Employment Verification & Service Certification
Employment Verification
Employment verification requests for individuals employed by Ohio State after January 1, 1998, are completed by The Work Number for Everyone®, an automated service available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This service is available to faculty and staff of the university who need to provide employment verification information to a third party, such as when obtaining a loan. It is also available to external verifiers and social service agencies who need to verify employment or salary.
Employment verification is often required when you apply for credit or other services. You provide consent to the credit or service agency to verify that information. The credit or service agency can access this information online or by telephone.
Ohio State’s employer code is 10380. You may be asked to provide the credit or service agency with this number.
The Work Number does not provide documentation for visa and residency purposes or longevity credit transfer.
Proof of Employment
When required to prove that you are an Ohio State employee, you give consent to the verifying agency and provide your Social Security number and Ohio State’s name or employer code. No salary key is required. The verifier can then obtain your job title, dates of employment, length of employment and status (active or inactive) from The Work Number.
Proof of Employment and Income
To provide proof of your employment and your income, you give consent to the verifying agency by providing your Social Security number, Ohio State’s name or employer code and a salary key.
The salary key is a six-digit code that you provide the verifier that authorizes one-time access to your income information on The Work Number.
To obtain a salary key, see Guide to The Work Number for instructions, or call (800) 367-2884 and follow the prompts. If you are locked out and the PIN reset does not work, you can request assistance at The Work Number, (800) 827-9430.
When you give consent and your salary key to the verifier, The Work Number provides the verifier with your job title, dates of employment, length of employment, status (active or inactive), pay rate and total income for the current and past two years. Income is reported by base pay, overtime, commission, bonuses and other income.
Social Services
When you are asked to provide employment or income verification to a social service agency when you apply for service, you can give consent to the verifier. Provide the agency your Social Security number and Ohio State’s name or employer code. No salary key is needed. The social services agency can obtain the employment verification information from The Work Number.
Employment Data Report
The Work Number provides employees the ability to see the information potentially being given out on you when a verification is requested. This report is intended to present transparency regarding your information on The Work Number and can be provided upon request. More information on Employment Data Report
The Ohio State University’s employment verifications are provided via The Work Number. The university’s code is 10380. If you cannot locate an employee using The Work Number, please request a researched verification from The Work Number.
Can anyone who calls get my personal information?
The verifier needs your Social Security number to view basic information such as employment period at The Ohio State University and job title. Any additional information, such as your salary or gross earnings, is protected by a salary key that only you can authorize.
What is a salary key and how do I get one?
A salary key is a six-digit code that an employee gives a verifier to authorize that verifier with one-time access to his income information on The Work Number for Everyone®. Ohio State faculty and staff can obtain a salary key by logging in to The Work Number.
You may also call (800) 367-2884. If you are locked out and the PIN reset does not work, the employee can contact The Work Number at (866) 678-3729, enter the Ohio State ID number and press 0 as the PIN.
What types of verification are available on The Work Number?
Three types of verifications are available from The Work Number:
- Employment (Employment Verification)
- Employment and Income (Employment Plus Income Verification)
- Public Assistance (Social Service Verification)
In addition, an individual can print their own personal Employment Data Report.
How much does it cost?
There is no charge to Ohio State employees for a verification or salary key. There is, however, a charge to non-social service agency verifiers. If a verifier charges you as an Ohio State employee for a verification, please have your receipt available and call The Work Number Client Service Center at (800) 996-7566 for assistance.
Is The Work Number the only way lenders can verify my employment?
Yes. Written requests for verifications are not be processed and are returned to your verifier with instructions on how to use this service.
What if my verifier will not use The Work Number?
Verifiers who will not use The Work Number may accept another form of proof:
- Pay advice – see instructions on viewing your pay advice
- W-2 – see instructions on viewing your W-2. The Ohio State code is 10380.
- Employment Data Report – Log onto The Work Number for your Employment Data Report (Active Employee Login | Inactive Employee Login)
Who can I call with questions?
The Work Number/TALX customer service is available to you Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern Time at (800) 996-7566.
The Ohio State University Service Certification
Prior service credit certifications are completed by The Office of Human Resources. These requests are made when an individual:
- Needs proof of prior service to transfer sick or vacation leave,
- Wishes to substantiate prior unreported earnings for state retirement system purposes,
- Needs to verify employment for an employee whose information is not available via The Work Number.
When changing employment from one state political subdivision to another, you may wish to certify your prior state service credits. This information is often needed in order to transfer sick leave balance or to increase vacation accrual rate with the new state political subdivision employer.
To request service credit certification from Ohio State, please submit your new employer’s request form to the Office of Human Resources or complete the university’s Request for Prior Service Certification from The Ohio State University. Please allow six weeks for processing.
If you are a current Ohio State employee who was previously employed by another political subdivision of Ohio and would like to transfer your prior state service credits to the university, please see the “Other State Agency Service Certification” section below.
You can request certification for service due to employment that was not previously reported to the state retirement system; interrupted military time; a leave of absence; or certain federal, out-of-state or municipal service. Use the forms listed below to request the service certification:
- For service that was not previously reported to OPERS, submit the appropriate OPERS form (select “purchasing service credit” from the “Search by Category” menu) to the Office of Human Resources via mail or fax.
- For service that was not previously reported to STRS, submit the appropriate STRS form to the Office of Human Resources via mail or fax.
- For STRS non paid professional leave, complete the STRS Nonpaid Professional Leave Form.
- For verification of employment for an out of state retirement plan, complete the out-of-state plan’s request form and fax or mail to OHR. If the out-of-state plan does not have a specific form please complete a service certification request:
- Active Employees should submit a Retirement Inquiry on HR Connection.
- Inactive Employees should download and submit the Request for Prior Service Credit Certification.
For any other verification of prior Ohio State employment, complete this Request for Prior Service Credit Certification. Specify the reason for the certification request, and indicate how we should return the completed certification to you. Please allow four weeks for processing.
This form should not be used to request employment and salary verifications or for social services; those services are provided by The Work Number for Everyone®.
Other State Agency Service Certification
The Request for Prior Service Certification from Another State of Ohio Agency/Institution is for employees who have prior service credit with a former state agency employer.
Employees should complete Section 1 of the form and then have their former employer complete Section 2. Forms can be submitted to HR Connection via email at HRConnection@osu.edu.
Ohio State policy does not permit employees to receive retroactive adjustments to leave accruals for prior service credit. Please ensure that the form is processed in a timely fashion.