Employee background checks have always been used as an aid for companies to make better hiring decisions. Primarily these pre employment screenings were done by larger operations that were hiring for top-level executives, employees with security clearances, or law enforcement.

With the increase in access to public information like criminal convictions, employment or education history, it has been more cost effective for even small businesses to conduct employee background checks for all of their potential job candidates.

Typically a business has an applicant fill out a job application. On the application there is notification that you reserve the right to conduct pre employment screening prior to hiring any applicant. They have to sign acknowledging this requirement.

Next would be any pre interview screenings followed up by an actual job interview. During the job interview the potential employer has a chance to verbally review the application. This is the best time to find out more about the applicant’s personality and skill set. This is also an ideal time for the applicant to ask any questions they might have, but also to clarify any questions or red flags the potential employer has found.

If all goes well after the interview process, the employee background checks are then conducted. Waiting until this time in the process serves two purposes. It eliminates the need to spend money on pre employment screening for applicants you have no interest in hiring. Secondly, the employee background checks help validate the information put on the application, validating that this is a good candidate to hire.

To purchase Pre-Employment Screening Services or for more information on background check experts, background checks, criminal background checks, employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547 

If you are conducting a job interview to qualify potential job candidates there are some right and wrong ways to find out the information you are looking for. Pre employment screening helps to clarify a lot of the gray area for you; in terms of what questions you can legally ask a candidate.

Take the topic of arrests and criminal convictions, for example. It is illegal to ask a job candidate if they have ever been arrested. The arrest could have not lead to a conviction. The arrest could have been downgraded to a different crime altogether. This could mean the difference between a felony and a misdemeanor crime.

By asking about arrests, you can have a potentially negative response to a job candidate. This is an unfair stance for the candidate who may have been cleared/ found not guilty of those charges. You can be held liable for not hiring someone because you asked the wrong questions.

The legal way is to ask about any convictions. That means a court found them guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If the court found them guilty, then this information is generally public record, which means you can have access to it, as a potential employer.

The best way to do this is to inquire on the application. This gives the applicant the opportunity to disclose any convictions and also give any explanations they feel necessary. You are then allowed to validate these convictions during your pre employment screening background checks.

To purchase Pre-Employment Screening Services or for more information on background check experts, background checks, criminal background checks, employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547

There is a saying that goes” be slow to hire, and quick to fire” when it comes to hiring practices. All too often, businesses wait until the last possible second to hire replacement and additional staff. As a result, the employees are often not the highest quality; they are simply the employees who could fulfill the job requirements the fastest. Because of a need to hire quickly, pre employment screening is overlooked and not used to its fullest advantage.

When you take the time to hire slowly, you are putting your business in a much better position. You are being strategic instead of reactive. By anticipating hiring needs further in advance, you can stave off potential negatives that can affect your business such as decreased moral and subsequent productivity from overworked employees, and decreased customer satisfaction.

When you hire slowly, you have an opportunity to collect more job applications, thus widening the hiring pool to include a better range of qualifications and abilities. You are not limited to saying yes to only the first few applications that land on your desk. You now have the luxury to be able to say no to those applications, and wait for better applicants to apply. 

Once you have found better applicants, you also have the luxury of time to wait for a pre employment screening to come back. Because you are not pressured by needing to have a position filled immediately, you can make sure that the applicant you do want is exactly who you think you are hiring.

To purchase Pre-Employment Screening Services or for more information on background check experts, background checks, criminal background checks, employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547

If you ever look at a stock portfolio, there is usually a disclaimer that says past performance is not indicative of future success. Basically advisors do not want you to invest in something because you feel like it’s a sure thing, and then have you be disappointed later on. Employee background checks are saying the same basic thing when it comes to whom you hire.

Playing the stock market is riddled with risks- some are high with the promise of a great return, or great failure. Others are low risk with a steady expectation of gain, or they may turn out to be a dud and never fully rise to their potential. When you run employee background checks, you are looking for indicators of which job applicant is going to be a high or low risk.

Just like a stock, you should probably not judge their past behavior as a guarantee of future success. Some applicants with a clean history will end up stealing from you because they are suddenly faced with an unexpected financial debt. Others with a criminal past may have truly been rehabilitated, and are on the straight and narrow path now, never to falter again.

Pre employment screening is about having a base line to make those decisions. Is the applicant consistently employed or do they bounce from job to job every few months? Do they have multiple convictions or was it a one-time mistake? By tracking a stock over a longer period of time, we can see just how consistent it has been allowing us to decide whether to invest or not. Employee background checks help us to see the longer history of a person, and not just what the recent results have been.

To purchase Pre-Employment Screening Services or for more information on background check experts, background checks, criminal background checks, employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547

Circulating within the California legislation is a bill known as the Ban the Box Bill. In essence, the legislation is seeking to remove and ban the box on employment applications regarding criminal background checks. If this is passed, employers will not have a legal right to ask if a job candidate has been convicted of a crime.

There are two main talking points on both sides of the issue. The first is from human rights advocates that say job seekers who have a criminal past are being unjustly passed over and are discriminated against when they disclose their criminal convictions during pre employment screening. They feel like the potential employees have already paid their dues for the crimes that were committed and should now be given a clean slate to try and rebuild their lives.

Since 1 in 4 have a criminal record, there are too many potential employees who cannot find work, and are therefore a strain on the state, as they often have to collect government assistance to supplement their lack of income.

The flip side comes from the employers who say because 1 in 4 have a criminal past, it is necessary to find out up front who does and does not have a conviction. They feel that they have a right to hire the best candidate for the position. Many employers feel that they would hire a convicted applicant, depending on what the conviction was for, and what position they had applied for, provided it was disclosed upfront and not uncovered during a criminal background check.

