unearth sensitive information. Get legal advice if you want to know how to look up work history. Talk to your corporate lawyer to ensure your investigation does not have legal representation.
5. No character checks while you find employment history
You need to be careful when you ask for opinions while trying to find employment history. The work history will be construed as an investigative costumer report. You need to give notice to the applicant. Give the candidate the option to candidate to ask for the details.
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Best practices in finding job history
Job keepers look for ways to stand out in the present competitive environment. Employers always stand the risk of hiring dishonest employees who have lied in their resumes. It is important to verify the job history.
1. Contact the HR department for prior employment
you can contact the previous company’s HR department for verification. The department will be able to provide all the prior information you need.
2. Review job records through resume
One of the best ways to review job records or employment history is to read the candidate’s employment history in their resume. Most resumes contain the name of the company, job title, employment dates, etc.
3. Find work history background check free
Before hiring someone to find work history you can find work history for free. You can check by some information by doing a simple Google search, social media feeds like Facebook and LinkedIn.
4. Include job application employment history forms
You can have detailed employment in the job application form. In the job application section you can add the employment history section.
| List of items | Most Recent | Prior |
| Employer | ||
| Address | ||
| Phone | ||
| Name of the supervisor | ||
| Date of Employment
To From |
||
| Position | ||
| Pay | ||
| Reasons for leaving | ||
| Supervisor contact |
Things you can learn from employee history
There are several things you can learn from employee history like,
-
- Name of the company
- Work history
- Omission
- Performances
- Job titles and duties
- Start and end dates
- Credential and licenses
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Top 5 employment history forms
Employment history forms are the most comprehensive way to get information. Most firms include the employment history form as a part of the application. The form contains detailed information about previous employment including job title, responsibilities, and achievements.
1. Ideal work history example
There are several samples of employment history forms on the internet. Having a stipulate work history format will help in verification and ensure you have all the information you need. The ideal work history example is as follows.
| Employer | Phone | Dates employed To from |
| Address | Duties | Job title |
| City | Reasons for leaving | Supervisor Name |
| State | May we contact supervisor for reference | |
| Zip | Starting Pay | Final Pay |
2. Maintaining employee history record
Record keeping can be cumbersome and confusing. Maintaining employee history records is important to comply with various regulations regarding employee record keeping and retention. These requirements are part of state and federal requirements.
The employee file should be stored in a secure location and kept strictly confidential. The employee history record typically includes,
- Pre-employment document
- Employment documentation- this section includes records relation job performance, appraisals, promotions and transfers, training, and any discipline issues.
3. Managing employee’s history
Managing employee history is important and it is easy to get overwhelmed with the paperwork. Several online forms and computer systems allow you to maintain employee history seamlessly. These can easily be converted into PDF formats. Companies usually have laid down procedures for,
- Understanding employee history record
- Employee history information
- Reviewing employment history
- Purging HR history information
- Correcting Turnover Records
- Working with turnover record and history
4. Tips to get a free job history report
A job history report contains complete employment history that documents all the previous employment for any employee. The information is handy if you are applying for a new job and need your employee’s work history.
Job history is also required if you applying for a license on behalf of your employee. You can ask your employee to get a job history report free from the following resources,
- Social security records
- Credit report
- IRS records
- Online records
5. Checking the history of employment
While looking at a resume to determine if the candidate’s skill and experience are a fit for your firm you can check their history of employment. Employment history will help you see a screenshot of their skills and accomplishments. Ideally, an employee history should be in chronological order with the most recent position at the top.
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