How to Conduct an Employee Background Check?

How to Conduct an Employee Background Check?

How to conduct an employee background check? It should be an integral part of your hiring process. While completing your background check, you should consider the applicant’s entire history, including their educational and employment history, criminal and driving records, and social media profiles. If you only focus on one piece of the puzzle, you risk wasting time and money on an unqualified applicant. Moreover, you may also face an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) investigation if you exclude a great applicant based on a criminal record.

Cost of a background check

The cost of an employee background check depends on the types of information that you need to verify. Although some online background checks are free, more thorough investigations will cost you money and time. Therefore, before hiring someone to conduct a background check, you should know precisely what you need to verify before deciding. Then, you can estimate the cost of the process. Once you’ve assessed the cost, you can select a company that best suits your needs.

The cost of an employee background check can range from $2 to $4 for a simple search. The cost of a comprehensive criminal background check can run into hundreds of dollars. However, this is only a basic search, as complete criminal checks include federal, state, and county criminal records. The education and employment verification price is slightly higher but can be a fraction of the total cost. Some background checks will also charge access or delivery fees to local courts and databases, which may be additional.

Requirements for a background check

Requirements for an employee background check vary by industry. Some include checking a person’s identity and employment record; others have a credit report and driving records. Some employers ask past employers for references, and some conduct drug tests. Hiring managers should seek legal advice before acting. Employment verification checks the applicant’s employment history to verify if they have the necessary professional licenses to work in specific industries. Education verification checks confirm a candidate’s educational qualifications and state licensing but do not provide grades or previous employment history. Educational verification may be conducted on a candidate’s high school records.

Drug testing as part of a background check

Regardless of whether you conduct random or pre-employment drug tests, you must follow specific laws when conducting a drug test. For example, under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, employers cannot discriminate against employees based on race, gender, or sex. Another law is the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which relates to the right of an employee to know what information is being collected about them. As such, it’s imperative to get the employee’s consent to drug testing before performing a background check.

Among the industries that may require drug tests are the healthcare and trucking industries. The Department of Transportation also has detailed compliance rules related to workplace drug testing. The 49 CFR, Part 40, defines workplace drug screening procedures. This applies to all companies in the transportation industry. Private employers may also require drug tests when employees are working around potentially dangerous machinery or with groups vulnerable to accidents. While drug testing may not be legal in all states, it is common in these industries.

The legality of a background check

There are many legal issues surrounding the use of employee background checks. The first concern is whether employers should use disparate impact standards when screening job applicants. This means that employers must use care in using background information to create a less favorable employment environment for someone of color. Disparate impact is a common source of EEOC lawsuits and can make background checks ineffective. Similarly, employers should be careful when using credit history reports to determine character, financial responsibility, and willingness to commit embezzlement and fraud. While credit history checks have value in many jobs, employers have increasingly realized that bad credit is a product of circumstance and does not indicate skill or temperament.

While California has strong consumer reporting laws, many other states have passed their own rules for background check practices. For example, some states limit the number of convictions reported for people with more than seven years, but this does not prevent employers from conducting background checks on potential employees. There are also rules regarding when employers can disclose non-conviction data. This means employers need to know state laws when conducting employee background checks.

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