Who can request my employees' data?

Only credentialed verifiers with a permissible purpose under the FCRA, such as mortgage and auto lenders, property managers, credit card issuers, pre-employment screeners, and social service agencies. Equifax counts more than 44,000 credentialed verifiers (Equifax, 2024 data).

Can we opt out of The Work Number?

Not company by company: The Work Number is part of Worklio payroll and its standard Payroll User Terms, set up once at the platform level. You can still answer any verification yourself; The Work Number adds a channel, not a replacement. An employee who objects can freeze their own file at no cost. That is the opt-out path, and it sits with each employee.

What control does an employee have?

Each employee can pull a free Employment Data Report to see who requested their information, dispute anything wrong, and freeze their file at no cost, all at employees.theworknumber.com.

Does it share data with the rest of Worklio?

Yes. Every module works from one employee record, so changes flow to payroll, time, benefits, and reporting automatically.

PLATFORM / FINANCE + REPORTING / Income + employment verification

The hard part isn’t the data. It’s managing the request.

The Work Number from Equifax answers lender, landlord, and agency verifications automatically, around the clock, at no cost to you. Anything you answer yourself runs through one consent-based workflow tied to payroll.

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SOURCE: Payroll system of record
THE WORK NUMBER: From Equifax, included at no cost
VERIFIERS: Credentialed, with FCRA permissible purpose
AUDIT: Every request and release logged

Verification request workflow in Worklio

WHAT'S INCLUDED

01
One intake point
Every request tied to the employee record, with a trail of what was requested, shared, and still open.
02
Payroll-backed responses
Status, pay history, and compensation from payroll.
03
The Work Number from Equifax
Mortgage, auto, lease, and benefits verifications answered automatically, 24/7, with no action by your office.
04
Credentialed verifiers
Each needs a permissible purpose under the FCRA, and every request is logged and reportable.
05
Connected verifier workflows
Letters, structured data, or API access.
06
Release controls
For requests you answer yourself: the employer decides what is released, with the employee's authorization.

WHERE IT GOES WRONG

Calls and forms that never stop.
Lenders, landlords, and agencies send verification requests to HR and payroll, and turnover and field crews keep them coming.
How Worklio handles it
The Work Number answers them automatically, around the clock, with no action by your office.
Pay data released to the wrong person.
Manual verifications are where employers get burned: wage data given to someone posing as a lender, a wrong figure quoted, or salary released when only employment was asked.
How Worklio handles it
Every verifier on The Work Number is credentialed and needs a permissible purpose under the FCRA, and every request is logged. Fewer people in your office handle pay data.
Employees waiting on HR.
A mortgage or a lease can stall while a verification sits in someone's inbox.
How Worklio handles it
Lenders, landlords, and agencies get an instant answer, and each employee can see every request in their own Employment Data Report.

FOR YOUR EMPLOYEES

01Point the verifier to The Work Number. When a lender, landlord, or agency asks for proof of employment or income, tell them to use theworknumber.com.
02Pull the Employment Data Report. Free: current and past employment and income, and every verifier request from the last 24 months.
03Dispute anything wrong. Directly with Equifax, online.
04Freeze the file. The employee's own choice, at any time and at no cost.

WORK IT OUT

QUESTIONS

Nothing. The Work Number from Equifax is included with your Worklio payroll at no cost to you, and employees pull their own Employment Data Report for free.

Sources: The Work Number for Employees and Consumers (Equifax). General information, not legal or tax advice.

Equifax is a registered trademark of Equifax Inc. The Work Number® is a registered trademark of Equifax Workforce Solutions LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Equifax Inc.

HOW IT WORKS

How The Work Number works.

01Payroll supplies the data. Employment and income, each pay cycle, encrypted at rest and in transit.
02Equifax holds the record. Requests answered online, 24/7, at no cost to you.
03A credentialed verifier asks. With a permissible purpose under the FCRA, it requests and receives the verification.
04Your employee gets an answer. Faster decisions on credit, housing, and aid.