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A background search is a way for companies to analyze facts about a prospective employee background records and other matters of open public history. It is a method for firms to get to know a prospective employee before he or she is hired.

History checks are generally carried out by businesses on individuals who are submitting an application for an open job inside the company. The hiring company needs this kind of research in order to be able to check out all the information that is related to the candidate. Job seekers must agree to having a background search performed on them before the actual screening is carried out.

A public record background check is also used to thoroughly check out potential federal government employees before they are offered a security clearance . A potential undesirable part to employee records checks, however, is that these types of investigations may possibly sometimes be used for illegal reasons, such as unlawful worker discrimination or violation of privacy.

Your role as the employer when it comes to the background check process is going to be different for every company and it will vary on the nature and the extent the pre-employment screening program goes into for the particular job you are hiring for.

What this means is that some positions will require a deeper background check than others. Some companies will outsource their background checks and most will include criminal and credit history, reference checks and drug testing based on the position. Some background check companies provide recommendations that fall under ‘competitive’ for an employee that is a good potential fit or ‘not competitive’ for someone who does not fit into the position well.

More on policies for background checks

It’s impossible to find a common standard for thorough background checks into today’s expanding employment screening world. Below you will find what I consider to be the minimum amount of information needed to do a thorough and effective background check. Keep in mind this recommendation comes from someone who has run an Employment Screening business for 29 years and is also an Expert Witness for Negligent Hiring lawsuits.

Here’s how you need to set your standards:

1. An embedded policy in the company’s procedures manual to ensure consistency in screening each class of employee.

2. An updated Background Information Form that allows candidates to disclose any and all identification data. This provides a better background check and allows you to discover discrepancy which permits dismissal/elimination of candidacy base don omission of data.

3. Positive Candidate Identification – a background check is worthless if the subject is not really who they say they are. 30% of the population possesses undisclosed aliases!

Discover exactly what you or your employment screening services must know about background checks

We don’t like to think about people doing harm to ourselves or others. The reality, however, is that we live in a country with one of the highest rates of financial crimes, including embezzlement, fraud, theft, etc. And, that’s just the beginning.

Let’s look at just a few statistics on what the FBI reports is the fastest growing crime in the U.S. – employee theft:

• U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports that $50 billion dollars are lost annually due to employee theft and fraud and that 20% of all businesses fail due to the same reason.

• According to an Ernst & Young Report, “White Collar Crime: Loss Prevention through Internal Control”, companies lose 1% to 2% of their sales to crime — most committed by, or in collusion with, employees.

Employee theft, negligent hiring, sexual harassment, and workers’ compensation fraud are just a few of the liabilities an employer has to face in today’s hiring environment.

Find out what you need to know about background checks for employment screening now