The National Employment Labor Project (NELP) recently announced new resources designed to support its goal of reducing unfair barriers to employment. The NELP cites workers who are unjustly excluded from work based on arrest records, old and non-serious convictions, and offenses that are not job related. Having written extensively on topics surrounding the use of criminal records in the employment screening process, we see this as yet another opportunity to remind employers of the importance of having a sound employment screening policy in place.

The NELP estimates 1 in 3 U.S. adults has a criminal record that would show up on a routine employment background check. Imagine what would happen if every one of those individuals was flat-out denied employment on the basis of having a record, regardless of the details. For an employer to institute such a bright line policy, that employer would very likely be in violation of EEOC guidelines, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and may well violate portions of the FCRA and some of its state analogues.

Take the time to build fair employment practices or face significant risks.

The work of the NELP would not be nearly as critical if employers would take the time to draw out employment screening policies that following existing rules and regulations. The fact is it is rarely, if not never, okay for employers to use bright line policies when it comes to criminal records screening. Instead, employers must establish consistent and equitable processes to ensure any background check is performed and evaluated accurately, fairly, and legally.

Learn More about Fair Employment for Workers with Criminal Records

The following articles and resources can help your efforts to promote fair employment practices:

Considering Employee Criminal Background Checks? >
Adverse Action for Employment >
Understanding Criminal Background Checks for Employment >
Recent Scrutiny of Employment Screening: Unfair or Legitimate? >
Are National Criminal Background Checks Enough? >

Need help?
Our employment screening experts can help you design and implement fair employee screening programs that offer you the insight you need to make wise decisions while protecting your applicant and employee base.

As a human resources manager or business owner who is charged with finding and selecting the best candidates for your workplace, a background screening company is one of the many partners you’ll rely on to get the job done right. A good screening company will deliver quick, accurate, comprehensive reports using sound practices to mitigate your risks and enable you to hire the right people, the first time.

Successful background screening companies understand how to balance human capital risk with the risk tolerance of the client’s organization, the compliance environment in which the organization operates, and the overall strategic goals of the organization. With this unique understanding such companies will help you build an effective screening program that satisfies your key business objectives and enable you to build a better workforce.

Selecting a background screening company typically involves a process of asking for referrals or conducting an online search, reviewing the websites of several companies, narrowing down the selections to a few that appear well-suited, then requesting quotes from those top choices. Your quote request might be as simple as, help me build and implement an effective screening program for a 500-employee firm. Or it may be as specific as, provide a budget for 500 background checks per year consisting of nationwide database search, local criminal records, ssn validation, driver’s records, drug screening, and employment verifications.

Regardless your needs, there are several important factors to consider in the process of choosing a background screening provider.

Top Factors in Choosing a Background Screening Company:

1. Price
On the surface, proposals you receive from background screening providers may look quite similar. So much so that it may be difficult to see and understand the nuances that make one company stand out from another. Price, however, is something nearly everyone can understand. We see a price and we can immediately compare one provider to another on this one tangible difference, right?

Unfortunately, wrong in many instances. In an effort to represent the lowest possible price many organizations have stripped out all but the base price for services and attach to that a byzantine maze of schedules of additional fees. Often what is quoted and the true cost of screening are two very disparate states. Make sure you understand what fees if any apply to you and ask that your provider estimate by percentage what the cost impact to you will be..

Another challenge in employment background screening lies in the old adage that cheaper not always better. Less expensive usually means less comprehensive, or that quality is sacrificed somewhere in the process.

Quality background screening is not cheap, but it is very affordable and when you consider the price too many employers have paid as a result of letting price rule the decision process, you’ll quickly see why doing it right is better than trying to do it cheap. Remember this when comparing price from one company to another: Be sure to compare apples to apples and remember, the cost of screening is a fraction of the cost involved in terminating an employee, the cost of recruiting, hiring, and training a replacement, and the cost to settle a negligent hiring lawsuit.

2. Promises
Don’t be seduced by companies that promise to find anything about anyone, with no questions asked. These are generally data miners who are not certified and sell generic information, or more likely, inaccurate, out of date, inappropriate misinformation. When employers choose to work with such companies they unfortunately put themselves, their organizations, and their employees at great risk.

Equally seductive is the promise that this will always get done in under 24 hours or some other arbitrary timeline. No reputable screening firm will make this guarantee. The fact is that many of the over 3000 courts control access to the public record and dictate how and when these record are disseminated to the public. Screening firms are NOT in control of this process to the degree they might imply.

