What Is A Background Check?

Background checks are an of import office of whatever hiring programme for the uncomplicated reason that they keep your employees and your customers safe. Nosotros've all seen the news reports near attacks in the workplace. While these headline-grabbing incidents are thankfully few and far between, other crimes happen on the job every unmarried day.

Failing to properly screen your employees doesn't simply put you at run a risk for beingness a victim of a crime, just information technology puts your business organisation at gamble also. If you hire someone with a history of tearing criminal offense and they hurt someone while on the job — you are responsible. Only before you go started, it's of import to sympathise what a background check is and what it consists of.

What Does a Background Check Show?

The contents of a background check volition vary depending on the industry, the type of job an applicant is seeking, as well equally the employer'southward preference. The most common background checks consist of criminal history, education, previous employment verifications, and reference checks.

These reports could also include results of pre-employment drug testing. The goal is for an employer to feel confident a new rent volition not bring foreseeable trouble to the workplace.

Whats it Show

What are the Different Types of Background Checks?

There are many different kinds of background checks that can exist run on job applicants. A check can include any combination of the following:

Social Security Number Trace – A Social Security Number trace reveals where a potential employee has lived and worked. It besides gives yous any other names or aliases connected with this person to check during the criminal screen. This is the jumping-off bespeak for any reliable groundwork check.

National Criminal Records Database Search – This is useful for finding out if applicants have committed a law-breaking outside of the state or county where they live and work. Besides known as the NCRD, the National Criminal Records Database includes hundreds of millions of records that can be searched speedily.

Statewide Criminal Records Check – These checks reveal whatever felonies or misdemeanors by gathering data from the courts, correctional agencies, and constabulary enforcement officials across the state.

County Criminal Records Check – With information from the Social Security Trace researchers tin hone in on the verbal areas where applicants have lived and worked. This is one of the most mutual searches done in groundwork checks.

FBI Fingerprint Database – A fingerprint groundwork cheque tin can show Criminal History Record Information (CHRI) if a friction match is found. This CHRI can include arrests, likewise as military service records, records of federal employment and naturalization.

Many industries are required past police to do a fingerprint based background check. This not necessarily the best selection for finding criminal history, but if you work in a hospital, mean solar day intendance, nursing dwelling, finance, drive a taxi, or exercise other sensitive work, you might be required to submit your prints.

Sex Offender Registry – This will bear witness if an applicant is a registered sex offender. It is included in the NCRD and covers all fifty states.

Healthcare Sanctions Study (HSR) – This checks to see if physicians, nurses, PA's, etc. have been excluded from participating in federally funded programs like Medicare and Medicaid because of an infraction.

Terrorist Spotter Listing – This bank check will cross-reference the list of people who are known or are reasonably suspected of being involved in terrorist activity and is maintained by the FBI's Terrorist Screening Centre.

Office of Foreign Nugget Control (OFAC) – This search determines if a candidate is considered to be a threat to national security. It is maintained by a partition of the Usa Treasury Department.

Driver's License Verification and Driving Records Check (MVR Study) – If driving is part of the task, the employer volition likely include a cheque of an applicant's driving history which will include violations, suspensions, accidents, convictions and any other disciplinary action.

DOT Employment Verifications – This check is much more than detailed than merely looking at motor vehicle records. Co-ordinate to federal law, when researching a Commercial Commuter's License (CDL), yous can only await at the terminal 3 years, merely in that location are no such restriction on work history. The DOT requires very specific questions to be asked past Homo Resources and the entire process can take up to 30 days to consummate.

Credit Study Check – Applicants for fiscal positions or those that are trusted with Personally Identifiable Information (PII) might be subject field to a credit check. This volition bear witness any current debts, bankruptcies, financial judgements and fifty-fifty payment history.

Pedagogy Verification – This check makes sure applicants are non stretching the truth when information technology comes to earning a degree. High school, higher, advanced degrees, likewise every bit certifications can be confirmed.

Employment Verification – Confirming an applicant's previous employment includes dates, salary, reason for leaving, and rehire eligibility

Professional Reference Cheque – This check involves actually calling previous employers to talk about an applicant's job performance.

