Employment and Income Verification

MSU partners with The Work Number, a service of Equifax Workforce Solutions, to respond to requests for verification of employment and income. The Work Number system is available to authorized verifiers 24 hours per day, seven days per week. This process enables people who work at MSU to receive faster decisions when shopping for mortgages, buying cars, and applying for loans, jobs and certain types of government services. More than 70,000 credentialed verifiers rely on The Work Number for rapid access to information critical to their decision processes, and about 3,000 employers nationwide use The Work Number to provide employment and income verifications. In most cases, MSU employees will just need to provide a lender with their social security number and one of MSU's employer codes to allow their lender to complete an employment and income verification.

• Frequently Asked Questions

MSU's organization codes are:

16628: The code for Faculty and Staff who have NOT held an MSU student employment assignment anytime on or after January 2011 through the present. Access The Work Number website using code 16628.

17345: The code for current student employees AND any faculty or staff member that worked in a student employment assignment from anytime on or after January 1, 2011 to the present. Access The Work Number website using code 17345.

How the process works:

1. When you apply for credit or other services where proof of employment or income is required, you provide consent to the creditor or lender (the verifier) to verify your employment and income as part of the application process.

2. The verifier — who has been carefully screened and credentialed before gaining access to The Work Number system — uses your social security number (provided by YOU) and one of MSU's employer codes to look up your record on The Work Number database.

3. MSU has two organization codes. Most MSU faculty and staff will use 16628 and no other steps or information will usually be required after providing the code and your social security number to the lender.

4. However, student employees and any individual who has been a student employee since January 2011 will need to use 17345 as the organization code and provide a Salary Key.

5. To obtain a Salary Key, Access The Work Number here: using code 16628 or access The Work Number website using code 17345.  Enter your MSU Net ID and password.  Select “I am an Employee” tab and follow the instructions.

   For additional questions on verifications of employment, please contact the MSU HR Solutions Center at solutionscenter@hr.msu.edu or by calling 517-353-4434.  

   For questions in navigating the Work Number site, please contact TWN at –800-367-5690.

6. The verifier must provide a valid reason or permissible purpose for requesting the information, as defined by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).