3. A Custom Approach
When selecting a background screening company, steer clear of those who offer a “one-size-fits-all” approach. Companies with this rigid approach will offer you a pre-designed program that fails to consider your unique risks, compliance issues, and business needs. While sometimes you can get away with a packaged approach, most often employers end up paying for information they don’t need, or worse, miss out on essential information that is needed.

A screening company should listen to your needs and tailor a screening program appropriately. If the company you choose to work with neglects to ask insightful questions about your company, the positions you’re hiring for, your organizational risk appetite, your business objectives, and other questions that affect the composition of your screening program, buyer beware.
4. NAPBS Membership
Before you hire an employment screening provider, contact the National Association of Professional Screeners (NAPBS) to ensure the company you’re considering ia a member in good standing . While not a guarantee, membership in NAPBS gives you a good indication that the company is staying current with best practices and changing legislation. You can find a NAPBS member company here.

5. No Off-shoring of Applicant Data
A problem in the background screening industry that is currently being addressed through legislation and other measures is the off-shoring of sensitive personal information (i.e. social security numbers and financial account information). This information is sent offshore by certain background screening companies for processing of certain background checks. As a member of Concerned CRAs, we believe this practice places both applicants and employers at risk and should be avoided whenever possible. And if it must happen, applicants and employers should be made aware of this practice. The problem is, while we have protections in the U.S. for identity theft and other issues surrounding access to personal information, those protections do not exist once personal data leaves U.S. shores. Clearly, no employer wants to be faced with the liabilities that can ensue when applicant data is mishandled.

6. Responsible Use of Criminal Databases
Criminal records searchers are often the cornerstone of many employment background checks. To save money, employers may be tempted to rely upon a national record search as the end all be all source of criminal information. A responsible background screening company will refuse to allow an employer to cede to this temptation. Irresponsible screening companies that allow clients to use national database records searches as the authoritative record put their clients in great danger since the quality of databases vary from source to source and simply cannot be relied upon without further verifying database information with a local court-level search. National records should be positioned as an important pointer to guide criminal records searches at a local level. Read more about national criminal databases here.

7. Look for relevant experience.
Does the screening company you’re considering have knowledge of your organization, industry and relevant compliance issues? Your employment screening company can be a powerful source of advice, information, and experience – if you choose a knowledgeable partner.

8. Access to Background Screening Experts
A reputable background screening company will steer an employer through the screening process – not only the legal concerns of the process, but also the administrative aspects, from obtaining initial permission from an individual, to offering courses of action based on results, especially when adverse action or reinvestigation may be required. If you lack the expertise of an experienced screening professional, chances are you’ll need some advice along the way. Find out if your screening company offers access to the people, higher up in the company, that truly know the world of employment screening. In other words, find out if you’ll be stuck with an inexperienced call center employee or if you’ll be given the direct phone number of top-level managers.

9. Business Process
A reputable background screening firm will want to understand your sourcing, recruiting and on-boarding processes. They will work with you to engineer a repeatable and predictable process that meets the needs of all the HR stakeholders and aligns with your strategy and culture. Your provider can be the best in the world but if the process is flawed you wont like the results.

Which Background Screening Company Will You Choose?

Certainly there is more to choosing a background screening provider than the tips we’ve listed above, but we hope this advice will get you closer to finding the right partner. At Proforma Screening we pride ourselves in offering a consultative approach to employment screening services that considers the unique goals and risks of your business. Request a meeting today and learn how our screening services can help you build a better workforce.

In following the Fair Credit Reporting Act for Adverse Action Employment, Timing Matters

A few years back, when the economy was booming, the challenge for employers in general and HR recruiters specifically was to hire all the workers they needed to fulfill the high demand for their products and services. Today the challenge is exactly the opposite. Employers are faced with the challenge of knowing how NOT to hire all of these people – many of whom are desperate for work. When a single open position yields dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of applicants the challenge of the HR team is how to sift through the applications to find the best employee for the job. In the end, extending an offer to one candidate may mean declining many others, often equally-qualified.

In times like these, Proforma cannot overemphasize to our clients the importance of Implementing and maintaining sound employment screening policies to protect against the potential risk of negligent hiring on one side of the equation, and the prospect of an adverse action complaint from the other. A sound policy addresses, among other things, requirements of the Fair Credit Reporting Act for employment-related adverse action.

