You can freeze your Work Number employment file for free at employees.theworknumber.com/employee-data-freeze. Equifax processes the freeze within about three business days, and it blocks most verifiers from pulling your salary and employment history. Request your free Employment Data Report first, so you can see exactly what your employer has been reporting.
What The Work Number Is
The Work Number is an Equifax-owned database of employment and income records. Thousands of employers — including most large ones — automatically upload payroll data to it: your employer name, job title, start and end dates, employment status, and pay period by pay period earnings. It is used for mortgage and loan underwriting, pre-employment background checks, government benefit eligibility, and tenant screening.
Most people have never heard of it, were never asked to consent, and have no idea how granular it is. It is a nationwide specialty consumer reporting agency regulated under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), which is what gives you the right to see the file, dispute it, and freeze it.
Your Salary History Is in There, Line by Line
A Work Number Employment Data Report can include per-pay-period gross earnings going back years. In salary negotiations, a prospective employer pulling that report knows exactly what you currently earn. Several states ban asking about salary history — a data pull sidesteps the conversation entirely.
Step 1: Request Your Free Employment Data Report
Before freezing anything, see what is on file. Go to employees.theworknumber.com and create an account, or call the Employee Service Center at 1-800-367-2884. Your Employment Data Report is free — the FCRA entitles you to it — and you can request it online, by phone or by mail.
Check every employer, every date range, and every earnings line. Errors here cause loan denials and failed background checks, and you cannot dispute what you have not read.
Step 2: Dispute Anything Inaccurate
If the report shows wrong dates, a job you never held, an incorrect termination reason or wrong earnings, file a dispute through your Work Number account or by phone. Under the FCRA the agency must investigate, typically within 30 days. Keep copies of what you submit and note the date — if the dispute stalls, that record is what you escalate with.
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Step 3: Place the Employment Data Freeze
The freeze is free and you can request it at any time. Two routes:
- Online (fastest): use the Freeze Your Data page at employees.theworknumber.com/employee-data-freeze from your account. Processing takes roughly one to three business days.
- By form: complete Equifax's Employment Data Freeze Placement form with the required proof of identity documentation and return it by mail, or email it via the secure channel — write to TWNFreeze@equifax.com to request a secure email to return the form through. The Work Number states it processes freeze requests within three days of receipt.
Once the freeze is in place, most verifiers cannot view your data from The Work Number without you lifting it.
Step 4: Know When to Lift It
A freeze has real trade-offs, and they are the reason to plan ahead rather than freeze the day before you need something:
- An employer may delay a job offer if it cannot verify your employment automatically.
- A lender may need more time — or manual paperwork — to approve a mortgage or loan.
- Benefit applications with government agencies can take longer to process.
Lifting the freeze temporarily is free too. The practical pattern: keep it frozen by default, lift it when you are actively in a mortgage, lease or hiring process, then re-freeze.
Freezing Beats Manual Verification Letters
Verifiers can still confirm employment the old-fashioned way — a letter from HR, pay stubs, a phone call. A freeze does not make you unverifiable. It just means the verification goes through you rather than around you, and nobody gets your full multi-year earnings history when they only needed to confirm you work where you say you do.
Step 5: Close the Rest of the Loop
The Work Number is one file among many. The same underlying problem — companies compiling and selling records about you that you never agreed to — runs through the whole data broker ecosystem, and the people-search layer is the part that publishes your home address and phone number to anyone who searches your name.
Freeze the specialty agencies that matter to you: ChexSystems for bank accounts, NCTUE for telecom and utilities, Innovis and the three main credit bureaus for credit. Then deal with the brokers that publish rather than merely report. PrivacyOn removes your personal information from 100+ data brokers and people-search sites, monitors 24/7 for re-listings, and covers up to 5 family members from $8.33/month. The exposure scan is free and needs no signup — start there and see what is already public.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is freezing The Work Number free?
Yes. Both placing and lifting an employment data freeze are free, and there is no limit on how many times you can do it. Your Employment Data Report is free as well.
How long does a Work Number freeze take to process?
About one to three business days when requested online. Equifax states that freeze requests submitted by form are processed within three days of receipt.
Can I opt out of The Work Number entirely?
No. Because The Work Number operates as a nationwide specialty consumer reporting agency under the FCRA, and your employer supplies the data, there is no full deletion or opt-out. The freeze is the strongest control available to you — it stops the data being disclosed rather than stopping it being collected.
Will freezing The Work Number hurt my job application?
It can slow it down. If an employer's background check cannot pull automated verification, they may ask you for pay stubs or an HR letter instead, which takes longer. If you are actively job hunting, lift the freeze during the process and re-freeze afterwards.
Does my employer have to tell me they report to The Work Number?
In practice, most do not, and the reporting happens automatically through payroll providers. You can ask your HR or payroll department directly whether your employer submits data, though your rights to see and freeze the file exist either way.
What other agencies should I freeze at the same time?
Equifax, Experian and TransUnion for credit (free, and the single most effective anti-fraud step), ChexSystems for checking and savings accounts, NCTUE for telecom and utility applications, and Innovis. Each takes a few minutes and each closes a route someone could use to open something in your name.
Does freezing The Work Number remove my info from people-search sites?
No — they are separate systems. A Work Number freeze controls employment and income verification; people-search sites like Spokeo, BeenVerified and Whitepages publish your name, address, age, phone number and relatives from entirely different sources. PrivacyOn handles that side, removing you from 100+ brokers with continuous monitoring so profiles do not quietly return.