Where To Go To Do A Background Check

A background check can verify a candidate'due south piece of work history, feel, and didactics; uncover resume lies or omissions; and reveal a criminal history. Conducting employment background checks helps you make smarter hiring decisions, just it's important your groundwork check process is consistent, legal, and off-white.

Here's everything you demand to know about doing employment groundwork checks.

Your workforce is the lifeblood of your company. Yous need qualified, trustworthy employees in order to hit your business organization goals — merely building a high-quality team is no easy feat. More than than half (56%) of the people in a recent survey lied on their resume, by and large around piece of work experience, pedagogy, skills, and job duties. While a small fabrication may non be a large deal in some industries, it could be downright unsafe and irresponsible in others.

Candidate omissions can be just every bit bad — if non worse — than simply stretching the truth. For instance, a candidate with a contempo history of violence may not be forthcoming nigh their by. An incident in the workplace could put customers and other employees in danger, which could pb to negligent hiring lawsuits and permanent impairment to the company's reputation.

A background check can assist you mitigate these risks and improve your quality of hire.

How To Run A Background Bank check

Running a background check begins with laying the groundwork for a fair, consequent procedure, and ends when y'all make an informed hiring decision. This guide will walk you through how to conduct a background cheque on an employee past post-obit these six steps:

one. Make Certain Yous Have a Consistent Background Check Policy in Place (Go to Footstep 1)

A written background bank check policy should certificate which background checks will be conducted, how they will be used in employment decisions, and when they will exist conducted. This helps ensure a fair and transparent process beyond your organization.

2. Make Sure Your Policy is Legally Compliant (Become to Footstep 2)

Between the Fair Credit Reporting Human action (FCRA), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidance and various state and local regulations, background check compliance can get tricky. It'southward always a proficient idea to review your policy with legal counsel.

3. Choose the Right Background Check Company(Go to Stride 3)

The best groundwork check partner for your visitor volition depend on your hiring volume, business organization size, number of locations, size of your 60 minutes team, budget, background screening policy, and in-house legal counsel. Be sure to use an employment background check company that complies with the FCRA.

iv. Know What to Expect (Become to Pace 4)

At that place are many different types of background checks you can run on candidates to fit the unique needs of your business, industry, and the positions for which you're hiring

v. Allow Your Candidate to Articulate Up Any Mistakes (Go to Step 5)

Your candidates have rights under the FCRA. Yous must start notify them of your intent to run a background check and get their permission in writing. If you consider not hiring the candidate, you must allow them to review their groundwork check results. They tin file a dispute with the groundwork check company to resolve any inaccuracies.

6. Make Your Decision (Get to Step 6)

Groundwork checks can help you make more than informed hiring decisions and so yous can improve your quality of hire and mitigate risk.

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1: Create A Background Check Policy

A background check policy documents the details of your screening program, and then it can be practical consistently across your organization. It should include three things:

Which types of background checks will be conducted, and for whom. It's a best practise to implement background screening across your unabridged organization, but tailor the employment screening packages by position. For example, you may wish to require credit checks for positions that manage money, and driving record checks for positions that involve operating motor vehicles.
How background check results will bear on employment decisions. Your background check policy should specify what types of information you will consider in employment decisions. It's considered a best practice to have into account the nature of the position sought, the nature of the criminal offense, and the amount of time since the conviction occurred.
When background checks will exist conducted. Decide the recruitment process stage in which you lot plan to screen candidates, and the intervals at which you lot plan to screen current employees. Federal law allows an employer to conduct employment screening at any indicate after getting the candidate'southward consent, but state and local laws may be more than restrictive.

A written background check policy helps y'all ensure a off-white and transparent process, forbid discrimination, and avoid litigation and enforcement from federal agencies.

2: Compliance: Background Checks For Employment & The Police force

Groundwork checks are governed by federal, state, and local laws and regulations. The employer is ultimately responsible for compliance, and failure to practice so can consequence in costly fines, settlements, and lawsuits.

