Your employment history (every title, date, and salary figure your former employers ever reported to payroll) is sitting in a database you probably never opted into.
That database is The Work Number. Equifax owns it. Background check vendors query it automatically the moment your check kicks off. Unless you take action before that happens, Checkr, HireRight, and Sterling can pull a full snapshot of your work history in seconds.
Here is the step-by-step process to freeze it, what happens on the recruiter's end when you do, and exactly how to keep your offer moving without ever touching the freeze.
In Short: Freezing The Work Number blocks automated employment verification. Your background check does not fail: it moves to manual. You provide W-2s or pay stubs instead. The recruiter sees an Unable to Verify status, not a red flag. The freeze is free, takes 1 to 3 business days online, and you control when to lift it.
What The Work Number Actually Contains
Before you freeze anything, it helps to know what you are dealing with.
The Work Number is a commercial database run by Equifax Workforce Solutions (formerly TALX) that aggregates payroll data from more than 2.7 million employers across the US. If your employer, current or former, uses ADP, Paychex, Workday Payroll, Ceridian, or dozens of other payroll processors, their data pipes directly into The Work Number automatically.
What lives in your file:
- Employer name and EIN
- Official HR-system job title (not your resume title, but the title in the payroll system, which is often different)
- Start date and end date (payroll dates, not your physical first and last day)
- Employment status (active or terminated)
- Income verification data (salary, wages, and pay frequency, accessible to approved verifiers)
That last point is the one most candidates miss. Income data in The Work Number is accessible to a separate category of verifiers, including lenders, government agencies, and, in states without salary history bans, employers and their screening vendors who hold the right permissible purpose. When a background check vendor queries your file, what they can access depends on the employer's contract with The Work Number and the purpose code attached to the query.
The Work Number is not a credit bureau. It is governed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), which gives you the right to review your data, dispute inaccuracies, and place a security freeze that blocks third-party access entirely.
Why Tech Workers Freeze It in 2026
Working inside engineering hiring pipelines, the pattern is consistent: the candidates who understand this database tend to handle background checks faster and with fewer surprises than the ones who do not.
There are three primary reasons tech workers choose to freeze:
1. Preventing salary anchoring
More than 20 states and the District of Columbia have salary history bans as of 2026. But that still leaves a significant portion of the country where an employer or their background check vendor can legally query your income history. A recruiter who knows you made $140K at your last role has an anchor. A recruiter who cannot pull that data is negotiating on the role's market value, not your past earnings.
Freezing removes that data point entirely before the check runs.
2. Managing overlapping or mismatched employment dates
The Work Number records payroll dates, not physical start and end dates. Payroll processing lag commonly creates 2 to 4 week discrepancies between when you actually started or finished and what the database shows. If you have overlapping dates from freelance work, contract gigs, a short-tenure role, or any period where payroll timing did not match your actual days worked, the database can show an apparent overlap that reads awkwardly.
Freezing forces manual verification with documents you control, rather than an automated snapshot of imprecise payroll data. This is particularly relevant if you are dealing with what the HireRight employment dates off by a month guide covers in detail.
3. Basic data privacy
The data flows to The Work Number without your consent every time payroll runs. There is no opt-in. Freezing is the only mechanism under the FCRA to restrict third-party access to data collected about you without your explicit permission.
Pull Your Employment Data Report First
Before freezing anything, request your own Employment Data Report at employees.theworknumber.com. It is free. Processing takes 1 to 3 business days and you can request it online, by phone, or by mail.
The report shows:
- Every employer currently in your file
- The title and dates on record for each
- A log of every verifier who has queried your data in the past 24 months
Review it before you freeze. Look for three things: title mismatches between what the database shows and what is on your resume, date discrepancies of more than 30 days, and any employers that appear incomplete or missing.
If you find errors, file a dispute before freezing. Freezing blocks all third-party access, but it can also slow down your own ability to correct the record if a dispute requires back-and-forth with Equifax. Get the data corrected, confirm the correction, then freeze. The Sterling background check job title discrepancy guide covers how those errors get flagged on the employer side once a check is running.
Step-by-Step: How to Freeze The Work Number
Option 1: Online (Fastest)
- Go to employees.theworknumber.com
- Navigate to the Freeze Your Data section
- Complete the request form with your personal identifying information
- Submit
Processing time: 1 to 3 business days. You will receive a PIN by mail after the freeze is confirmed. Keep it safe. You will need it to lift the freeze.
