Disney charges for Employment Verification

I guess this is a sign of the times and shows how Michael Eisner is running the company.

Disney used to have a phone number to verify employment, 818-972-4600, but Disney outsourced the service to http://www.theworknumber.com or 800-367-5690, but in doing so they now charge to verify employment. It costs $12 to verify employment and $15 to verify income. It does make it less likely that a former employee would want to check the information since it now costs money to do so.

The old number is now disconnected and when you call Disney, you are transfered to a phone menu which gives you a phone number to call. When you call the number, it says that there is also a web page which you can use. What it does say is that now you have to pay money in order to get employment verification.

A representative of Disney stated that they outsourced this area and that the company charges money. What was once considered a cost of doing business and was free, now costs $12 to verify employment and $15 to verify income.

I guess once you are gone from the company they don't care about you, well, actually, they really don't seem to care about you when you work there either.

I guess they need the money in order to pay Michael Eisner.

Update: I called the CA Labor Board and I was told that charging for employment verification was in violation of Labor Board Section 450.

I called Disney Employee Records and they did not care. They said that they had no control over and refused to contact Disney Legal about the matter. They gave me the number for Disney Legal and I talked to one of their lawyers. Several times I was told that they could not look into it further because they did not have enough information, even though I told them to call their own phone number and listen to the message which refers you to the 800 number. I guess that is too much to ask of Disney. I was also told that Disney had not outsourced it, yet I did not get answer to whether Disney owned the above mentioned company. Employee records states that they outsourced, yet legal refuses to admit this.

I was told, after much effort, that they would look into the matter and get back to me. Somehow I doubt it, but you never know. The other solution is to file a complaint with the CA Labor Board.

It is too bad that Disney does not seem to want to follow the law, but based on my past experiences with them it is nothing new.