Transparency in Pre-Employment Screening Process

Many employees think the process of pre-employment screening is a total mystery. Misconceptions of applicants spread about what pre-employment screening consists of the range of the permanent records to the idea that pre-employment screening of any kind is illegal. But the truth is if conducted the right way, the process of pre-employment screening is a transparent exercise. Following the right rules will help lower or destroy the uncertainty and the worries that a lot of applicants, especially those who have nothing experience when they of through pre-employment screening making one of the first interactions applicants have with employers a good one.

Pre-employment screening is not a secret attempt for companies to kick out applicant they don’t want. Laws especially the Fair Credit Reporting Act is here to make sure that the process of pre-employment screening is clear and transparent.

Employers should tell the potential employee first that they will subject to pre-employment screening. As said in the act, employers need to tell the potential employee that the company will conduct a consumer report as a part of pre-employment screening in a disclosure that is crystal clear to the applicant and in the document that will only consist of the disclosure. Disclosure should have the name and the contact information for the firms who will conduct the pre-employment screening process to complete the report. The applicant needs to have an awareness of the requested report and the company completing the said report.

Requirements of the Act and the Right of Applicants

After the report is completed, the applicant will either be offered the job or denied the employment or take back the offer given. The act also requires employers to tell the applicant of the decision they made based mostly or partly on the report and they should have the contact information about the firm who conducted the pre-employment screening. Applicants will get their chance to speak for their part about the results of the report with the firm. If the applicant decided to do this, the firm will tell the employer. The pre-employment screening firm has 30 days to do an investigation again. If the employers decided to move forward with the decision, the applicant will receive notifications on the final decision of the employer.

Contract Employee Background Checks

The use of contract employees is increasing in recent years; employers in a lot of industries rely on contractors to get the job done. But in the employee background check criteria the companies who contracts for its employees if there is one. There might be an employee background check in place, but these are both frequency and quality.

Protecting the Company

Employers should protect their companies, their employees and mitigate the risks that are because of contact workers. Employers need to develop a process for employee background check that will apply to all their employees. And they have to make sure that the policies will meet the needs of their companies and all the federal, local, state and industry requirements. Providers of employee background check services are knowledgeable representatives will help employers in evaluating their current policies and develop a program that will meet their needs. Once the policies are in place, the key is consistency. Employers must make sure that these policies will apply to both employees and contract workers in their companies. Employers need to ask third-party firms to do the same employee background check services in their company. Hiring contract workers who are not properly background check will not only damage the company’s status, but will also hurt financially and will end up in lawsuits.

When Dealing With Vendors

When working with people who give contracted workers, employers have to find out how they do their employee background check services and which firms do they use and what their employee background check services cover. Preferably, employers should offer them their company’s requirements for employee background check services and ways. Be specific in all the requirements for the employee background check like criminal records searches, licenses, references and employment. List the same ways the company use to background check their employees. To make sure that employee background check services are consistent to all contracts and internal employees, employers have to make the vendors use the employee background check their company use.

Pre-Employment Screening Software

When you receive the sheer number of applicants for your job openings, do you get overwhelmed? Today, it might seem like all the good applicants are lost under the stacks of unqualified job applicants, which is where pre-employment screening software comes in. It can give you a pre-employment screening process that will let you find potential employees that are qualified for your job positions. Here are some scenarios that will light some questions so employers have an easier time in the pre-employment screening process:

Job Qualifications: Can They Read My Job Ad?

Since there are a lot of applicants and only a few jobs, there are job applicants who will go with the shotgun approach in applying for jobs. They will apply for any job they will see, even if they are over or under qualified for it. But pre-employment screening software allows you to ask applicants questions based on the job they are applying for. Pre-employment screening questions allows you to see all the answers for all the job applicants for that job in a table that sorts on your own, choosing and rank and archive some applicants until you have your own list of applicants who are all qualified for your company.

The Purpose of Pre-Employment Screening Process

Pre-employment screening is a service and a process that supports a company’s hiring and selection rules and can involve verification of an applicant’s qualifications and the history of their employment, criminal records check and reference checking, dependent on the level of the job sought.

The pre-employment screening process looks for all available information about the applicants and their past behaviors and attitudes, this will take the risk out of the hiring process by making sure that employers have the facts. Ideally, decisions in hiring are only made after careful considerations of applicants past histories, qualifications and experiences.

But in reality, it is hard for companies to carry out these pre-employment screening which results in a real risk of hiring without any enough information and possibility of altering the hiring decision because of the information they gain.

The discovery of information after the employer made a hiring decision and the applicant is not who they say they are and put their exaggerated experiences and or they behaved badly in their earlier jobs.

Pre-Employment Screening Are Applied For Whom?

A lot of companies believe that all potential employees for all types of jobs should need to have pre-employment screening as a practice which shows consistency and tangible of the programs for preventing loss and fairness.

The risks of hiring applicants who does not have any skills or experiences employers think they do are potentially significant. If that applicant has shown dishonesty is someone else’s previous workplace or has prosecuted for a crime of dishonesty, there is a high chance that they will do it again in another workplace.

