Running an Employment Background Check for a Successful Business (continued)

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Rules that Apply to Certain Types of Information

Aside from those above mentioned general considerations, there are also some specific rules that you must need to know when considering employment background checking. These rules generally apply to certain types of information:

Rule #1: School Records

Under the federal law and law of some states, education records which typically include recommendations, transcripts, and financial information are held confidential. Yes, they are confidential! Because of these laws, most schools say no to some requests for access to school records. They will not release records without the consent of the student. Other schools, however, will only release records directly to the student.

Rule #2: Bankruptcies

Note that federal law prohibits employers from discriminating against applicants just for the reason that they have filed for bankruptcy. This means that you cannot decide to turn down someone simply because he or she has declared bankruptcy in the past.

Rule #3: Credit Reports

In terms of credit reports, the Fair Credit Reporting Act or FCRA applies. Under this Act, FCRA (15 U.S.C. §1681), employers are subjected to obtain an employee’s written consent before searching for that employee’s credit report. Usually, a number of employers routinely include a request for such consent in their employment applications. So, if the employer decides not to hire or promote someone based on information in the credit report, the employer must then provide a copy of the report and let the applicant know of his or her right to challenge the report under the rules maintained by the FCRA.

Today, some states have maintained more stringent rules restricting the use of credit reports.

Rule #4: Criminal Records

When it comes to criminal records, it is important to note that generally the law varies from state to state on whether and to what extent a private employer may consider an applicant’s criminal history in forming hiring decisions. There are some states today that prohibit employers from asking about convictions, arrests that happened well in the past. The limitation also applies to juvenile crimes and sealed records.

However, there are also some other states that allow employers to consider criminal history only for specific positions, such as childcare workers, nurses, private detectives, and other jobs requiring licenses. With this variation, it is then necessary to consult with a lawyer first or do further searches without breaking any of the state before you dig deep into an applicant’s criminal history.

Rule #5: Compensation Records

Under certain laws, an employer may consider information contained in the public record from worker’s compensation appeal in forming a job decision only if the injury obtained by the applicant might interfere with his or her ability to work and perform the required duties and responsibilities.

Rule #6: Other Medical Records

Under the ADA or Americans with Disabilities Act, employers may make inquiries only about the ability of the applicant to perform certain job duties and responsibilities. They may not request medical records of the employees. Also, it is worth noting that the ADA maintains that an employer may not make a job decision, for example on hiring or promotion, based on an employee’s disability as long as the person can do the job, with or without a reasonable accommodation. It is further worth noting that some states these days hold certain laws protecting the confidentiality of medical records.

Rule #7: Driving Records

One particular rule to note that applies to certain information is that an employer must check the driving record of any of his or her employee whose job will need large amounts of driving. As maintained, these records are available, sometimes for a nominal charge, from the motor vehicle department of the state.

Rule #8: Military Service Records

In terms of records of military service, one rule holds that members and former members of the armed forces have a right to privacy in their service records. With that, these military records may only be released under limited circumstances. Consent is generally required. Nevertheless, the military has the right to disclose the person’s name, salary, rank, duty assignments, duty status and awards without the member’s consent.

How to Get Started?

After knowing those facts, tips and rules of employment background checking, I think you are now ready to start with your search. Okay, here’s what you should note:

A basic background check typically involves most or all of the following:

• Verifying the identity of the candidate
• Checking the candidate’s references and former employers
• A criminal background check, usually covering the past several years
• Verifying the candidate’s names and social security number against public records
• Checking the educational background as well as professional or occupational licenses of the candidate
• An MVR check

Here are also additional pre-employment checks that you can do:

• Pre-employment credit check
• Workman’s compensation records check
• Drug Test
• Employment psychological test
• In-depth interviewing or reference checks

As presented, background checking for employment purposes is absolutely vital these days, even for the smallest company. This is for the reasons that employers are constantly faced with the costly possibilities of resume fraud or misinterpretation of qualifications, hidden criminal backgrounds of the applicants, and some other forms of deceit. We cannot even deny the fact that hiring the wrong applicant can be one of the most costly mistakes that a company can make.

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