Option 2: By Phone
Call the Employee Service Center at 1-800-367-2884 (TTY: 1-800-424-0253). Have your Social Security Number and identifying information ready. The agent will process the freeze request. You still receive the PIN by mail.
Option 3: By Email
Download the freeze request form from employees.theworknumber.com. Send the completed form with proof of identity (government-issued ID) and proof of address (recent pay stub within 60 days) to [email protected].
Request a secure email link from them before sending sensitive documents. Do not attach identity documents to a standard unencrypted email.
Option 4: By Mail
Send the completed freeze form and documentation to:
Equifax Workforce Solutions
ATTN: Employment Data Freeze
3470 Rider Trail South
Earth City, MO 63045
Mail processing takes 7 to 14 business days. If you are in an active hiring process with a background check already initiated, mail is not viable. Use online or phone.
| Method | Processing Time | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Online portal | 1 to 3 business days | Active hiring process, fastest turnaround |
| Phone (1-800-367-2884) | 1 to 3 business days | If online portal has technical issues |
| Email ([email protected]) | 3 to 5 business days | Preference for written record |
| Mail (Earth City, MO) | 7 to 14 business days | Not recommended during active job search |
What Happens on the Recruiter's Side When It Is Frozen
This is what most guides skip entirely. They tell you to freeze but do not explain what happens next inside the hiring pipeline.
When a background check vendor queries The Work Number and hits a frozen file, here is what they receive: a blocked status message indicating the automated verification path is unavailable. The vendor's system then automatically reroutes the employment component to a Pending or Unable to Verify status.
What the recruiter actually sees on their HireRight, Checkr, or Sterling dashboard (see our Checkr vs HireRight comparison for vendor-specific adjudication workflows) is an employment component requiring supplemental documentation. Not a red flag. Not a failed check. Not the word "frozen." The dashboard shows a documentation request, exactly the same status that appears when a former employer is simply too small to be in the database.
The debrief notes I have reviewed across hundreds of background check processes do not flag frozen Work Number files as a candidate concern. They flag factual discrepancies: a title that does not match, dates that conflict materially, or an employer that the candidate claimed but that cannot be verified at all. A frozen file with a W-2 provided promptly is not a discrepancy: it is a resolved verification.
The candidate then provides W-2s or pay stubs directly to the vendor. The employment component clears. The offer moves forward.
One important timing note: The manual verification path adds 3 to 7 business days compared to an instant automated pull. If you are working against an offer deadline or a competing offer expiration, factor that in. Have your documents ready before the check starts, not after the request arrives. The background check taking long guide covers how to manage this timeline if the process stalls.
The Documentation You Need Ready
When the vendor requests manual verification, this is what resolves it:
| Document | What It Confirms | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| W-2 (tax year matching employment) | Employer name, EIN, wages, year | Full-time W-2 roles (most reliable) |
| Pay stubs (2 most recent per employer) | Employer name, pay period, gross wages | Active or recently ended roles |
| Offer letter + separation letter | Start date, end date, title | Roles where payroll records are incomplete |
| 1099-NEC | Contractor relationship, company name | Contract or freelance engagements |
| Signed contract or statement of work | Dates of engagement, company name | Consulting or project-based work |
For W-2s and pay stubs: you do not need to provide the full unredacted document. Redacting your home address is acceptable. Do not redact employer name, EIN, or dates. Those are exactly what the verifier needs to close the component.
If the vendor requests income verification specifically, not just employment dates, check whether the state where the role is located has a salary history ban. In California, New York, Colorado, Washington, and Illinois, among others, employers are legally prohibited from using past salary in compensation decisions. You can provide employment verification without income data and note that you are exercising your rights under applicable state law if pressed.
How to Handle It If Your Recruiter Asks
Most recruiters will not ask about the freeze. The background check vendor routes the documentation request directly to you as the candidate through the vendor's candidate portal. The recruiter simply sees the employment component move from Pending to Verified once you submit documents.
If a recruiter does ask why verification took longer or why you provided documents manually, the cleanest response is:
"I have a standard privacy freeze on my employment records: something I put in place for identity theft protection. I provided the W-2s directly to [vendor name] and it should be cleared now."
