Types of background checks services for employers
Background checks cover a wide variety of different aspects of an employee’s personal and professional life. Most companies scour the same records when they create reports as many are publicly available, but some services may offer different types of checks that others do not.
What checks you need o depends on your business and who you’re employing, but almost every employee background check should include past references and previous employment first. Often, employers will want to know more about any significant gaps in a candidate’s employment history. Similarly, education history is an important one to check, especially when a potential employee’s performance depends significantly on their previous qualifications.
There are other things that background check services look for as well. This includes financial aspects such as a person’s credit score and whether they have filed for bankruptcy in the past ten years. Another key aspect of background check services is the potential criminal histories they can uncover, including any arrests, convictions, or court records – the exact kind of thing many would want to leave off their CV.
What employers need to know about background checks
When it comes to digging into a person’s past there are legal considerations, especially for employers. The most important thing is to avoid discrimination, so you’ll have to make sure you adhere to laws enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EOCC). When it comes to running background checks you also have to consider rulings made by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
The FTC requires that before you even run a background check you have to:
- Inform the employee that any information you find may be used to decide on their future employment. This must be done in writing separately, so you can’t just include it in your job advertisement.
- Get permission from the applicant for you to run the background check first. The document you use for informing the applicant and getting consent for the check can be the same.
- When dealing with the company that provides the background check, you need to certify that you have gotten permission from the applicant and that you’ll comply with EOCC and FCRA regulations.
In addition to this, there are also local and state laws to consider. So always take these into account before running a background check.
How to choose the right employment background check service
There is no right answer when it comes to choosing a background check service for your business since different services cater to different needs. There are some background check services designed for landlords or for personal use and, naturally, they won’t be ideal for your needs. However, there are plenty of services that specialize in background checks for employment.
Of course, each employee background service is different – one key factor being the overall cost. And although a cheaper solution may seem desirable, you could be missing out on key features. For example, some services have much faster turnaround speeds, so you can have your reports sooner. Other services can handle multiple reports, check international applicants, verify immigration status, perform identity document checks, and more.
Other services have specialist checking capabilities, like advanced academic history or directorship history searches. Some background check services will even scour social media for inappropriate behavior. Others will administer drug tests for you and do a health screening if necessary. Of course, not every service will have all of these extra features, so you’ll have to shop around to see which one suits your company’s needs the best.
Recommended employee background check services
There are plenty of options to choose from and here we present three of the very best employer background check services on the market:
Richard C.
