Is your organization adequately screening job applicants to reduce risk? Here are some frequently asked questions regarding pre-employment background checks:
What kind of background checks should be done for new hires?
Employers want to do a sufficient background check for an employee to avoid liability for negligent hiring. Typical background checks for all positions include reviewing education and work history to verify the accuracy of the prospective employee’s work and educational history. Criminal background checks are also common for most positions.
If a job is in a particular industry or has safety requirements, more background checks may either be required or recommended. For example, a driving record should be obtained for someone who will be driving as a part of their job.
Who should do the background checks?
Many employers have a third party conduct an educational verification and criminal background check. It is common to have this same third party verify employment history. Employers Council conducts background checks and provides members with detailed instructions on what their obligations are at each step. Understanding the legal steps is critical.
It might be wise for the hiring manager or HR staff to call on previous employers to find out more about how the individual behaved on the job and in certain circumstances. To do this properly, a list of relevant questions should be prepared in advance. Emailing the questions is often more likely to generate a response, rather than calling and leaving a message. Consult our whitepaper for conducting reference checks.
When should the background check be done?
While it may be tempting to conduct background checks on all candidates to save time, it is more legally protective to conduct a background check after an offer is made. It should be clear that the offer is contingent on the background check when the offer of employment is made.
What happens if the background check raises concerns?
Employers that use a third party to conduct the background check should follow the provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The law is detailed and requires employees to receive notifications before a background check. Any employee who is turned down for a job due to a background check must receive the information about the check and have a right to fix the problem in a short period of time.
We have a new employee who started work, and now there is a problem with the background check. What do we do?
Hopefully, during the hiring process, you made it clear to the employee that the offer was contingent on the background check. If this is true, you do not need to keep the employee working beyond the time that you must give the employee to rectify any errors if the background check was done by a third party. If this was not made clear to the applicant, you may want to contact an Employers Council attorney or other legal counsel for advice on the next steps.
Kerry Swanson is the manager of pre-employment screening, drug testing, and employee testing/assessment services for Employers Council.