According to the broad definitions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a denial of employment would constitute an adverse action. Any decision that is adverse to the interests of the current or prospective employee would similarly fit within this definition. When employers use background screening companies (consumer reporting agencies) for employee background checks (including credit reports, employment verifications, criminal records screening, driving records, and more) to hire new employees and evaluate existing employees for promotion, reassignment, and retention, they are bound by FCRA regulations.

One of the keys to maintaining compliance with the FCRA as it relates to adverse action is the timing of required notifications.

3 Key Adverse Action Timeframes to Watch:

There are three important time-related concerns for employers when it comes to adverse action notifications:

1. When to Send Pre-Adverse Action Notification:

Here’s a situation: An applicant’s background check report shows past undesirable behavior that, if unresolved, would cause you to deny employment to this individual.

What’s your responsibility? As an employer, your responsibility is to send the applicant a “pre-adverse action notification”. This notification must be sent to the applicant before adverse action is taken AND you must provide the individual with a pre-adverse action disclosure that includes a copy of the individual’s background report and a copy of the FTC document, “A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.” The goal of this process is to give the individual a chance to respond to the findings or explain any inaccuracies. You are saying that based upon the information contained in the report you are contemplating a decision that will be adverse to the interest of your applicant and if they want to dispute the accuracy or completeness of thin information they must do so.

2. How Long to Wait for a Response After Pre-Adverse Action:

A common question among employers is how long to wait between pre-adverse and adverse action notices. The Fair Credit Reporting Act is actually silent on the length of time that should pass between the two notifications. However, since the goal of a pre-adverse action notice is to give the individual time to respond or correct the adverse information, you should give a “reasonable” length of time.

Through an opinion letter, the FTC did give some direction to employers as to what may be considered reasonable. Employers should consider the nature of the job, how the employer does business, and other factors such as building in more time for holidays and weekends.

3. When to Send Adverse Action Notification:

Adverse action notifications are to be sent to an applicant or employee after you’ve taken the adverse action. Employers must provide the individual verbal, oral, or written notice that the action has been taken. This notice is given in the form of an adverse action notice, which must include the following:

• The name, address, and phone number of the CRA that supplied the report.
• A statement that the agency that supplied the report did not make the decision to take the adverse action and cannot give specific reasons for it.
• A notice of the individual’s right to dispute the accuracy or completeness of any information the agency furnished.
• A notice of the individual’s right to an additional free consumer report from the agency upon request within 60 days.

Adverse Action Notifications are just one of the many requirements imposed upon employers who use background checks for employment purposes. Today’s economy places greater emphasis upon employers to tighten up their employment screening policies and ensure they do not violate the negligent hiring doctrine and FCRA requirements.

At Proforma Screening, we offer FCRA compliance fulfillment to ensure your adverse action notifications are delivered in compliance with FCRA regulations. Open an Account or Request a Phone Call to discuss your needs:

In working with employers we often come across companies that simply want to “check a box” with their background screening efforts. Typically their motivation to run an employment background check stems from a need to satisfy some real or arbitrary requirement and they’re not necessarily focused on the bigger picture of how their efforts contribute to the overarching goals of the organization. While there may not be anything wrong with this approach, it certainly won’t deliver the strategic value that is realized when a background screening program is approached like other valuable business projects or processes.

A recent article by a leading management consulting firm addressed the issue of why “why?” is so often missing in the decision making process. In the article, the firm outlines how asking why can help organizations avoid poor decisions and stop bad ideas in their tracks.
In exactly the same way, managers must take a holistic and systematic approach to understanding the problems we’re trying to solve with our employment screening programs and why we screen in the first place.

The value of employment screening comes from the “why,” not the “how.”

An interesting analogy is the idea that people who know how work for people who know why. Put another way, people who don’t have or are unsure of their purpose are always going to work for people who have one. Programs are no different in that the real value is in the “why,” not the “how.”

We have to know why. It must be crystal clear. And even though getting to the answer might look as if some newly minted MBA did it to make himself look smart, it actually is quite easy, simple, and quick to find the answer. And guess what? When you take the time to build a program that addresses the “why?” of it all, it will always work!

Let’s look at how we approach building a holistic employment screening program.

