Employment verifications create a dilemma for employers. There is nothing to gain from providing the information and a great deal to lose from exposure to litigation and liability. From a legal perspective, the three greatest areas of risk are in defamation, negligent misrepresentation involving risk of physical harm, and interference with prospective contractual relations. These risks are analyzed and means of limiting the risks are discussed.

The process of providing employment verifications is also examined from a privacy and security perspective with reference to widespread research demonstrating that poor internal procedures are the most likely cause of a breach of employee privacy. Automated verifications provide employers with a recommended tool for avoiding common sources of data management mismanagement and employee privacy violation.

During the question and answer session, issues covered include special requirements in the healthcare industry, when and how it is appropriate to correct lies by previous employees, when it is appropriate to provide current address information, what forms of release are required from employees, and verification requests from child support agencies.