Zinc's HMRC integration confirms employer names and dates of employment, drawn directly from HMRC payroll records. This is independently verified data. It reflects what was actually reported to HMRC, not what the candidate has written on their CV or told a referee.

What HMRC employment verification doesn't confirm is job title, salary, or reasons for leaving. That information isn't in HMRC's employment records.

It also won't surface informal, undeclared, or self-employed work where no PAYE reporting was made. It validates stated employment periods, not unexplained time between roles.

For a full picture, including job titles and conduct, employment verification works best alongside professional references.

The candidate logs into their Government Gateway account and gives Zinc one-time permission to retrieve their employment history.

Zinc pulls verified company names and employment dates directly from HMRC data, completely independently of what the candidate or their referees tell you. The whole thing typically takes under a minute and doesn't require any document upload.

Because the data comes straight from HMRC payroll records, it can't be edited or fabricated. That makes it particularly effective at identifying discrepancies between declared history and actual record, including overlapping employment and employers that don't match what's on a CV.

Employment verification through HMRC confirms the objective facts: which companies a candidate worked for and when, from independent payroll data.

It's fast, automated, and can't be manipulated. But it doesn't tell you anything about how someone performed, why they left, or what it was like to work with them.

A reference check provides the qualitative context that verification can't. A referee can speak to a candidate's skills, conduct, work style, and overall performance.

Together, the two checks do different jobs: verification confirms the facts; references provide the story behind them. HMRC verification is an optional complement to references, not a replacement. Using both gives you the strongest foundation for a hiring decision.

Because instant employment verification only goes back a certain number of years, references are important for regulated companies who are required to track an entire career.

Yes. Because Zinc pulls employment dates directly from HMRC payroll records, it can identify overlapping employment periods: cases where a candidate was simultaneously recorded as employed by two different organisations.

This is one of the hardest things to detect through traditional referencing, where each employer only sees their own slice of the candidate's history.

Overlapping employment isn't automatically a problem. Some candidates legitimately hold multiple part-time roles. But for full-time positions, or roles with confidentiality and IP obligations, undisclosed concurrent employment is a material risk. Zinc surfaces it clearly in the verification report so your team can ask the right questions before making a decision. Other checks, like social media checks, are useful for finding side hustles that might otherwise go unreported.

Yes, where supported. Zinc has government data integrations in multiple countries, including:

• HMRC (UK)
• Seguridad Social (Spain)
• Revenue Online Service (Ireland)
• EPFO (India)
• Mijn UWV (Netherlands)
• Gov.br (Brazil)

Where an integration is available, verification works the same way as the UK: the candidate grants one-time access and verified data is pulled automatically.

For countries where instant verification isn't supported, candidates follow a standard HR reference path, which takes longer. If you need verification for a country not listed above, our team can advise on what's currently available.