To purchase Pre-Employment Screening Services or for more information on background check experts, background checks, criminal background checks, employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547 

Employees, who are in a gang, or other kinds of organized crime rings, might not actually be employed by you. You might think they are, but pre employment screening might say otherwise. That is, if a background check company conducts the employee background checks.

A background check company has the ability to decipher data that might lead to other questionable things the employee is trying to hide. A criminal history, as well as a check of previous addresses or acquaintances might show that this employee is associated with gangs, mafia, or other known criminals.

While not all employees are going to be criminals just because they associate with other criminals, many are looking for jobs at specific stores that the crime ring needs an insider. If they get one of “their guys” hired, it is infinitely easier for them to steal, rob and defraud your store, than if they had to try and convince one of your honest employees to help them out.

Even though you are supplying them with a paycheck, their loyalties are actually with the ring that has put them in your store. The fact that you are paying them to steal from you is just a bonus.

Employee background checks that go beyond a simple reference check can uncover some crazy situations that you might have never thought possible. Before you become a target for organized retail crime, do a little extra research before you make a hiring decision.

To purchase Pre-Employment Screening Services or for more information on background check experts, background checks, criminal background checks, employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547 

When conducting thorough criminal background checks it is important to get the applicant’s address history for the period of time you want to check. This is typically anywhere from five to ten years, depending upon the position they are applying for.

Even though criminal convictions are public record, not all convictions are stored in a national database. That means you would have to contact every single county an applicant had lived in to verify if there was or was not a criminal record. Without the address list, it would be close to impossible to garner accurate criminal background checks.

While you would hope that an applicant who has had several addresses- in particular in several different counties or states had moved for valid reasons- such as job transfers with previous employers, not every move by every applicant is that legitimate.

Frequently, pre employment screening turns up criminal convictions for potential employees who have moved because they are trying to cover up previous mistakes.

Some job candidates with a criminal past fear they will be misjudged by their mistakes and look to start a new life somewhere else. Others are trying to escape neighborhoods or groups of people that will continue to drag them down the road of criminal activity. Some cannot find employment or opportunities where they have been convicted and go someplace else (out of state family an friends) who can help them shed their criminal pasts and stigmas.

To purchase Pre-Employment Screening Services or for more information on background check experts, background checks, criminal background checks, employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547 

With the increase in access to public information like criminal convictions, employment or education history, it has been more cost effective for even small businesses to conduct pre employment screening for all of their potential job candidates.

Previously, larger companies and organizations that were hiring for top-level executives, employees with security clearances, or law enforcement, did employee background checks. Due to the amount of time required by qualified experts to do pre employment screening, it was extremely expensive and unrealistic for small business owners to even consider.

The process of using pre employment screening as part of the hiring process, is actually pretty easy to standardize. Typically a business has an applicant fill out a job application. On the application there is notification that you reserve the right to conduct employee background checks prior to hiring any applicant. They have to sign acknowledging this requirement.

Next would be any pre interview screenings followed up by an actual job interview. During the job interview the potential employer has a chance to verbally review the application.

This is the best time to find out more about the applicant’s personality and skill set. This is also an ideal time for the applicant to ask any questions they might have, but also to clarify any questions or red flags the potential employer has found.

If all goes well after the interview process, the pre employment screening is then conducted. Job offers can be made on a conditional basis- pending the results of the employee background checks.

To purchase Pre-Employment Screening Services or for more information on background check experts, background checks, criminal background checks, employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547 

To save some money, you decided to forego using any sort of background check experts for your pre employment screening. You figured that just about anything can be found by searching the internet, and a little bit of digging on your own. That’s what these background check experts do anyway, don’t they?

For the most part you would be right. The majority of the information you are looking for with a pre employment screening is public record, in particular criminal convictions. Employment history can be found by calling a previous employer directly. So what could possibly go wrong?

Well, there are two missing parts to the puzzle that may cause you some problems. The first concern is how far you are going to go to get these histories and checks- especially if this applicant has moved around at all. One of my best employees took three weeks to get the information back on because we had to go through 19 different counties for background history. A previous employer had moved him across the US several times, thus the extensive moving history.

The next concern is what happens if you dig up incorrect information on a potential candidate and subsequently decline a job offer to a candidate based on those findings. You (your company) can be held liable for that information and can be sued by that candidate for slander and other offenses in a court of law. Would you know how to fix that information if the situation came up?

To purchase Pre-Employment Screening Services or for more information on background check experts, background checks, criminal background checks, employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547 

It is illegal to ask a job candidate if they have ever been arrested. The arrest could have not lead to a conviction. The arrest could have been downgraded to a different crime altogether. This could mean the difference between a felony and a misdemeanor crime. Criminal background checks do not legally research arrests.

The legal way is to ask about any convictions. That means a court found them guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If the court found them guilty, then this information is generally public record, which means you can have access to it, as a potential employer.

Convictions are the end result of an arrest. It is the final determination of guilty or not guilty. It is also the final result of any plea bargains or other considerations to reduce a conviction to a lesser crime.

By asking about arrests, you can have a potentially negative response to a job candidate. This is an unfair stance for the candidate who may have been cleared/ found not guilty of those charges. You can be held liable for not hiring someone because you asked the wrong questions.

The best way to do this is to inquire on the application. This gives the applicant the opportunity to disclose any convictions and also give any explanations they feel necessary. You are then allowed to validate these convictions during pre employment screening and any further criminal background checks you need to conduct.

Even a lesser crime will show up if there was an actual conviction, not just an arrest.

To purchase Pre-Employment Screening Services or for more information on background check experts, background checks, criminal background checks, employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547