The safety of the work environment, company assets, and customer relations are among many factors an unsuitable employee can jeopardize. Conducting background checks can help employers make more informed hiring decisions.
Employers must also adhere to data privacy regulations and ensure their screening process evolves with legal, technological, and ethical developments.
Verify Your Identity
Identity verification is a necessary part of any background check. It checks if the person who applied for the job is who they say they are. It can also verify the accuracy of a person’s date of birth and address.
This is a crucial step for companies that hire people to work in public spaces, visit private homes or businesses, handle money, or drive as part of their jobs. These are the kinds of positions that require thorough, annual background checks.
Background checks can help employers weed out bad actors, but they depend on accurate identifying information. If a candidate misrepresents their identity, it can lead to legal complications for the employer. Identity verification checks like Certn’s OneID can eliminate these errors by combining digital document checking (like photos of passports and driver’s licenses) with facial recognition. The result is a more streamlined and effective way to verify an applicant’s identity.
Check Your Credit History
When a background check company runs one on you, they can include a modified credit report showing current liens and your history of inquiries for things like loans or credit cards. These reports typically don’t show your credit score.
These searches may also include a social media screening, which looks at your public profiles and your privacy settings for information that could be job-relevant. This is only standard with some background checks, but it can be a valuable option for jobs that require specific qualifications, such as babysitters or real estate agents.
Some background check services can also do a search of public records for more in-depth details, including sex offender registries and fraud lists. This isn’t standard with all criminal background checks, but it can be an excellent way for employers to reduce their risk of hiring someone who might commit fraud or theft on the job. It can also reduce the chances of negligent hiring lawsuits, which can be costly.
Check Your Driving Record
Many employers use Motor Vehicle Record (MVR) checks as part of a comprehensive background check. An MVR search typically includes a person’s current license status, license class and endorsements, driver history, accidents and violations, and other information. An MVR is often used for positions where employees drive company vehicles or are at risk of causing financial damage and reputational harm, such as salespeople, escorts, drivers for rideshare services and delivery/courier companies, and any position where the employee may be responsible for a company’s cargo.
MVR checks can also reveal criminal traffic offenses such as vehicular homicide or manslaughter and will usually show all convictions even if they have since been deleted. The scope of an MVR can vary from state to state as each has laws dictating how long items remain on an individual’s driving record. DOT-regulated industries, such as trucking carriers and bus lines, must conduct MVR checks for all employees.
Check Your Criminal Record
The information discovered by background check services can also verify a person’s identity. Most background checks include a social security number trace and address history search, which returns all names (including aliases) and addresses associated with a person’s SSN.
National criminal record checks and county-level searches report felony and misdemeanor convictions, current pending cases, and dismissed charges (depending on the provider). Some searches also provide a list of federal crimes, such as white-collar crimes, embezzlement, illegal sale of firearms, pornographic exploitation of children, tax evasion, and more.
Employers, landlords, and other decision-makers run criminal background checks to protect themselves from negligent hiring lawsuits if a violent or dangerous candidate causes harm to customers or coworkers. But they can face legal repercussions if they don’t follow strict rules about when checks can be run. These laws differ by state and vary from job to job. EEOC guidance on these issues can help employers develop best practices.
