Human Resources Background Checks

Human Resources background checks are a vital step for employers and organizations to take when considering prospective candidates for new employment. In many cases, Human Resource departments conduct these checks on the potential candidates professional and personal lives in order to make a determination if a candidate will be well suited for the position.

There are many aspects of Human Resource background checks, which include: verification of the applicant’s information, verifying the candidate’s references, determining if there are any criminal or civil records pertaining to the candidate, and in some instances, drug testing the candidate or determining if the candidate is physically able to perform the job by way of a physical exam.

As a company that provides Human Resources background checks, we strive to provide the best service to the consumer. We abide by all rules and regulations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) while running Human Resources background checks to protect our clients.

Employers who do not conduct a background check on their candidates run the risk of hiring a candidate that is not qualified for the position for numerous reasons.

• Verify application information
• While providing a Human Resources background check we are tasked to determine if the applicant provided true or false information. For jobs that require a certain level of education, we will verify high school or college graduation dates and seek out any certificates or degrees the applicant was awarded.
• References – personal/professional
• While conducting a Human Resources background check on the applicant we will attempt to contact any and all references provided by the applicant. We will seek out any issues the candidate has had with prior employees or employers.
• Criminal/civil/financial reports
• While providing a Human Resources background check we will conduct a detailed criminal and legal history on the applicant.
• Physical exams
• Drug screening
• Depending on the level of the search, we can while conducting a Human Resources background check on the applicant we will attempt to verify if the candidate has any past or present substance abuse issues.

Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)

We abide by all rules and regulations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) while conducting our Human Resources background checks to guard our clients. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) promotes accuracy, fairness, and privacy of information in the files of consumer reporting agencies. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you must be told if information in your file has been used against you, you have the right to know what is in your file, you have the right to ask for a credit score, and you have the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information. Consumer reporting agencies must correct or delete inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable information and they may not report outdated information.

Ban the Box Rule

Human Resource background checks have to be conducted according to the laws and regulations in place by each state. A newly enacted law is called “Ban the Box”. We have seen these laws enacted in states, cities, and counties across the nation for several years now. But what are ban-the-box laws, and what do they mean for your organization? Ban the box laws seek to prevent employment discrimination against individuals with criminal records. Some ban-the-box laws restrict employers from inquiring about criminal history until after the first interview or until a conditional offer of employment is made. The “box” refers to the question on the job application that asks whether they have ever been convicted of a crime. Ban-the-box laws require employers to remove this question, along with other criminal history inquiries. Ban-the-box regulations vary from state to state and are also different from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

Time Restrictions on Criminal Convictions

We conduct our Human Resource background checks very carefully, taking our time to make sure we are familiar with all current state laws prohibiting any use of old criminal history information to protect our clients.  Some states have time restriction regulations on their criminal convictions, meaning that a state may only allow a third-party to run Human Resources background check so many years back. For example, Michigan does not have any restrictions beyond the FCRA regulations but in California, convictions can only be reported back 7 years, based on the disposition date.

Benefits of a Third Party

With the ban-the-box rule and the time restrictions on criminal convictions it is even more reinforcement to have a third-party conduct a Human Resources background check for your company to make sure you are following all state and federal guidelines with employment background checks. Having a licensed background check company completing your employment background check will give you and your candidate piece of mind that the check is being done accurately, completely and are abiding with the FCRA compliance laws and regulations.

We can Tailor your Human Resources Background Check

Whether you are looking to complete a Human Resources background check on an entry level employee or the president of a company, we can provide an accurate employment background check for the potential candidate. We provide different levels of searches and can tailor our reports depending on the amount of information our client requests.

Don’t Fall for the $19.99 Trick

Many companies offer Human Resources background checks at a very cheap rate but you really want to go with a company that does this in and out every day, an actual background check company. We know every search that is able to be performed and we can also recommend what we think would be beneficial for your company and even tailor the searches to the specific position and candidate. Instant Human Resources background checks do not produce the exceptional results that our trained and professional background check employees do. We take our time to carefully searches all of our databases to provide the correct information quickly and accurately. When it comes to the online instant check databases, they are finding anything that is online and open to the public, which not everything is.