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An employment verification letter is written proof of a person's job. It confirms the job title, dates of employment and pay for a lender, landlord or new employer. Employees need one when they apply for a mortgage, a rental or a new job.
Create the letter in the builder below, or download the free Employee and Employer PDF templates, read a sample letter and follow the step-by-step help for filling it out.
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An employment verification letter is a short letter from an employer that confirms a current or former employee's job title, dates of employment and, when the employee asks, pay. It answers a request from the employee or from a third party the employee has named.
The process usually has two letters. The employee sends a request that says which details to confirm and who should receive them. The employer, most often its human resources or payroll team, replies with the confirmed details, a signature and a contact for questions.
The letter goes by several names: proof of employment letter, employment confirmation letter, job verification letter or, when it centers on pay, income verification letter. All of them describe the same document.
The letter reports facts, not opinions. That sets it apart from a reference letter, which describes a person's skills, character and work habits.
You need an employment verification letter when a lender, landlord, new employer, school or agency asks for proof that you work, or used to work, at a company. Each of them looks for slightly different details.
If you are the one asking, say why you need the letter and who should receive it. If you are the one replying, check that the person asking is the one named in the request before you share anything.
An employment verification letter includes the employee's full name, job title, dates of employment and the writer's contact details, plus pay and work schedule when the employee asks for them.
Leave out anything the employee did not ask the company to share. A letter that covers only the asked-for facts is easier to check and harder to misread.
An income verification letter is a verification letter that puts pay first: the pay rate, how often it is paid and, if the employee asks, bonuses or overtime. Lenders and landlords look for this version, because their question is whether the income is steady.
The reader often sets the letter next to recent pay stubs. Make sure the pay in the letter matches what the payroll system shows for the same period.
There is no single standard layout for the letter. What matters is that every detail in it is true and matches the company's own payroll and HR data.
Some companies have a policy of sharing job details only when the employee has signed a written request. A request that carries the employee's signature is easier for the company to answer.
An employment verification request asks a current or former employer to confirm a short list of facts about a person: the dates of employment, the job title and, when needed, the pay.
Keep the list short. Many companies answer only questions they can check against their own data, such as dates, title and pay. Here is an example of a request for verification of employment.
Dear Madam/Sir,
Jack Anderson has applied for the position of Lead Software Engineer with Brightline Software Inc., and he listed your company in his work history. We would appreciate your help in confirming some details from his resume by answering the following questions:
Thank you in advance for your reply. Please contact us if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Sarah Parkinson
Human Resources Manager
Brightline Software Inc.
Email: s.parkinson@brightline.example
Phone: 555-0142
Leave pay questions out of a request from a hiring employer. In California, an employer generally cannot, orally or in writing, personally or through an agent, seek salary history information about an applicant for employment, except pay records open to the public under federal or state law (Cal. Lab. Code § 432.3, subd. (b) and (f)). Pay questions belong in requests the employee signs for a lender or a landlord.
You can add questions about the person's work, but some companies decline them and confirm only the basics. Questions of this kind look like these:
Above the list of questions, add a line with the employee's name and the words "hereby permits this information to be shared". Leave a space below it where the employee can sign and date. The signature shows that the employee approved the request, and a signed request gets more complete answers.
To skip the drafting, build a customized letter in the online builder at the top of this page.
Respond to a verification request by checking your company's release policy first, then confirming only facts you can verify, such as dates of employment, job title and pay.
Your answer feeds into someone else's hiring or lending decision. These three habits keep it accurate and keep your company out of trouble.
Your company policy may tell you to use its own verification form instead of the one sent to you. It may also limit what you can share, or send every request through HR or payroll. Settle this before you write a reply.
Do not attach the employee's personnel papers, resignation letter or other internal documents. A short letter that confirms the asked-for facts answers the request without exposing anything else.
A verification request sometimes asks for an opinion of the employee, such as whether you would rehire them. Many employers decline those questions and confirm only facts they can check in their own records.
Share nothing beyond what the employee asked you to share. A reply that sticks to the facts usually covers these points:
The Employer template on this page has lines for these details: the job title, full or part time, hours per week, hourly or salaried, pay frequency and pay rate. The sample letter further down this page shows a finished reply.