Hither are iv potential violations to be aware of:

Consent forms: The FCRA requires employers to inform applicants in writing that a groundwork cheque volition exist run for employment purposes. This disclosure needs to exist articulate and conspicuous and provided as a stand-alone certificate.
Adverse action: The FCRA also requires employers to follow the iii-footstep adverse action process when they intend to take an unfavorable action based on the results of a background check. Employers must send a pre-adverse action notice with a copy of the background report and a Summary of Rights. And then they must give the candidate reasonable fourth dimension for the candidate to reply (typically five business days) before sending an adverse action discover.
Ban-the-box: Ban-the-box regulations vary amongst states and municipalities, simply commonly require that a background check be delayed until subsequently the commencement interview or later a conditional offering is made. Ban-the-box laws may too touch the agin activity procedure, so be certain to check applicative laws.
Championship Vii: The EEOC enforces Championship Vii of the Ceremonious Rights Human activity of 1964, prohibiting employer discrimination based on race, color, faith, sex, or national origin. Some groundwork screening policies may result in disproportionate adverse handling toward a protected group, especially minority populations that are arrested at disproportionate rates.

iii: How To Choose A Groundwork Check Company

Every business is unique, and it's important to choose a groundwork check provider that best fits your specific hiring and screening needs. The best background cheque service for your company will depend on your hiring volume, business size, number of locations, size of your Hr team, budget, background screening policy, and in-business firm legal counsel. Some features to consider are:

Built-in Compliance: Go across FCRA compliance to mitigate take a chance of unfair hiring practices, equally well as lawsuits and penalties related to EEOC, ban the box, and local regulations — especially if you hire across multiple locations.
Integrated Agin Activity Workflows: Ease compliance with congenital-in, localized agin activity workflows that alert you when to send pre-adverse and final adverse activity notices.
Individualized Assessments: Reduce scrutiny by the EEOC with a built-in way to inform you when individualized assessments are recommended or required.
Flexible Packages: Avoid over-screening candidates and reduce processing times with the right level of background check for your manufacture, position blazon, and county.
A Good Candidate Experience: Mobile-friendly workflows and digital consent make starting a bank check quick and easy. Provide a transparent procedure for candidates with the power to log in and run across their own background check condition and study, from any device.
Integrations: Reduce manual workflows with a seamless integration to your ATS.

Cover of GoodHire ebook, Background Check Basics

four: What Are The Dissimilar Types Of Background Checks?

You should exist familiar with the unlike types of background checks and what'southward included and then y'all know what to wait and how each type of cheque can assistance you lot make timely and informed hiring decisions based on your industry and the positions for which you're hiring. These include:

Criminal record checks: National criminal background checks, also as state, federal and county criminal checks, written report felony and misdemeanor convictions and current pending court cases. Depending on your provider'south policies, dismissed charges within seven years may also be reported. Examples of charges that may appear include vandalism, public intoxication, disorderly conduct, fierce or sexual activity crimes, fraud, and embezzlement. Employers use criminal tape checks to assess whether a candidate could pose a threat to customers or create an dangerous work environment.

Civil court checks: County and federal civil court checks tin can aid you acquire most non-criminal suits, claims, and judgements where the candidate is listed as a respondent. These may include small claims, restraining orders, violations of civil rights, and bankruptcies, and may be especially important for positions where employees will have fiscal or direction responsibilities.

Credit checks: An employment credit report shows a candidate'due south total credit history (only non their credit score), including payment history, ceremonious judgements, tax liens, bankruptcies, unpaid bills in collections, and contempo credit inquiries. Reviewing credit history may exist required for some jobs, and may be particularly important for positions where access to fiscal assets, transactions, and decisions are a primary responsibility.

Driving record checks: Motor vehicle reports (MVRs) confirm license validity and provide insight into a candidate'southward driving history, including DUIs, suspensions, and moving violations. This may be important for positions where employees, volunteers, or contractors will operate motor vehicles for business organization purposes.

Drug screening: Drug testing provides evidence of recent use of specific prescription and illicit drugs. Routine employment drug screening may help employers maintain a safer, more than productive workplace.

Employment verification: Validate your candidate's employment history and job-related experiences. Employment history verification can confirm the data provided by a candidate is true; the work experience is sufficient to meet the position's requirements; and by titles, achievements, or responsibilities are valid.

Education verification: Verify your candidate's school omnipresence dates, majors, and degrees, diplomas or certificates earned are valid. An Education Verification search tin can help to mitigate the take a chance of hiring a candidate with false credentials, and assistance you comply with federal, state, local and industry regulations.

Healthcare sanctions checks: An OIG search and healthcare sanctions background check provides insight into a healthcare professional'south medical background, including whatsoever penalties, suspensions, or castigating or disciplinary actions. This helps yous comply with federal regulations and confirm your healthcare practitioners are in good standing.