That is a complete, accurate answer. Identity theft protection is one of the most common reasons people freeze employment data. You are not required to explain further or justify your privacy choices.
What you should not do: proactively mention the freeze before the background check starts. There is no reason to. The vendor handles the documentation request. Bringing it up unprompted creates questions that do not need to exist in the recruiter's mind. Whether a background check will contact your current employer is a separate question entirely: the will background check contact your current employer guide covers that process in full.
Lifting the Freeze When You Need To
When you want to lift the freeze (for a mortgage, a future background check where you want automated verification, or a lender income verification), you will need the PIN you received when the freeze was placed.
Go to employees.theworknumber.com, navigate to the freeze management section, and submit a lift request with your PIN. Lifts typically process within 1 to 3 business days.
You can also request a temporary lift for a specific time window rather than a permanent removal. If you know a background check vendor will query the database on a specific date, lift for a 5-day window, let the check run, and refreeze. The Work Number's online portal supports this.
If you lose your PIN, call 1-800-367-2884 to go through identity verification and obtain a replacement.
Smart Sequencing: When to Freeze, When to Lift
Most candidates get the timing wrong by freezing too late or lifting too early. The sequence that works:
Before you start applying actively: Pull your Employment Data Report. Review every employer on file. Dispute any errors. Confirm corrections are reflected before proceeding. This is the step most people skip, and the one that matters most if your file has inaccuracies.
After disputes are resolved: Place the freeze. You are now protected from automated queries during your entire job search.
When you receive an offer: Do not lift the freeze. Prepare your W-2 packet (one per employer). Going back 5 to 7 years covers most checks, though most background checks cover your entire career history or the past 7 years, whichever is shorter per the employer's policy.
When the background check initiates: Have your documents staged and ready. The vendor will request them within 2 to 5 business days of the employment component returning Unable to Verify. Submit the same business day you receive the request. Speed here is what prevents timeline delays from compounding.
After the background check clears: The freeze remains in place. It stays active for all future queries until you choose to lift it. For candidates actively job searching, leaving it frozen between roles and lifting temporarily for each background check window is the cleanest approach.
Frequently Asked Questions: Freezing The Work Number
What is The Work Number and why does it matter for background checks?
The Work Number is an Equifax-owned database covering more than 2.7 million employers. Background check vendors like Checkr, HireRight, and Sterling query it automatically to verify your employment dates, job title, and in some cases salary history. If your former employer uses ADP, Paychex, Workday Payroll, or Ceridian, their payroll data feeds directly into this database.
Will freezing The Work Number cause my background check to fail?
No. A freeze blocks automated access but does not delete your data or return a negative flag. When the vendor cannot pull your record, the employment component moves to an Unable to Verify or Pending status. You then provide W-2s or pay stubs directly. The verification resolves. The check does not fail: it takes longer.
What does a recruiter actually see when The Work Number is frozen?
On the background check vendor dashboard, the employment component shows as Pending or Unable to Verify, not as frozen. The recruiter sees a request for supplemental documentation, not a red flag. The word freeze does not appear on the report the recruiter receives.
How long does it take to freeze The Work Number?
Online requests process within 1 to 3 business days. Mail requests take 7 to 14 business days. If you are in an active hiring process, use the online portal at employees.theworknumber.com and submit immediately instead of mailing.
Can I freeze The Work Number if my background check has already started?
Yes, but it is often too late to affect the current check if the vendor already queried the database. Most vendors run the automated query within 24 to 48 hours of initiating the check. If you are still in the offer stage and the background check has not started, freeze first.
What documents do I need to provide if my Work Number is frozen?
W-2s are the most reliable. They confirm employer name, EIN, and the tax year without requiring precise day-level date matching. Pay stubs with employer letterhead and a clear pay period also work. For gig or contract roles without W-2s, use a signed contract, 1099, or bank statements showing payroll deposits.
Does freezing The Work Number hide salary history?
Yes. When frozen, third-party verifiers cannot access income data stored in the database. This is the primary reason tech workers in states without salary history bans choose to freeze: it removes one data point companies use to anchor a lower offer.
Should I tell my recruiter I froze The Work Number?
No. Do not proactively mention it. Wait until the background check vendor requests alternative documentation. When they do, provide W-2s promptly and frame it as a standard privacy measure if asked. Most recruiters do not ask and do not need to know.