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Dept of State wants employee verification

CarolilCarolil 79 Posts
in HR & Employment Law Vote Up0Vote Down
We got a call from a Special Investigator from the Department of State wanting to do a face to face employment verification. My question is, do we legally have to?

Ordinarily I wouldn't object, but the person about whom he asks was not an employee, possibly did some 1099 work for us for two months in 2005, and the person who engaged her is not even sure she ever met her. All of this may make it not worth his while when I explain it to him but it had me wonder what our legal obligation was.
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  • 4 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • Still Need CoffeeStill Need Coffee 507 Posts
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    I've never heard of this before....is it for a state department position?

    Bottom line, be honest. If you do the face to face meeting but don't have a lot to say, well, it's the investigator's problem, not yours!

    I would be clear with the investigator (over the phone) that this person was never an employee of your company, but instead was engaged as an independent contractor for a short period of time, and that there isn't anyone presently with the company who is able to give more than dates of contract and rate (if in fact that's all the information you're able to provide).
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  • cnghrcnghr 719 Posts
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    I've run into this several times. It's generally because a former employee is applying for a position with a government agency. (I know my sister had this sort of face-to-face verification done when she applied for a job with the Secret Service.) It always surprises me when they send an investigator all the way up here to Alaska for what usually amounts to a five or ten minute conversation. Often they are asking things about work ethic, honesty, and other character traits and not just the normal "when did they work there, what did they do, are they eligible for rehire" types of questions.

    I agree with Still Needs Coffee, I would tell the investigator over the phone that the person was never an actual employee but rather an IC for a brief period of time, and that you are unlikely to be able to provide much information. If they still want to come for a face-to-face interview, then at least they'll be aware that you won't be able to tell them much.
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  • CarolilCarolil 79 Posts
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    Thanks to both of you for your responses.

    Do I need to ask this guy to fax me an I.D. or something before I talk to him over the phone? I actually don't have much to offer so I suppose I wouldn't be much of a help to an imposter, but I always worry about people trying to track down someone for a reason other than what they offer. This guy left a cell phone number so I wouldn't be calling the State Department.
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  • ACU FrankACU Frank 2,188 Posts
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    Just make sure you get a signed copy of his applicant's authorization.
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