How we build a holistic employment screening program:

It’s pretty simple, actually. We start by looking at the difference between where you are today and where you want to be. Is your organization experiencing a high rate of employee turnover that is causing your hiring and recruitment expenses to skyrocket? Where should your turnover rate be in comparison to where it is today? Since we know pre employment screening can contribute to lowering turnover, what are the costs associated with implementing the level of employment screening that would be necessary to drive down turnover to your desired rate? Is it worth trying to fix the problem? Is there a business return on fixing the delta between where you are today and where you want to be? These questions are quite easy to answer, actually. (Ask us for help if you need it.)

If the business return is there, you need a plan for getting from your current state to your desired state. This will become your overall strategy. The diagram below depicts the process we’ve just explained.

Critical Components of the Employment Screening Strategy:

1. WHAT type of background screening program do we need? This is the methodology.
2. HOW will we get the job done? This is the process.
3. WHY are we doing this? This is the business rationale.

Here’s a question for you:

Which box do you spend the most time in? Do you spend the most time designing your methodology, or deciding what to do? Or do you spend most of your time running the process, or figuring out how to get the background checks done? What about measurement? How much time do you spend measuring the results and justifying the costs of your employment screening program?

If you spend most of your time on process, your process is likely broken. After all, your process doesn’t matter if it’s not doing what it’s intended to do. If you don’t understand why you’re doing what you’re doing, it’s all just an expensive exercise.

If you can’t cost justify an employment screening effort, then stop doing it.

It’s sad to say that the great failure of HR is to get mired in the process and get nothing accomplished. Instead, we need to spend more time in the “why” and understand what the outcomes tell us about our methodology and process. Is it working? And as mentioned earlier, this is not very difficult to accomplish. If you do this in a disciplined way and you’re honest with your organization, this will work every time. It’s repeatable. It’s effective. It makes sense.

Let us help you build a holistic program with employment screening services that address the whats, hows, AND whys.

Human capital (aka people) is a company’s most significant asset. The success of a company begins and ends with the people who create, manage, and deliver the products and services of an organization. Human capital risk is introduced into the organization as the gap between the needs of the organization and skills of its people. And according to a 2007 Economist Intelligence Unit survey human capital risk is the single most significant threat to business operations around the globe – yet it is also the least well-managed.

So how do we build a business filled with the right types of people to give our organization the greatest opportunity for success? How do we mitigate the inherent risks that human beings, who come to us with different backgrounds, behaviors, experiences, and values, will bring into the organization?

Pre employment background screening serves many purposes but the overarching benefit is this: Employment screening helps to mitigate human capital risks by helping companies build a safer, more qualified, more productive workforce.

How Can Pre Employment Background Screening Decrease Your Human Capital Risk?

Pre-employment background checks can be an effective risk management tool providing a foundation of integrity, a level of confidence and certainty to employers that the information a job applicant provides is true and accurate. It also offers valuable information about the past behaviors and actions of potential employees, such as criminal backgrounds, credit histories, driving records, and more. (The level of information an employer will want to know depends on the requirements and risks of the position).

According to the FDIC, “used effectively, a pre-employment background screening process may reduce turnover by verifying that the potential employee has the requisite skills, certification, license or degree for the position; deter theft and embezzlement; and prevent litigation over hiring practices.”

Build a Better Workforce with Pre Employment Screening

In our practice, employers find great value in pre screening their employees. Here are some of the main risk-related benefits:

• Shows due diligence: Pre employment screening programs enable our clients to demonstrate due diligence in protecting the safety of the workplace, customers, and the public at large.
• Reduces uncertainty: Screening a potential employee reduces the level of uncertainty that is inherent in any hiring decision. By verifying claims and checking past records employers can rely on more than just a “gut feel.”
• Deters poor job candidates: Companies that have a background screening requirement are far less likely to attract candidates with something to hide. This self-selection benefit reduces hiring costs and naturally leads to a better, more qualified workforce.
• Affordable: Pre-employment background screening is an affordable and useful tool to improve hiring decisions. The relatively low cost of employment screening services leaves companies with little excuse NOT to do it. Our clients always appreciate the side-benefit of affordability.

For companies that compete on the basis of their people, employment screening is a small step that can deliver major rewards. Knowing more about the people who will make up your workforce can help you make better hiring decisions that will affect your organization for the long run.

Let’s talk about your human capital risks and pre employment screening program.

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E-Verify I-9 verification system protects employers.

