Pre-employment background checks are becoming de rigueur for new employees. Basics are:
• Identity – validation of identity and address is a common requirement. You will want to know who you’re looking at. Part of this process is to confirm social security numbers and validate issuance. Social security fraud is rampant.
• Credit Reports – provide much financial history and show solvency of the prospective employee. Name, date of birth and address. Credit report contains a list of past inquires, identifying retailers, financial institutions and other lenders or extenders of credit. Tradelines shows accounts with lenders, type of account, when account was opened and current balance. Warning signs can evaluate the applicant if they are going to be handling money. Financial habits can help fitness and the history can help to asses risk.
• Public Records – record property holdings, business affiliations, litigation and bankruptcy.
• Criminal Records – will show past criminal activities. Arrest, dispositions and convictions.
• Driver’s License Checks – will give a driving history of accidents and tickets, good to know if the applicant may need to drive business vehicles.
Cost of Poor Recruitment & Selection
The cost of a hiring mistake can cost a company up to 30% of a new hire’s annual earnings. Termination expenses can be expensive. A company the specializes in doing background checks may prove a wealth of information. Military service, licensing and academic records and resume confirmation. Beware of out of date, reliability of data and out of context data as they can lead to false conclusions. The background sources cannot guarantee accuracy of their information, many records are incomplete or inaccurate. Information is parsed by identifiers, and other not related individual’s information maybe included. Not all state records are available to third-party sources.
Some data is free, some charge by the report and others demand a subscription fee. Also, the pros know where to look, some agencies even know the company and how to interpret the data. Having third party doing the check removes any bias accusations that can be voiced. Some data requires a permission slip from an applicant with what specific information is wanted, particularly with educational institutions and for non-public records.
Background Check Consent Form
However, a good background check depends on a well-designed application to provide and garner the information to start a query. Release or consent forms should be filled out as well. The application should include a consent to conduct the background check, or a separate background check form obtained. The following areas require consent/release forms as they are restricted some are restricted at state levels others under US Codes:
• Arrest and conviction records
• Credit/Financial checks specifically credit reports.
• Records from consumer reporting agencies.
• Polygraph testing
General Background Checks
General background checks are a bit controversial given the potential for false, incomplete or other information compromising the report. The only way for an accurate criminal background to contact each state individually. This is impractical. Federal records are not available for public review and only state and federal justice agencies have access to criminal records. If a report is found to be the basis for denial of employment it opens the company to litigation. Executive positions, security and financial positions are more acceptable for general backgrounds. Pre-employment background checks are one side of the coin. But an actual security clearance is another. No one can find fault with a security background check and is required of some DoD subcontractors. These are much more in depth and invasive of privacy.
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Some businesses do their pre-employment checks in house, but this opens them up to allegations if employment is denied. It is probably best to go through a third party for background checks. Advanced Private Investigator & Security of Boca Raton FL can handle all your private investigator and security needs. Contact us today!
