mathematics

The Work Number

The Work Number is a mathematics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand The Work Number rather than just read about it. In short: The Work Number is an American employment verification database created in 1985 by Talx Corporation. Talx, (now Equifax Workforce Solutions) was acquired by Equifax Inc. in February 2007 for US$1.4 billion.

Key takeaways

The Work Number belongs to mathematics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect The Work Number to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of The Work Number from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Work Number is an American employment verification database created in 1985 by Talx Corporation. Talx, (now Equifax Workforce Solutions) was acquired by Equifax Inc. in February 2007 for US$1.4 billion. Through The Work Number, employers can purchase data on a prospective employee, including confirmation of an individual's employment records and income for verification purposes. The fee for information provided is given only after the requesting party answers several key questions. Organizations that have used the Work Number include Fannie Mae, Hilton Hotels, Rent-A-Center, the United States Postal Service, Domino's Pizza, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Missouri System. The Work Number collects and archives weekly salary information. It also collects length of employment, job titles, "location information", and "other kinds of human resources-related information, such as health care providers, whether someone has dental insurance and if they’ve ever filed an unemployment claim." Equifax sells data to third parties. Companies, including "mortgage, auto and other financial services credit grantors", may request pay rate information similar to a credit report. Also, "debt/collection agencies may request employment information" to verify someone's place of employment.

Controversies

Accuracy of information Consumers have notified Privacy Rights Clearinghouse that The Work Number's data is inaccurate, with outdated job titles and other misrepresentations of their work history.

2013 sale of sensitive personal information

In January 2013, The Work Number was criticized for selling access to people's ostensibly private data, especially salary data, to third parties, without the informed consent of the subject. Organizations affected included Columbia University, and third parties included debt collection companies. The director of policy and advocacy at the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse stated, "I think [this] is something that would be offensive to many people. One typically considers salary information to be shared by your employer just with the IRS."

2017 exposure of Americans' salary data On 8 October 2017, Brian Krebs reported that The Work Number exposed the salary histories of employees of tens of thousands of U.S. companies to anyone in possession of the employee's Social Security number and date of birth. For roughly half the U.S. population, both of the latter pieces of data are known to be in the possession of criminals, following Equifax's May-July 2017 security breach.

References

External links Official website

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with The Work Number

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what The Work Number claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In mathematics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to The Work Number before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about The Work Number ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of The Work Number

In research: The Work Number appears in mathematics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses The Work Number in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: The Work Number is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1985 introductions, Business process outsourcing companies, Economic databases, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for The Work Number outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study The Work Number in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what The Work Number means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain The Work Number out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is The Work Number in simple terms?

Why does The Work Number matter?

Because it connects several mathematics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study The Work Number?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on The Work Number.