Is Your Company Making These Mistakes When Running a Background Check?

Every business owner will tell you that security is one of their top priorities. This is true, especially because it relates directly to the security of the business, its employees, and its customers. This is why so many employers trust background screening procedures to ensure that the people they hire will not cause problems for their business or the people who surround it.

The problem, of course, is that we are all human, and mistakes do happen. While we can never expect to be perfect 100% of the time, you definitely want to be meticulous when hiring a new employee. Any mistakes you make can have disastrous results in certain situations. To help you stay safe, we have compiled a few common mistakes that you should avoid making when running background checks.

Lack of Consent from the Applicant

Some business owners and hiring managers are under the incorrect assumption that they can run a criminal background check without the consent of a potential employee. After all, in the non-business world, you see ads online that talk about running criminal checks on people you have befriended, men and women who you want to date, and pretty much anyone else you want to find out about. But, the business world is different. If you’re going to run a criminal background check to determine whether or not someone is eligible to work for your company, then you must have an applicant’s signed consent to do so. If not, then you’re in violation of the law and you could face serious consequences, including civil action from the applicant.

Forgetting to Verify Key Information

The last thing you want to do is make a hiring decision based on the wrong person’s background screening results. This doesn’t become a problem too often, but it has definitely happened to numerous businesses in the past. The situation typically occurs because the person may have a common name, or there may be a mistake made when inputting the person’s Social Security number or date of birth when running the search. Preventing this is quite simple: all you need to do is verify the applicant’s information prior to the background check. This will ensure accuracy of the results.

Not Being Thorough Enough

If you simply run a national criminal background check, it’s possible that you could miss pertinent information, due to the nature of this database.. What you want to do is also focus on state and local background checks. This will give you the most thorough criminal search available. Plus, even though education probably won’t be a factor in terms of safety, it is common for applicants to mislead or outright lie about their educational background, which means they might not actually qualify for the job they’re applying for. Therefore, you definitely want to include an educational search as well.

Making a Decision Before the Applicant Can Respond

Once a background search has been completed and it comes back with negative information, you can’t simply deny employment and send the applicant on his or her merry way. What you must do is reach out to the candidate through the legally-mandated Preadverse Action process, which both provides them with the information that you have discovered and gives them a chance to dispute, if necessary. There are times when the information may not be accurate or, more likely, the applicant could provide additional information that will carry some weight in your hiring decision. Regardless, it is within their rights to see the results and have a chance to respond.

Thorough, accurate background checks are essential for the safety and security of your business, its employees, and its customers. To ensure that you do things the right way when hiring a new employee, reach out to the experts at NationSearch. We will conduct a background screening that you can trust.