My wife's past employer is basically threating my wife's job with a future employer.

[diabeticman]

My wife is going through the background check for the one employer that would be a temp job however the company hit a snag with verify her employment with the one company. They have e-mailed my wife asking for documentation.

We are in the middle right now of trying to find her W-2 from the company in some of the boxes we have not had the chance to unpack yet ...(no success)

So my wife called the past employer and they where snippy with her saying they never received her hand written signature to release that information.

She told them the company never had her sign anything that all they had to do was verify the dates like they would verify with any other company.

No they won't

This is the same company who gave her all that trouble because of jury duty and basically would not give her a client to work with.

She told them that if she loses this job because of their actions she would sue them.

EDIT: this is the only issue this company is having in documenting her. There seems to be no other hiccups.

[Sheldon Cooper]

1. Start looking for that W2.

There's virtually nothing she can do to the other company, so don't waste time looking for what retaliation she can take. Find the W2 and move on.

[diabeticman]

2. And if we can't find the W-2? We probably will but if we can't....

[Sheldon Cooper]

7. I don't have a crystal ball, so I don't know.

But you are wasting a lot of energy being upset about something you have very little chance of fixing. It's just counterproductive, and you can try to sue them until the cows come home and all you'll get from it is more agitation.

If you can't find the W-2, look for old paystubs, maybe old schedules with the company name on them, copies of any company memos or emails to their employees, any other correspondence, etc. and submit that as verification of employment.

[diabeticman]

10. That's just it...She is basically screwed.

[jberryhill]

9. Presumably, you filed a copy with the IRS?

http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc156.html

If you need an exact copy of a previously filed and processed tax return and all attachments (including Form W-2), you should complete Form 4506 (PDF), Request for Copy of Tax Return, and mail it to the address listed in the instructions, along with a $50.00 fee for each tax return requested. The check or money order for the fee should be made payable to the "United States Treasury," and should include your SSN or EIN and the notation "Form 4506 request." Copies are generally available for returns filed for the current and past six years. Copies of jointly filed tax returns may be requested by either spouse and only one signature is required. Allow 75 calendar days to receive your copies.

[diabeticman]

12. Nice to know for the future however she has to start work on Nov 3rd or lose the job.

[liberalhistorian]

19. What about copies of past tax returns

that show the copy of the W-2? Did you have a CPA or tax preparer do your taxes or did you do them yourself? If you had a CPA or tax preparer do them, then they should have a copy of it. If you did them yourself, you could probably even contact the IRS and ask for a copy. That has worked for me in the past when I needed a W-2 or tax return and couldn't find it.

[diabeticman]

21. We can maybe call Jackson Hewitt. Last time we had a issue we had to call to New York and it became

a huge game of telephone.

[dembotoz]

30. my tax guy seems to have copies of everything

or perhaps he just knows how bad we are at this stuff
You can also get a copy of the tax return from the irs
we get to do that every damn year for fafsa audit.
every damn year.....

[MannyGoldstein]

3. Can she sign a release now?

Drop it off or fax.

Call the company and ask how you can work together to solve this problem.

[diabeticman]

5. She was never given a release to sign.

[MannyGoldstein]

23. Ask for one.

Or write one yourself.

"I, [name], hereby request and give permission to [previous company] to release [name(s) of documents] to [new company]."

Sincerely yours,

[signature]
[printed name]

Put it on personal letterhead that you make up on your computer. You could also cc (copy) the new company on the letter, to show them that your wife is trying!

For the new company, you might want to put the name or department, along with an address, email, fax, and/or whatever contact info that will make it easy to do.

[diabeticman]

24. Thanks I will have her do that IF her talk with the company manager didn't work.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

4. Certified mail time.

So my wife called the past employer and they where snippy with her saying they never received her hand written signature to release that information.

Send them a notarized written request for same by certified mail, requiring them to sign for it. Have a couple of witneses who sign a form stating they watched her put that form in the envelope, verified the address and watched her put it in the mail.