Pre-employment screening of all potential applicants earlier to hiring demonstrates fairness in safeguards against discovering later what you would have preferred to know before making decisions in hiring.

Reasons to Use Accredited Background Check Companies

A lot of companies have paid millions and millions of dollars to settle lawsuits in the unprecedented rise of employment background checks and law violations in employment background checks. With a lot of legislation popping up as expected in 2016, the legal landscape set to become more complex. Like the risks of committing violations when conducting employment background checks is possibly becoming even bigger.

Should companies suspend employment background checks so they can avoid legal sanctions? No, of course not, Employment background checks are important in the hiring process and conducting them is a must.

Why Do Companies Get Lawsuits?

First, lawsuits related employment background checks are from one source which is selecting the wrong kind of companies who do employment background checks. Using the right companies who do employment background checks leads to legal problems in two ways.

Some employment background checks companies commit violations when they conduct employment background checks. In many cases, when companies who had contracted they are the ones who will face legal action. In other words, companies who do employment background checks commit violations while their clients take the fall.

Like some firms who do employment background checks do not verify their results. They don’t cross check to make sure that the result of their employment background checks is correct. Most of them return false information of their employment background checks. When companies make drastic and wrong decisions on the basis of the false information, they end up getting the lawsuits.

The second way is that some firms who do employment background checks do not tell their clients on compliance issues, the best firms who do employment background checks are usually up to the latest legal requirements for jurisdictions. They send their clients with tips they can use to make sure their compliance. Some firms even refuse to do employment background checks unless their clients are following legal stipulations. Unfortunately, not all firms do this. A lot leave their clients in legal wormholes and set them up to commit legal violations

Checking Employee Backgrounds

To re-emphasize all agencies who check employee backgrounds are all licensed and to do the checking of employee backgrounds, because of employment. If checking employee backgrounds will show actions which can potentially harm and injure people receiving the company’s services, the company is not hiring the person.

The purpose of checking employee backgrounds is to assure to the possible extent that potential employees are unlikely to harm people physically, psychologically and financially. A license may not contract or use people with criminal records which show behavior and actions that can potentially harm people, searched through either criminal records check or criminal background checks. Statutory note and regulations require two types of background checks, criminal background checks, and former employer background checks.

Following these requirements, the company or the employer should not depend on this one.  The employer should comply and be familiar with all the statutes and laws cited and other regulations that need reports of neglect and abuse incidents. A serious violation of these regulations is when a license fails to comply with a basic safety and health standard.

Checking Employee Backgrounds

The information on employee backgrounds is essential to companies that need new employees. They need the license to send a request to get references from recent employers. The least information on employee backgrounds, they can get from employers are histories of physical abuse. Good judgment is good enough, the license requires to dig deeper and check all references.  

Background Checks: Dos and Don’ts

A good pre-employment screening policy will make sure that a company will both take a rounded, correct and balanced view of an applicant’s background. There are some things that will help companies get the most from their background checks.

What to do

Verify the Identity of Applicants

Identity authentication is the key to the pre-employment screening process. Verifying is the applicant saying who they say they are should always be the first part. A lot of pre-employment screenings are ineffective if even the applicant’s basic details are not correct. Applicants may hide their criminal records or other information by changing addresses or leaving a gap. If the applicant is new to the country, their records of earlier residences in other countries thorough background checks will check it.

     Check Qualifications

Using third parties to confirm an applicant’s qualification can make sure that the legal and industry requirements met.

Employers need to thorough pre-employment screening on the applicants they are hiring and make sure that they have relevant certification before taking them on and have proof that they took the right paths years down the line.

      Add Criminal Records on Pre-Employment Screening Process

Criminal records highlight a minor offense like a penalty for speeding. Situations like this, employers can make their decision in hiring, a lot of serious convictions even if it can bring an impact on the job they applied for and bring applicants' integrity into question.

Appropriate ways should be implemented to prevent any risks that will harm other staff or the status of the company.

Employment Background Checks are the Crucial Kind of Checks

Employment background checks are one of the most important checks, employers need to easily confirm an applicant’s past work experience and it also shows applicants who falsify information which is one of the most common areas. Reports say that there was a discrepancy rate of at least 27 percent in the employment background histories based on more than 290 thousand employment verification conducted in the last months of 2014.

Conduct employment background checks and look into an applicant’s past work history that can show insight into their stability and loyalty to their job and employer. Employers compare the applicant’s claims on their applications with the real results of the employment background checks reported by the background check company hired by the employer.

Employment background checks will verify:
• The start and end of job dates
• Titles the applicant held
• The applicant’s salary
• Their job duties
• And the reason for their termination and rehire eligibility

Conducting Employment Background Checks

Employers must get the applicant’s permission before conducting employment background checks. The applicant can decline permission to contact any employers from previous employment. But applicants can still be asked for permission to offer documents to prove their employment, but same goes to previous employers who cannot be contacted especially those who are no longer in business. Employment background checks will verify previous employment based on the clients’ guidelines.

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