Has the person you are about to hire been honest on his or her
resume and during the interview? Due to the potential of legal
or financial issues for a company, background checks have become
more important for companies to conduct before making an offer to a
potential candidate. Performing a background check helps you
to avoid hiring someone who is dishonest or has a history of
workplace violence.
Many human resource representatives believe that a background
check will hold up the recruitment process, but many take less than
48 hours, time worth waiting for an honest employee.
WORKFORCE CENTRAL FLORIDA (WCF) offers these
solutions to conducting background checks:
Conduct Background Checks before Hiring. It’s much
easier to refuse to hire than to fire after investing in a person’s
training and compensation.
Determine Checks Based on Position. An
employer does not have to conduct the same background check on
every employee if the differentiation is based on legitimate
business interests. For example, if you are hiring an
accountant, a credit check would be appropriate.
It’s a good idea to perform a criminal check on all potential
employees. Other potential investigations besides criminal and
credit include: prior employment history, personal references,
education, employment verification, licensing information, social
security number, motor vehicle reports, sexual offender index,
industry specific checks and even residence
history. One of most common methods of hiding criminal
activity is to skip residence info on job applications.
Tell Your Candidates About the Background
Check. Let applicants know your background investigation
policy by announcing it on your website, in recruitment ads and on
the application. Your policy should also state that the
employer will comply with federal and state laws that affect how a
background check is performed and what information an employer will
obtain and from how long ago.
Ask Candidates to Sign a Consent Form. It is
imperative that you ask prospective employees to sign a written
consent form before you can begin a background check. This
must be a separate page from the application.
Establish Who Will Verify Information. Allow only
a trained human resources professional or an outside agency that is
skilled in background searches to conduct your
research. Confirm that your worker or agency is familiar with
a number of acts, including:
- The Bankruptcy Act, which states that it’s unlawful to
discriminate against anyone who has declared bankruptcy;
- Equal Employment Opportunity Laws, which prevent job
discrimination against minorities based on poor credit ratings
unless the applicant is applying for a financial-related position;
and,
- The Fair Credit Reporting Act that requires employers to obtain
the applicant’s written permission before checking credit,
prohibits the use of information older than seven years, and
mandates that in the case of a negative credit rating that the
employer notifies the jobseeker with the name of the consumer
reporting agency used and allows time for the applicant to
contest.
Before choosing a vendor, determine that your needs will be
met, that original information is researched, the legality of data
sources, and that reports are complete and timely. There are a
number of online vendors available including, but not limited
to:
Conduct the background check with sensitivity and privacy and
record all of the details of the process. If a background
check leads to the decision not to hire an individual, the employer
does not have to prove that allegations are true if it conducts a
proper investigation and acts in good faith on the information
obtained.