It may or may not help with actually getting the info, but it should help if you actually do end up going to a lawsuit, if they still want to pretend they never got a request.

[diabeticman]

6. okay.

[stevenleser]

8. Often, the IRS has that W2 information. You can also contact them. nt

[catrose]

11. Yes, that doc would have been including w/your last filing

So you could call IRS and ask for a copy of your last filing plus the attachments.

[MineralMan]

13. I'm sure you'll find it in your records.

I'd make that a high priority. For future reference, it's a good idea each year to put all tax forms and supporting documents in a clearly marked large envelope so you can find them quickly when needed, even after moving.

If you ever apply for a mortgage or something like that, you'll be glad you did that. Same with all other important documents. Having to search through unsorted papers when you really need a document is very stressful.

[diabeticman]

14. We normally have all that documentation together in a folder it is just when we moved that TAX

return from last year wasn't put with the others because the others had been packed away and we had it handy in case of audit.

[MineralMan]

16. Again, I'm sure you'll find it.

Moving can make it difficult, for sure. I found some records in a box I don't remember putting them in after I moved to Minnesota. Moving gets things into places you don't expect.

[Kber]

15. Fwiw

When I hire I make a good faith attempt to verify all info, but if the company or reference doesn't call back, I move on. I don't take it out on the perspective employee.

Also, there is no law that I know of that prohibits past employers from releasing employment dates. It is true I cannot release salary without a signed letter though.

You may be stressing over nothing. Try calling the new place and explaining the situation. They may be sympathetic. I would be.

[JayhawkSD]

18. Yeah, the former employer is a "dick"

They do not need employee's permission to relaese the dates of employment. I have been asked for that information "verification of employment" dozens of times and have never hesitated to provide it. If they ask for any information more than that I decline.

The prospective employer does need to ask, "May we contact your present/past employers?" but that can be verbal.

[JayhawkSD]

17. I think you might regret going to work for the new employer.

Pretty rigid about form of verification of employment, as well as "Go to work by Nov 3rd or lose the job." Maybe this is just the new norm for conditions of employment, but I would take it as a bad sign of what they are like to work for.

You may not, of course, have any choice, in which case you have my sympathy.

[diabeticman]

20. The company she will work for is basically a company known all over the world and more than likely

a few government contracts.

The info is being verified by a third part company.

[JayhawkSD]

31. Okay, now I know she will regret going to work for that company. nt

[SheilaT]

22. Is the underlying problem here

that she's needing to get a security clearance, which means that they want to know every single job she's ever had back to 1938? Because if this is just some ordinary sort of temp job, I don't get why the prospective employer is bothered by this company behaving like this, not if she has other employment that's easy to verify.

I do hope you find the W2 and that it gets resolved quickly.

[Youdontwantthetruth]

25. Lawyer Up ASAP and she may never have to work again!

Many a company have LOST cases like this in court already, most Large Companies or Corporations now will just verify the dates of employment and salary information.

If they do or say anything more they are opening themselves up for a big old lawsuit.

Case in point about 12 years ago I worked for a major corporation where one of the admins had left for another job that paid more.

When the other company came a checking my boss, a VP, decided to bad mouth her because he was pissed she was leaving for more money that he would not match and he would have to hire a new admin.

Needless to say she did not get the job because of him, she sued, the VP was fired within 2 days of the company being hit with the lawsuit and they quickly settled, she now does not have to work.

The company even had a policy prior to the incident that any inquires go to HR and they only verify dates of employment, salary info and general duties.

Many were glad he got canned too.

[PDJane]

26. In the meantime, head to the nearest IRS office withe documentation of identity. It's faster.v

[diabeticman]

27. I will tell my wife.

[Brigid]

28. Try Social Security.

She should be able to set up an account online to view her employment history and print it out -- or visit them in person.

[diabeticman]

29. Thanks

[jcboon]

32. Try the state employment office

In Virginia the Virginia Employment Commission has a record of your employment history.