How to Develop a Previous Employment Verification Form for Your Small Business

Recent privacy laws have changed the way that employers can verify the employment histories of job applicants. Today you need a release form that is signed by the job applicant before you can request or release employee information, good or bad. If you run a small business then you can benefit from having a custom previous employment verification form. This form will not only provide the authorization to gain access to employee information, but it will also collect the information that you need to know about a potential new employee.

Step #1 - Employee Information Section

The first part of the previous employment verification form will relate to the employee's information. You will need to include a line for their complete name, their mailing address, their Social Security number and their phone number. Below these lines you will need to print a statement that indicates that the employee grants permission for the identified company to release information about their employment history to your company. Make sure you print your company's full name and mailing address in this section. At the bottom of this section you will provide a place for the employee to sign and date the authorization statement.

Step #2 - Information About Previous Employer

The next section will contain information about the previous employer. This section will be filled out by the employee candidate. It will include the previous employer's name, mailing address and the job title and employment dates related to this employer.

Step #3 - Data Collection

The third section of the form will include requests for specific pieces of information that you are interested in. For example, you may want employment date verification, pay rate verifications and training verifications. To streamline this section you can print a list of information types and put check boxes next to each type. Then you can just check the boxes next to the information that you need in each case. Finally, include an other option with lines next to it. You can use this option when there is a specific piece of information that you need from a previous employer that is not on the existing list.

Step #4 - Instructions Section

The next section on the form will be the instruction section. Here you will explain how to fill out the form. These instructions will be used by the company that receives the request. Instructions for completing the other sections can be printed in that section's box.

Step #5 - Your Signature

The final section of the form will be a place for you or your human resources manager to sign their name and date the form.