One way of ensuring that you hire quality talent is to perform a background check on your potential employee. Employment background checks secure job applicants' information, including the history of criminal conviction, violation of any driving rules, bad credit history, or if they are misrepresenting themselves based on education or work history. 

A Complete Guide to Employee Background Check

Whereas background checks are essential in the hiring process, there are legal regulations that employers must adhere to when seeking employee background verification.  For example, suppose you are using an employment screening company to perform employee background checks on your behalf. In that case, you are required to receive authorization from the applicants before beginning the process. This means that you must notify your potential employee of your intention and obtain written consent.  On the other hand, if you perform an employee background check on your own, then there is no need to confirm with the applicants. You are free to make all the necessary inquiries and make informed hiring decisions. To conduct a pre-employment background check, you need the candidate's personal details, including legal names, date of birth, and social security number. Some employers may even require the employee's physical address. 

What Happens On a Pre-Employment Background Check?

Human resource managers are tasked with building strong teams to ensure the success of the companies they represent. This requires going through a rigorous process that may include advertising for a position, perusing applications and conducting interviews. Once the HR Manager finds the right candidate, it is essential to verify that all the information which has been shared is a true account for their employment. This is what pre-employment background checks are all about. Managers need to know how to go about this type of background check and what happens. Here are some insights: -

• Criminal history is a key element of any background check. It is important to evaluate this as an HR manager does not want to put the company, or the employees at any risk when taking on a new member of staff. In this check, it will reveal what happened if there was any suspected criminal activity, what the court documents revealed, and what was the outcome of the investigation.
• Educational background checks verify that all the educational information and certifications that have been stated within an application are in fact accurate. This helps eliminate those applicants who may be unscrupulous and choose to lie about what they have accomplished. Qualifications are essential for HR managers who are looking to find the right person for a job.
• Credit checks provide information on one’s credit history and ability to manage debt. If a credit check reveals that an individual has had to go to court to settle their credit issues, it may be reflection of a person’s ability to handle their own affairs. This could also have an impact on the way they are able to handle issues when they are working.
• Medical records may be included as part of a background check, particularly if the duties of a job call for the employee to fit a certain physical criterion to effectively carry out expected tasks. These can be substantiated by the fact that other people who take up similar positions need to do medical exams to be declared fit to do the work.
• Reference checks give an HR manager some insight on the applicant’s ability to work in certain environments. They also highlight what the key factors may have been that caused an individual to leave one job for the next. They are not limited to just calling up former employers though. Now, they also include assessing electronic history through tracking of social media accounts, personal blogs or any information about the individual that is on the internet.

For employment background checks to be done right, a company should consider making use of a pre-employment background check tool. These tools can be programmed to consider the following: -

• The level of risk that the company is willing to take when hiring new people for available positions.
• The ability to make quick decisions to take one new staff.
• Accurate and standardized checks that ensure each potential employee meets the criteria for their job as well as fits within the organizational culture.
• Comprehensive information as a tool can check a wide range of elements using a checklist system. This make it easier and faster to flag when there is some missing information.

Many believe that a background check for employment simply checks on a person’s criminal history. However, it is way more extensive than this. These checks will verify employment history, educational background, references, civil records and so much more. From them, it becomes possible for an HR manager to paint a picture about some potential employees fit with a company. To always ensure that this information is accurate and applicable, and manager should use an automated tool that has the defined criteria being searched already pre-set. This will save time and make for more accurate decisions. It is not worth the risk of employing people today without carrying out a proper background check on them. It is worth noting that one must seek permission to do so. Also, once the check has been completed and the results affect the ability of an individual to get a certain position, they should be given the opportunity to dispute the accuracy of the report.  

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Contributed By:

Check Before Hire, LLC