The nature of today’s global workforce leaves employers with both the benefits of access to worldwide talent and the obligation to employ only those individuals with a legal right to work. The presence of undocumented workers who have secured jobs by fraudulent means, including presentation of false documents, completion of fraudulent benefit applications, and theft of identities is a vulnerability of any employer and one that can be mitigated through a well-run E-Verify I-9 verification process.

The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986 states that it is illegal for U.S. employers to knowingly hire or recruit illegal immigrants, AND that employers must be able to attest to their employees’ immigration status. I-9 verification is the single best way for you, as an employer, to demonstrate your adherence to this act.

Beyond the IRCA, several states have already established their own laws requiring legal right to work (I-9) verification through the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) electronic verification system, E-Verify.

And just this week, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which is responsible for enforcing the nation’s immigration and customs laws, released a 5-year strategic plan which addresses areas of national security, public safety, and US immigration enforcement. In its plan, the ICE confirmed its commitment to worksite enforcement of employers who knowingly employ illegal workers.

Don’t take chances. Verify your employees’ right to work.

With penalties up to $3,000 for employers who do not verify I-9 status, employers are wise to take this affordable and useful measure.

Regardless your personal beliefs about the effectiveness or necessity for I-9 verification, it is plain and simply good business practice to verify every worker. The last thing you want is for enforcement officials to show up at your door and find you out of compliance when it takes so little effort and expense to verify.

As a Proforma client, you can order I-9 verification services through the same on-demand screening system used for your entire screening program. Order I-9 verifications alongside any other background screening services and avoid the inconveniences of managing separate ordering systems. Plus, if an I-9 verification turns up a worker who is not legally qualified to work, our FCRA compliance services can keep your responsibilities and liabilities in check.

Comply with DHS requirements easily and simply with our electronic I-9 verification services.

Get Started with Electronic I-9 Verification from Proforma:

Regardless your personal belief about the value of employee criminal record checks, one thing cannot be denied: Employers have a responsibility to take reasonable measures to create a safe workplace and workforce. Because of this, many employers (as much as 80% of corporate America) use criminal background checks to help predict how an individual’s past might impact their safety and performance on the job.

When it comes to criminal background checks you’ll find federal, nationwide, state, and local records among the available types. The question is: what type of employee criminal check is best for your situation?

National criminal database searches offer instant inexpensive data, but do you get what you pay for? Meanwhile, local criminal searches can be time consuming and more expensive — Are they worth the effort? We’ll answer these questions and more as we seek to help you understand the types and uses of employment criminal background checks.

We’ll cover the following criminal records searches:

1. Federal Criminal Records
2. National Criminal Database Searches
3. Statewide Criminal Records
4. Local/County Searches

Federal Criminal Records Search

With a federal criminal background check, you’ll receive reported information from each of the 93 districts that handle federal criminal, civil, and bankruptcy cases. You will ONLY receive information about federal records, many of which are “white collar” crimes. With a federal search you will not find state or local level criminal information.

When to Use Federal Criminal Records:

The best time to use a Federal criminal records search is when hiring for managerial, executive, and financial positions. Since federal records can reveal serious “white collar” crimes that could impact your hiring decisions for these high-trust positions, it pays to check here.

At the same time, it’s important to recognize the limitations of a federal search. Since the federal indices contain limited identifying information, employers must use caution before jumping to the conclusion that a particular record is accurately matched to their subject. A reputable background screening firm will send a researcher to the court to resolve these possible matches.

As with any employment background check, it’s important for employers to comply with rules and regulations related to the collection, dissemination, and use of criminal information throughout the employee selection process.

National Criminal Database Searches

Search the internet for national criminal records and you may be tempted to call it a day with a cheap, instant database search. With a national criminal database check you can cover a large majority of the more than 3,000 U.S. jurisdictions with a single search. This makes a criminal database highly useful in the employment screening process. The problem is, not all jurisdictions allow access to their data and not every database is well managed to ensure accuracy and timeliness. Because of these constraints, there are very strict limitations on how an employer can and should use national database records.

Concerned CRAs, an organization founded in part to promote the appropriate use of national criminal database records, says that while these database searches can be a valuable source of information, they are too often used in an irresponsible manner.

Proforma Screening Solutions is a member of Concerned CRAs and we strongly support and encourage the appropriate use of national database records searches within the criminal screening process. We will not ever sell a national criminal check by itself because that is simply not the right thing to do. At the same time, we believe there is a strong case for national records checks in employment screening and feel there is a compelling reason to consider a national database check a must-have in order to fulfill your duty of care as an employer. Frankly, these database searches are so quick and inexpensive; we can’t find a reason to leave them out.

