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Equifax Breach Fallout: Your Salary History

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Re: Equifax Breach Fallout: Your Salary History

#121

Post by dag11 »

blaisco wrote: post #87
nsxwolf wrote: post #19

I didn't know this existed at all. I thought they just made phone calls to your previous employer and asked. Are we allowed to see what's in it? I mean normally, not just when there's a data breach (and it looks like they shut it all down right now). Because when you get asked this on an interview, what's the "right" answer? There's base pay, bonuses, 401k match, all kinds of stuff. So the "right" answer is up in the…

Yes, you are allowed to see what's in it. I remember checking my salary history a year ago. I was surprised at how detailed it was.

How did you do it?

Re: Equifax Breach Fallout: Your Salary History

#122

Post by bognition »

freehunter wrote: post #107
KGIII wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can't really mandate implants. Well, you could but that's how you get open revolution in the streets.

Luckily we already have 2fa implants. They're called retinas or fingerprints, to be used in conjunction with passwords. What you have, what you know, what you are. Those are the three factors. Passwords and fingerprints are two of them.

No actually those don't work for the same reason that SSNs don't work.

You need the ability to change out your password or 2fa if it gets compromised. You can't change your fingerprints or retinas.

Re: Equifax Breach Fallout: Your Salary History

#123

Post by dboreham »

matt_wulfeck wrote: post #6

> The service is designed to provide automated employment and income verification for prospective employers, and tens of thousands of companies report employee salary data to it. It sounds like companies can easily use this to collude against employee wages and benefits.

Is this actually true though?

Lenders want to "verify employment" and I can imagine a service where big employers report who is working for them to an agency, allowing lenders to query the agency to check employment.

What I doubt is that employers report salary data to Equifax. I'm an employer and I've never heard of this. I'm good friends with (well...married to) someone who worked in this field and tells me it is highly illegal to divulge non-anonymized salary data to any entity other than the IRS.

I've been trained how to answer calls from lenders asking about our employees (I can answer "yes that person works for us", and provide no other information, period).

The idea that Equifax built a giant database of everyone's salary data is completely at odds with everything I've ever heard as a person running a business with employees.

Also...if they had this data why am I always asked to provide my salary on loan applications?

Re: Equifax Breach Fallout: Your Salary History

#124

Post by 6stringmerc »

matt_wulfeck wrote: post #6

> The service is designed to provide automated employment and income verification for prospective employers, and tens of thousands of companies report employee salary data to it. It sounds like companies can easily use this to collude against employee wages and benefits.

So when can we file a class action lawsuit?

Re: Equifax Breach Fallout: Your Salary History

#125

Post by dboreham »

paxy wrote: post #120
matt_wulfeck wrote: post #6

> The service is designed to provide automated employment and income verification for prospective employers, and tens of thousands of companies report employee salary data to it. It sounds like companies can easily use this to collude against employee wages and benefits.

This is why you never agree to a background/credit check from an employer unless you have an offer – with a number – in hand.

As a business owner I have had to run background checks on prospective employees (because contracts with our clients required it). In no case were we given this kind of information.

Re: Equifax Breach Fallout: Your Salary History

#127

Post by falcolas »

Spooky23 wrote: post #116
falcolas wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No birth certificate? Those are, iirc, public records.

The child was never born. The only records are “anonymous” by HIPPA standards data that the hospital or insurance co likely sells or shares with 3rd parties who can match a hospital admission to our mailing address.

I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that the first time.

Yeah. Many levels of creepyness there.

Re: Equifax Breach Fallout: Your Salary History

#128

Post by matt_wulfeck »

6stringmerc wrote: post #124
matt_wulfeck wrote: post #6

> The service is designed to provide automated employment and income verification for prospective employers, and tens of thousands of companies report employee salary data to it. It sounds like companies can easily use this to collude against employee wages and benefits.

So when can we file a class action lawsuit?

You’ll be better off taking them to small claims court.

Re: Equifax Breach Fallout: Your Salary History

#129

Post by TrinaryWorksToo »

iosDrone wrote: post #110
downer72 wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In some cases, it is explicitly stated by the prospective employer that any refusal of requested information (or providing false information) will be met with a rejection letter. I have been on interviews where this is part of a boiler plate release/waiver for a background check, prior to receiving an offer letter, and on the same form, you are made to list prior employers, and fill in the salary box for each. And if…

My offer letter says that I'm legally forbidden from disclosing the terms of my compensation. You should just fill in the salary boxes that you are under a legal obligation not to do so.

In California, you are legally allowed to share your salary. I would just not accept a job where they ask my salary, if I can create a big enough market where I can make that decision.

Re: Equifax Breach Fallout: Your Salary History

#130

Post by josh_fyi »

shostack wrote: post #75
Retric wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Past pay is not directly a significant issue. It's just a question of getting competing offers. The real issue is some people suck at negotiation and past salaries will tell companies that.

Any suggestions on how to bypass the question of past/expected comp then?

1. Say that your past contracts forbid it

2. Make up a figure -- you have a lot of leeway to do so truthfully by adding or not adding various benefits to the number you state.

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