Processing Employment Verification Requests
Q. What type of employment information are you able to provide?
The employment information the DOE will provide depends on the type of employee and the requester’s needs. The type of information that is typically provided includes:
General Employee Data
- Job title
- License
- Probability of continued employment
Service History
- Date of hire
- Date of separation (e.g., retirement or termination)
- Number of days worked over a given period of time
- Dates of absences (generally applies to requests from insurance agencies)
- Current leave of absence status
Salary-Related Data
- Current salary or rate of pay
- Gross earnings during a specific period of time
- Pay duration (e.g., hourly, annually)
- Date of last increase
- Overtime, bonus, or per session pay
- Employee classification for tax purposes (e.g., employee receives W-2 vs. 1099)
Data Specific to School-based Professionals
- School accreditation status
- Hours worked per day
- Grade level taught
- Tenure date
- School district and name
- Annual rating
Q. How long will it take for my request to be processed?
Processing times vary depending on the employee population and the type of information requested. Click on your employee type in this table for an estimate of how long your request will take to fulfill.
Q. Why does it take longer to process some verification requests compared to others?
Processing time is largely dependent upon the employee’s length of service and the type of data requested. Most of DOE’s computer systems were implemented in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Any service that began after this time is therefore contained electronically in one of our human resource/payroll systems, making employee data easily accessible. If a request is for employment history that began prior to the inception of our human resource/payroll systems, paper-based records must be consulted. Employment data contained on paper-based records are much more time-consuming to analyze and consequently, these types of requests typically take longer to process.
Preparing Your Request for Submission
Q. I do not know my title or employee population. How do I find out where to submit my request?
Sending a verification request to the wrong party will cause a delay in processing. If you do not know or are unsure of your (the employee’s) title or population, contact HR Connect at (718) 935-4000 (Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.). HR Connect can supply you with this information as long as you can provide the employee’s Employee ID or file number.
Q. I need to verify service for more than one employee category (e.g., I am a teacher who also worked per session hours after school as a coach). Do I need to submit separate requests for each type of service?
Under ordinary circumstances, no, you should not need to submit a separate request for two different types of service. However, if in addition to your primary work you also worked per session, you will need to submit your request to one of the entities that maintains per session records. These entities will be able to verify both your primary service and your per session service; the centralized units that fulfill requests for a specific employee population do not have the records necessary to verify per session work. Please see the Requesting Employment Verification section for more detail.
Q. Is it necessary for me (the employee) to sign the request form (e.g., Employment Verification Request Form) before my request can be fulfilled?
Yes, it is necessary for you to sign our request form, unless the request is emailed directly from your DOE email address.
Submitting Your Request
Q. Why can’t I just send my request to any unit that provides employment verification?
There are several different DOE units that fulfill requests for employment verification, all of which are specific to a particular employee population. This means that these units only have access to records unique to the employee population they serve. Submitting your request to the wrong unit can delay processing as the unit may not have access to the records necessary to fulfill your request.
Q. I noticed that some of the units that fulfill requests have an email address where requests can be submitted electronically. How is this done?
After completing the Employment Verification Request Form, save the document on your computer’s Desktop. Prepare your email to the appropriate unit and attach the saved file (for example, the Employment Verification Request Form). Send the email once complete.
Issues/Additional Information
Q. What if a third party needs information about an employee’s character?
The DOE is not at liberty to comment on an employee’s personal qualities without consent from the employee. If an assessment of an employee’s character is required, a list of professional references should be obtained directly from the employee. This ensures that it is someone the employee has a working relationship with – and not someone from an administrative office who likely does not know the employee – who provides the information. Only those individuals whose contact information was made available to the third-party directly by the employee are authorized to provide this type of personal information.
Q. I submitted a request and received incorrect information (e.g., some of the service history is missing or the salary is incorrect). Who do I contact?
You should contact the office that fulfilled your request to report the discrepancy. The contact information can be found on the verification that was sent to you. You may be asked to submit supporting documentation in order for the information to be corrected in our records.