As an employer it’s important to understand the appropriate use of national criminal data.

When to Use a National Criminal Database Search

In positions where a criminal background check is appropriate and relevant to the job, a national criminal database search can play an important role. But let’s get one thing straight: The single best place to get accurate criminal records information is at the county or local level courts – not through a national database. That said, with more than 3,000 jurisdictions in the U.S. it would be time and cost prohibitive to search every jurisdiction for every employee. This is where the database comes in.

A national database search can provide useful “pointers” to guide specific local criminal searches. If we find a red flag in a database search we can follow up at the source to confirm or deny the findings before making an employment-related decision based on the information.

State-Level Criminal Records Checks

Similar to national criminal database searches, state-level criminal records checks should be supplemented and verified by specific local jurisdiction searches as determined by activity uncovered in the statewide search. While statewide searches are useful in some situations, they can present serious limitations in others. A statewide criminal records search often does not reflect the current status of the local jurisdiction records.

Also, while jurisdictions are mandated to report to the statewide repository, in reality there is very little mechanism to make sure that every jurisdiction reports properly. So you cannot be certain of the coverage. Finally, and importantly, statewide data very often lacks disposition information so while you may find out about an arrest, the outcomes may not be found. If you knowingly rely on a statewide search as the end-all-be-all source of criminal records you will be standing on weak legal ground.

When to use a statewide criminal records search:

As with national records searches, a statewide search should be used to guide local level searches. It can be very useful as a pointer, but not as an authoritative source.

Local Criminal Background Checks

Local criminal background checks can be your best source of criminal information about job candidates and employees. Of course, like anything else, there are steps that must be taken to ensure quality, compliance, and accuracy. If you’re working with a third party background screening company, find out if the company employs local-level researchers who understand the court structure for the state in which your local level search will take place and the authoritative source for each court. And find out about the quality control procedures they place on their research team.

When to use local criminal records:

Local criminal records searches should be conducted in any jurisdiction where your applicant or employee has resided. Typically, employers will take a 7 year address history and search those jurisdictions. In addition, employers will use a state or national database search to pinpoint any other possible criminal activity in jurisdictions other than previous residences. (“Vacation” criminals are more common than ever.)

Keep in mind, federal crimes are not found in local criminal records. So, even if your applicant has a clean criminal record at the local level, there may still be a serious criminal history on a federal records search. There is good reason why a comprehensive look at an applicant’s past can only be achieved by searching multiple sources.

Do you have questions about your employment background screening program?

Our experts are here to help. Ask a background screening expert >

For more information, read these related blog posts:

• Are National Criminal Background Checks Enough?
• Considering Employee Criminal Background Checks? Ask Yourself this Question.
• Use Employee Criminal Background Checks Wisely
• Reduce the Likelihood of a Negligent Hiring Claim with Employment Criminal Background Checks

Ready to get started?

Employment verifications are one of many screening tools employers use to determine an individual’s suitability for employment. Considering as many as 40% of all resumes contain some type of inaccuracy or outright misrepresentation, verifying a candidate’s past makes a whole lot of sense.

Employment verifications range from employment history verifications and employment reference checks to education verifications and supervisor interviews.

The National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS) recommends four ways to increase the value of your pre-employment background verifications. These tips apply to employers who rely on a background screening company for such services.

Getting the Best Results with Employment Verifications:

1. Gather as much information as possible for your employment verification request.

The more information you gather about your applicant’s employment or education history, including address information and full contact information for references, the more accurate and timely your results will be. Ask your applicant for previous or alternate names held during the timeframe being verified. A common problem in verifying female candidates is records that exist under the maiden name.

To boost the accuracy of this information, your employment screening provider should have an online ordering system that integrates with your existing XML-compatible applicant tracking system. This avoids duplicate entries and eases the information-gathering process, lending greater accuracy to the process.

2. Get a signed consent form.

Many verification sources require the physical signature of the applicant in order for data to be retrieved by your screening provider. For example, universities and other educational institutions almost always ask for a real signature (as opposed to a check-box electronic signature) in order to complete the verification.

We are one of a small handful of background screening providers to integrate signature technology into our online ordering system. Applicants can easily provide a physical “wet” signature using a mouse-enabled web-based signature capture system.