Professional Qualification Verification – This search makes sure professional person licenses are valid. Information technology is advisable for people in medical fields equally well as accountants, engineers, attorneys, and existent manor agents. Results show if your applicant'due south license is valid, the renewal engagement and if there have been any disciplinary deportment filed.

Types of Checks

How Far Back do Background Checks Go?

Non-confidence records will but be reported for seven years.Under the Fair Credit Reporting Deed, in that location is no limitation on reporting a criminal conviction, even so many states take passed laws that say Consumer Reporting Agencies (CRAs) like EBI cannot report anything beyond 7 years.

FCRA compliance is required for whatever employer using a 3rd party for conducting a background check.

How Long Does A Background Check Take?

If at that place are no hard and fast rules almost how long a background check should have; each piece of the check has its ain timeline. But if you lot practise not have any "hits" – a background cheque shows no negative records – it should merely take two to three days to go a completed report. Many of the checks are even returned instantly. Here is a breakdown of the timelines of the dissimilar types of background checks:

Social Security Trace – Instant
National Criminal Tape Database (NCRD) – Instant
Statewide –eighteen-36 Hours
County Criminal Records – 48 Hours
FBI Fingerprint Database – 48 to 72 Hours
Sex Offender Registry – 4 Hours
Healthcare Sanction Reports – Instant
Terrorist Watchlist – Instant
Office of Foreign Asset Command (OFAC) – Instant
Driver's License Verification/Records (MVR) – 72 Hours
Verifying DOT Employment – 30 Days
Credit Check – Instant
Education Verification – 72 Hours
Employment Verification – 72 Hours
Professional Reference – 24 to 48 Hours
Professional person Qualification Verification – Instant
Global Watch List Checks – Instant

Our resource gives a deeper dive to answer the question: How Long Does a Background Check Accept. It's a groovy resource for more detailed information nigh each of these checks.

Do I Need to Run a Background Check past Law?

Several industries do require groundwork checks, but information technology is important to annotation that laws tin vary past land. In general, anyone working with children, the elderly, in fiscal positions, healthcare, government, and DOT regulated jobs should all expect to undergo a background check.

Fifty-fifty if not mandated by law, in these industries particularly, it is better to be safety than sorry. The risk of a negligent hiring lawsuit alone should exist plenty to make screening worthwhile.

Why Are Background Checks Important?

If y'all are still wondering why background checks are necessary, these statistics should give you a good thought.

A CareerBuilder survey institute that 1 bad hire tin cost an employer up of $17,000. Non only is in that location a monetary cost, simply the impairment to morale and loss of productivity that comes from hiring the wrong person can accept a terrible impact on a workforce. There are even more than costly reasons to make sure you know who you are hiring.

Why are they important

According to the 2016 Global Fraud Study, the typical organization loses 5% of annual revenues to fraud. In the United States the median loss was $120,000, and thirty% of the fraud happened in small businesses with fewer than 100 employees. The acme risks were billing schemes, skimming, non-cash misappropriation, check tampering, and corruption. The biggest reason notwithstanding, is the rubber and well-beingness of your employees and customers.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics from 2006 to 2010 more than 550 people were murdered each year while on the job. Of those, 77 were multiple homicides. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Assistants (OSHA) between 1993 to 1999 an boilerplate of 1.7 million people were victims of violent crime while on the job.

Are Free Background Checks Enough?

There are all kinds of services out there on the cyberspace that say you can check someone'southward criminal history in seconds. These services are non suitable for employment purposes. Proper background checks are complex; they involve searching the courts on the federal, state, and county levels, equally well every bit checking in with an applicant'south schools and previous employers. The online services just electronically browse databases that are almost always incomplete.

The just existent way to determine if a job applicant has a criminal record is to have an actual human beingness scour court records. They exercise this for several reasons, first to make sure the record actually is for your applicant, and second to meet if the at that place was actually a confidence. No 1 wants to throw out good hire because of mistaken identity or over a charge that was dropped.

Background checks cannot prevent all violence in the workplace and it tin can't guarantee that every rent will be the all-time fit, but it can become a long style to making certain you make the most informed hiring decisions possible.

EBI can help yous create and implement the right background screening solution for your business. Get started on yours today.