Five Mistakes Employers May Be Making with Background Checks
1. Conducting them in house. Nobody knows their business like you do, but to rely on departments within your organization to conduct in house background checks may be pushing the HR Department or administrator out of their comfort zones. These departments also have their own priorities. There is plenty of information available on potential new hires, but it is best to leave it to an expert to find, interpret, and deliver the information you need.
2. Relying on a “nationwide” commercial database from criminal background checks. Commercial databases are frequently incomplete, not up to date, or have insufficient identification to positively point to a particular individual. There is no nationwide database that contains every jurisdiction in the country and are not done in real time.
3. Paying for an “instant on-line” criminal background check. If any net-based search claims to be instant, the results will be outdated and probably inaccurate. Instant results are purchased by private companies from some government agencies and the information is updated infrequently.
4. Misinterpreting results. Knowing the seriousness or classification of a crime can be a determining factor in whether a candidate is hired or not. Be sure the offense is related to the job before you exclude an otherwise acceptable applicant.
5. Not having a policy on background checks. Businesses should have and follow a written policy defining the nature and scope of the employee background check for each level of employee. Having a policy in place assures fairness and consistency in the application of background checks.
Avoid confusion in implementing your employee background check program by clicking here or calling 770-426-0547.