3. Keep the verification job-related.

If a simple verification of employment start and end dates is enough to satisfy your job requirements, there is no need to request more data from your background screening provider. The more sensitive or customized data you request, typically the more expensive and time-consuming the process becomes. Stick to only what you need.

We can help you determine the most appropriate level of data for your particular needs. Just ask.

4. Patience, my dear.

The world of verifications is fraught with complexity and competing priorities. Past employers, schools, and references are busy and unfortunately, returning verification information is not typically at the top of their priority list. It may take several attempts before a verification can be established and sometimes it is even impossible to accomplish.

Our verification experts know how to obtain that hard-to-get verification data. Our researchers have years of experience and deep training in techniques and extensive understanding of the resources necessary to accomplish your verification goals. Your provider should have the same. If not, look elsewhere.

Ready to get started?

As lawmakers and government entities look for ways to help the U.S. economy recover from recent financial turmoil, consumer protection has come to the forefront. Legislators and others seeking to bolster employment opportunities have scrutinized background screening, particularly the use of credit reports and criminal records.

While some would call this scrutiny unfair and unjust, we believe it stems from a legitimate and ongoing concern over balancing the rights of consumers (employees and applicants) and employers. Specifically, the needs and rights of employers to know about the people who make up their workforce balanced with the rights of consumers to protection under the law.

Is the sky falling on the employment background screening industry?

Absolutely not! Today’s economic situation dictates that we review our current employment screening practices – not that we avoid them. Employment screening is a strategic endeavor for organizations that compete on the basis of their talent and smart employers will take this as an opportunity to ensure their screening practices support their business strategy. After all, just as we have had to review and realign our corporate strategies in response to the current economy, so should we review and align our employment screening practices.

The point is, whether or not employment screening ends up under greater legislative control, it is important for employers to acknowledge that the right thing to do is to put fair policies in place, follow those policies consistently, and screen their people for a more qualified, safer, and more productive workforce.

How to assess your employment background screening program:

Ask yourself the following questions:

1. Do you have an established and published background screening policy?

Your background screening policy should be specific to the risk tolerance and business goals of your organization. It should detail the types of checks to be conducted at varying levels within the organization, when and how screening is to be conducted, and what information will be collected.

Read our related blog post, “4 Components of a Solid Background Screening Policy”

2. Do you have a well-documented background screening process?

A documented screening process should detail step by step how your background screening policy will be implemented. It should help the subject of the report understand what happens and when. It also helps hiring managers conduct the process.

A typical process looks like this:

1. Verify the Identity of the Applicant
2. Determine the Scope of the Search
3. Fulfill the Search
4. Evaluate the Information
5. Take Appropriate Action

Read our related blog post, “How to Conduct an Employment Background Check”

3. Is your process consistently implemented across all applicants/employees?

A process is only as effective as its implementation and in background screening we add that the importance lies in consistency. To avoid claims of discrimination, employers must never conduct background checks on a selective basis. All similarly situated applicants – those applying for the same or similar positions – must be subject to the same format of background check prior to receiving an offer of employment.

Read this related blog post to learn more: “Use Employee Criminal Background Checks Wisely.”

4. Is there a clear link between the background check and the job?

Probably the best advice we can give to any employer is to keep all background checks strictly job related. Assess the risks of a given job and determine the information you need to know in order to make a safe and appropriate hiring decision. This exercise will help you find balance between your “need to know” and your employee or applicant’s privacy rights.

Read about EEOC guidelines that focus on job-relatedness

5. Are your policies and processes implemented in strict accordance with FCRA regulations, state and federal laws, and other contractual obligations, as applicable to your organization?

The complexities of employment background screening can be dizzying when you consider the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity and Fair Credit Reporting Act meshed with state Equal Employment and Fair Credit Reporting laws, combined with Americans with Disabilities Act and other legal or contractual obligations you face. Before long you may find yourself wondering if it’s all worth the effort.

A qualified screening provider, paired with appropriate legal counsel, can help you effectively deal with the compliance environment and get the most out of your efforts.

Read our recent blog post about FCRA requirements: “Following FCRA Requirements is Smart for Employers.”

Common background screening program mistakes:

When we conduct screening program reviews for our clients, here are a few common mistakes we come across:

1. No screening of contingent workers. Today’s companies increasingly rely on temporary workers and independent contractors. If you contract with a contingent worker, you are still responsible for the behavior of that individual on the job. As such, it is prudent to require the same screening for contingent workers as for regular employees.