You can verify proof of employment by confirming that the company exists, calling it on a number you find yourself, and matching the pay in the letter to pay stubs or bank deposits.
Take these steps before you hire someone or approve a mortgage, a car loan or a lease.
A self-employed person, or one paid in cash, may have no employer to write a letter. Ask for the tax returns that reported that income instead.
FormsPal offers two templates for this letter: the Employee template is the request an employee sends to a company, and the Employer template is the reply that confirms the job details.
| Employee template | Employer template | |
|---|---|---|
| Who fills it out | The current or former employee | The company or its HR team |
| Purpose | Ask the company to confirm job details | Confirm the job title, hours and pay |
| Main fields | Date, Attn, Regarding, company, recipient, contact details, name and title | Job title, part or full time, hours per week, hourly or salaried, pay frequency and pay rate |
| Best used when | You need proof of employment for a loan, a rental or a new job | You received a request and want to reply in writing |
Not sure which one fits? Start with the Employee template if you need a letter, and with the Employer template if you are the one writing it.
To fill out the Employee template, enter the date and the recipient, name yourself as the employee, add your company and the party who should get the confirmation, give your contact details and sign off with your name and job title.
The steps below follow the FormsPal Employee template from the download above, the request an employee sends to a company. You can fill in the downloaded PDF in the PDF editor. The Employer download is the reply letter, with lines for the job title, hours and pay instead of a request list.
The screenshots under each step show the FormsPal Employee template filled with sample entries in blue, so you can see where each answer goes. The names, addresses, dates and amounts are examples only.
The person who writes the letter signs it: the employee signs a request, and the employer signs a reply. Each letter goes to a different place, so follow the steps for your version.
Send the letter in the way the recipient asked for, such as email or a portal upload, and note when you sent it.
The samples below are replies from an employer, written on the same lines as the Employer template: one for a former employee and one for a current employee. All names, dates and amounts are made up.
A letter for a former employee confirms the start date, the end date, the last job title and the final pay, and gives a phone number for follow-up questions.
Sheila Woods
Human Resources Manager
Harbor Foods Corporation
38 Jefferson Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90003
October 5, 2026
Sarah Parkinson
Human Resources Manager
Brightline Software Inc.
52 Aspen Street
Los Angeles, CA 90019
Dear Ms. Parkinson,
This letter is to verify that Jack Anderson was employed at Harbor Foods Corporation as a Lead Software Engineer from January 5, 2024, to September 30, 2026, with an annual salary of $98,000.
For any additional information regarding Jack, please contact me at 555-0187.
Sincerely,
Sheila Woods
A letter for a current employee confirms that the person still works at the company, with the start date, the job title, the schedule and the present pay.
To Whom It May Concern,
This letter confirms that Maria Lopez has worked at Harbor Foods Corporation as a Payroll Specialist since March 2, 2022. She works full time, about 40 hours per week, at an annual salary of $64,000, paid every two weeks.
Please call me at 555-0187 with any questions.
Sincerely,
Sheila Woods, Human Resources Manager, Harbor Foods Corporation
EVL is short for employment verification letter, a letter from an employer that confirms a person's job title, dates of employment and, when asked, pay. Lenders, landlords and hiring teams ask for it as proof of a job.
A confirmation of employment letter is another name for an employment verification letter. Some employers use the term for a letter about a current job, such as one sent to a bank or a landlord, and keep "verification" for checks on past jobs.
Ask your HR or payroll team in writing, say who should receive the letter and which details it should confirm, and sign the request so the company can share your information. The Employee template on this page is written for that request.
It follows a business letter format: the company letterhead or address, the date, the recipient, a short body with the confirmed facts, and the writer's signature, name, title and contact details. The samples above show this layout.
No. A letter is written in sentences by the employer, while an employment verification form has set fields that the employer fills in. Some companies reply only on their own form.
Yes, applicants often send one with a visa application. The office handling the application decides which details it wants, so read its document list before you ask your employer for the letter.
Download the free Employee or Employer PDF template from this page. You can also answer a few questions in the online builder at the top of the page and create your own letter.
General information, not legal or tax advice.