International background checks: Different types of international background checks tin provide international criminal records, didactics credentials, and employment history for candidates living in the The states who take previously lived, worked, or studied in other countries.

five: What Do You Communicate To The Candidate?

It's important to communicate with candidates about your background check process and so they know what to expect. Be open up with your candidates about why you're conducting the background cheque, and encourage openness in render. Let the candidate know that they're welcome to see their background check results, dispute any inaccurate data, and add comments in writing, or speak with y'all, to explain whatsoever alerts.

Candidates have rights under the FCRA, laid out in the certificate A Summary of Your Rights. When you use a background check provider to screen a candidate for employment, you must:

Notify the candidate that you volition bear a background check and that the results could influence your decision to hire them.
Get the candidate'south written consent to conduct employment screening through a groundwork cheque company.
Notify the candidate through a pre-adverse action notice if the results of the background cheque make y'all consider non hiring them. You must as well provide the candidate with a copy of the background check results; a re-create of their rights under the FCRA; and the name, accost, and phone number of the groundwork screening visitor that ran the check. Then you must allow time (typically five business organization days) for the candidate to file a dispute about inaccurate results. Only then may you send a final adverse action notice in writing if you've decided non to hire them.

The EEOC besides recommends considering private circumstances and context around a candidate'southward criminal record. These include the nature and gravity of the criminal offence, the time that has passed since the offense, and the criminal offence'southward relevance to the task sought. An individualized cess allows the candidate to provide boosted context near the offense, and gives them an opportunity to explain.

Other Considerations

If you're planning to run an employment background check for the first time, there are some additional things you should know:

Hiring for remote positions

During contempo pandemic-related lockdowns, remote work has become much more common, resulting in fewer in-person interviews and more video interviews. To offset, information technology's a proficient idea to add an identity verification check to add an actress layer of security to the process. To help ameliorate your remote hiring procedure, nosotros've assembled a step-by-step guide to hiring remote employees.

Delivery times for groundwork checks vary

How long a groundwork check takes varies depending on the types of searches run. Some background check providers tin provide basic background checks almost instantly or within the aforementioned day. Other screening services, such as county criminal record checks in counties where records aren't digitized, or employer and education verifications, tin can accept up to five days or more than to consummate.

The FCRA requires company verification

Per FCRA regulations, you must verify that your company is a legitimate business before yous tin can order a groundwork cheque. The company credentialing process with a background check provider typically takes between ane 60 minutes and one day to complete.

Use costless background checks at your own peril

It's possible to comport a groundwork check on your own, but it's time-consuming and carries inherent risks. Y'all may take to visit each jurisdiction's courthouse in person, fill out record response forms, and wait for responses. So you run the hazard of losing your candidates to other employers or, worse, non getting the correct results back and basing your hiring decision on incorrect or incomplete information. Or if yous use social media to screen your candidates, yous run the risk of seeing restricted hiring criteria — like religion or race — and making biased hiring decisions.

You may want to deport a reference check

Some background check providers can conduct employment and education verification checks, as well every bit professional reference bank check services. Reference check interviews that use a series of in-depth, open-ended questions may help you lot judge a candidate's character, acquire how they might align with your company values, and understand how they may fit into your visitor culture.

Consider conducting post-hire background checks

Background checks are not a "one and washed" thing. Information technology's mutual to conduct postal service-hire background checks annually — or more than oft in sure industries and positions. If you exercise, be sure to include an "evergreen clause" in your groundwork bank check consent course, where allowed past state law.

Make More Informed Hiring Decisions With A Background Cheque

A background check is a worthwhile investment to build a high quality workforce that will help you reach your business goals. Tailor your screening policy to your manufacture and positions, and discover a provider that tin can evangelize the data you lot need — while helping you stay compliance. With informed hiring decisions, you tin can improve your quality of rent and mitigate run a risk.

GoodHire makes employment screening easy. Our The states-based support team tin can provide expert recommendations on which packages piece of work best for your screening needs, while also saving you money past non paying for screens you lot don't need. Plus, GoodHire's compliance expertise is unparalleled. Find out how we can assist.

Disclaimer

The resources provided hither are for educational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. We advise y'all to consult your ain counsel if you have legal questions related to your specific practices and compliance with applicative laws.

Near the Author

Jen Dewar is a marketing consultant in the Hr technology infinite with a focus on developing educational content for HR professionals and recruiters. She is passionate virtually diverseness and inclusion, lifelong learning and evolution, and treating people like people throughout the candidate and employee experiences.