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First thoughts after reading this: 1. Is this legal in all jurisdictions an employee could conceivably be based in? 2. When will Equifax monetize this as a se

First thoughts after reading this: 1. Is this legal in all jurisdictions an employee could conceivably be based in? 2. When will Equifax monetize this as a service to other companies (because you know they will).

tpmoney 4y ago
It's already a service. "The Work Number" is their employment verification service available to anyone https://theworknumber.com https://theworknumber.com
- master_crab 4y ago
  Yeah TWN is referenced in the story, but it doesn’t sound like it’s being used to weed out multiple jobs. Mostly just used for government agencies and financial institutions doing credit checks. Either employers haven’t caught on to that or the data it provides does not offer the required detail.
  - tbyehl 4y ago
    The sales pitch is near the bottom: The company sells a product called Talent Report Employment Monitoring so other companies can keep tabs on potential moonlighting by their employees, too.
    - ok_dad 4y ago
      People say we don’t need unions when companies are forming groups to collude in the market against the interests of employees. If they can’t detect a performance drop due to working two jobs and have to spy like this, then why even care about it?
      - selcuka 4y ago
        Because there are departments in every (larger than a certain size) company that need to justify their existence and keep their jobs. That's why we have tons of useless metrics for measuring performance instead of simply looking at the output.
- konaraddi 4y ago
  There are at least 2 big problems with this. 1. Does this have any external accountability or oversight? Closest I see is being able view your report but first thing it asks for is an employer instead of asking for information for identifying an individual: https://employees.theworknumber.com/employment-data-report https://employees.theworknumber.com/employment-data-report Somewhere out there is an unemployed person being rejected from jobs or not getting interviews because this service is providing an incomplete or erroneous employment history. It’s critical that services like this have a means of both easily identifying and rectifying errors. 2. Equifax offers the option to delete or freeze your data but what does that mean for future employers looking to validate your employment? Employers that lean too heavily on this are going to reject candidates that deleted or froze their data. Employment history verification is something the government is in a good position to provide.
  - astura 4y ago
    >Somewhere out there is an unemployed person being rejected from jobs or not getting interviews because this service is providing an incomplete or erroneous employment history. Relax, you can give them any employer you ever had, not just your current one. To get my record I put in a previous employer who doesn't even exist as a company anymore.
    - flutas 4y ago
      > Relax, you can give them any employer you ever had, not just your current one. Not if they don't show up at all like mine. (Tried all four of my past jobs and none of them have shown up.)
      - astura 4y ago
        Then none of your employers have reported to TWN.
    - yosito 4y ago
      I've put in my last four employers and they say "No employers were found."
- yosito 4y ago
  I looked up my data in this system. They show only 2 of my past 11 employers, and those two have incorrect data about my start and end dates, and how much I was paid. With this information being so inaccurate, I'm wondering if it's even worth my time to try to correct it. To be honest, I think I'd rather just not work for companies who would use this kind of service anyway.
- xani_ 4y ago
  Thank fuck for GDPR lmao
gruez 4y ago
>1. Is this legal in all jurisdictions an employee could conceivably be based in? I don't see why not. To my knowledge employment information isn't protected by law, and presumably whoever provided equifax that information turned it in willingly.
trasz 4y ago
>Is this legal It doesn’t matter. For this to matter it would require punishing the offenders, and since they are wealthy it’s not really an option in most western countries.

tpmoney 4y ago

It's already a service. "The Work Number" is their employment verification service available to anyone https://theworknumber.com https://theworknumber.com

master_crab 4y ago
Yeah TWN is referenced in the story, but it doesn’t sound like it’s being used to weed out multiple jobs. Mostly just used for government agencies and financial institutions doing credit checks. Either employers haven’t caught on to that or the data it provides does not offer the required detail.
- tbyehl 4y ago
  The sales pitch is near the bottom: The company sells a product called Talent Report Employment Monitoring so other companies can keep tabs on potential moonlighting by their employees, too.
  - ok_dad 4y ago
    People say we don’t need unions when companies are forming groups to collude in the market against the interests of employees. If they can’t detect a performance drop due to working two jobs and have to spy like this, then why even care about it?
    - selcuka 4y ago
      Because there are departments in every (larger than a certain size) company that need to justify their existence and keep their jobs. That's why we have tons of useless metrics for measuring performance instead of simply looking at the output.
konaraddi 4y ago
There are at least 2 big problems with this. 1. Does this have any external accountability or oversight? Closest I see is being able view your report but first thing it asks for is an employer instead of asking for information for identifying an individual: https://employees.theworknumber.com/employment-data-report https://employees.theworknumber.com/employment-data-report Somewhere out there is an unemployed person being rejected from jobs or not getting interviews because this service is providing an incomplete or erroneous employment history. It’s critical that services like this have a means of both easily identifying and rectifying errors. 2. Equifax offers the option to delete or freeze your data but what does that mean for future employers looking to validate your employment? Employers that lean too heavily on this are going to reject candidates that deleted or froze their data. Employment history verification is something the government is in a good position to provide.
- astura 4y ago
  >Somewhere out there is an unemployed person being rejected from jobs or not getting interviews because this service is providing an incomplete or erroneous employment history. Relax, you can give them any employer you ever had, not just your current one. To get my record I put in a previous employer who doesn't even exist as a company anymore.
  - flutas 4y ago
    > Relax, you can give them any employer you ever had, not just your current one. Not if they don't show up at all like mine. (Tried all four of my past jobs and none of them have shown up.)
    - astura 4y ago
      Then none of your employers have reported to TWN.
  - yosito 4y ago
    I've put in my last four employers and they say "No employers were found."
yosito 4y ago
I looked up my data in this system. They show only 2 of my past 11 employers, and those two have incorrect data about my start and end dates, and how much I was paid. With this information being so inaccurate, I'm wondering if it's even worth my time to try to correct it. To be honest, I think I'd rather just not work for companies who would use this kind of service anyway.
xani_ 4y ago
Thank fuck for GDPR lmao

gruez 4y ago

>1. Is this legal in all jurisdictions an employee could conceivably be based in? I don't see why not. To my knowledge employment information isn't protected by law, and presumably whoever provided equifax that information turned it in willingly.

trasz 4y ago

>Is this legal It doesn’t matter. For this to matter it would require punishing the offenders, and since they are wealthy it’s not really an option in most western countries.