2. No screening policy for existing employees. As people are promoted within your organization to positions of higher risk or greater authority, are they subject to a higher level of background screening? As your screening policy changes, are your current employees subject to screening based on this new criteria?

3. Policies that neglect the use of a national database search. In the past, national criminal database searches were not part of the regimen for most companies. Now, with an increasingly transient workforce and access to national databases that are much more robust than in the past, a national database search is an inexpensive, yet often valuable tool to guide the criminal search process.

Considering that 80% of U.S. corporations rely on employment background screening, the issue of legislation is one that affects many. Instead of throwing our hands up and wonder why legislators would seek to encroach upon employers’ rights, we see this as an opportunity to focus on good screening practices. These practices can only make our workforces stronger and our companies more competitive.

Get the help you need to craft an effective background screening program:

As a professional background screening company, we can help you design, implement, and manage an effective screening program that protects your organization, your candidates, and your employees. Only when employers and screening companies take their responsibilities seriously will we reduce the need for legislative controls.

Request a meeting to discuss your needs.

When it comes to screening potential or current employees, it may be tempting to rely on quick and inexpensive national criminal background checks. Since national records can be gathered with an instant database search, the checks are quick and inexpensive and therefore easy to consider as done. But is a national search enough? Will it provide the information you need to make a wise hiring decision? How should national criminal records be used by employers?

Before we answer these questions, you should know that the most accurate information will always come directly from the source, which in most criminal records is at the county-level courts. That said, with more than 3,000 jurisdictions in the U.S. you clearly would not want to incur the time and expense of searching each and every jurisdiction for each candidate or employee. This is where a national criminal records search comes in. But before you get too excited, it’s important to understand the limitations and best practices of using national criminal background checks.

Limitations of National Criminal Background Checks

As mentioned, searching records at the source of each jurisdiction in the U.S. to clear a single employee for hire would be ridiculous in most cases. With national criminal background checks, on the other hand, you can cover a large majority of those jurisdictions with a single database search.

Did you catch what we just said? You can cover a large majority (NOT all) of those jurisdictions. In fact some states have ZERO court information in any of the databases and many of the records are limited in the usefulness of what they report. This is obviously the big limitation with a national records search. It does not include every jurisdiction.

Another limitation stems from the essence of what a national criminal check is: It’s a database search that relies on frequent updates and diligent stewardship of the people managing the database to ensure its accuracy. As such, even with the records it DOES contain, when using national criminal records you must realize that the accuracy will vary at any given moment. Think of a criminal database report like a credit report. There will be errors.

Finally, database searches come with inherent limitations and restrictions surrounding how the data can be used in the employment decision-making process. If, as an employer, you knowingly rely on a database search as the end-all-be-all answer regarding an employee’s criminal history, you will not be standing on solid legal ground. This is a direct result of the limitations we’ve discussed so far. If relying on a national record search you may unknowingly make employment decisions based on inaccurate, incomplete or outdated information.

Summary of Limitations for National Criminal Background Checks:

1. A national criminal records search covers most, but not all jurisdictions.

2. A national criminal background check relies on databases that may not be accurate, complete or up-to-date.

3. Employers face limitations on the use of national criminal records in the employment process.

So Why Should Employers Use National Criminal Background Checks?

By now you must be wondering why any employer would use a national criminal background check. Make no mistake, there is good reason! National criminal records searches are a highly useful tool to facilitate the criminal records screening process. These records are not background checks in and of themselves. In fact you should think of them as “quasi” national database searches, but they can offer valuable “pointers” to assist your background screening provider in knowing where to look next.

Most criminal background checks start with a “quasi” national criminal records search (along with an address history check) to identify places where your applicant or employee would likely have a criminal record (if any). From these results, a detailed search of court records at the local level is used to verify and crosscheck the results of the national search. Only then can an employer consider what they may have found in a national database search to be accurate.

Use National Criminal Background Checks Responsibly

To summarize, here are two key pointers for employers on using national criminal records responsibly:

• Consider national criminal background checks as a “quasi” national, quick, and cost-effective first step in the criminal records search process rather than as the end-all be-all source of criminal data.
• Avoid any background screening provider that attempts to sell a national database search to your organization without the appropriate follow up at the local jurisdiction level to verify results.

Need help? As a self-certified Concerned CRA, we follow best practices for the use of national criminal records. Learn more by viewing our national criminal records search service.