Timeliness of Employee Background Checks
During the 2010 SHRM Annual Conference, attendees were asked to complete a survey on background screening and employee background checks. Based on priority ranking, the top three challenges that responders would like to see changed were:
§ Accuracy of data
§ Timeliness of service
§ Cost
Most employers expect the data that they receive from their provider to be accurate and understand the source of the information.
Employers also expect their requests be completed and results returned to them in a timely manner. But there is sometimes a misunderstanding on why some searches, particularly the criminal background check, may take longer than others.
Each jurisdiction has its own rules and procedures to follow when releasing criminal history information. They range from being openly available on line to what is known as a “clerk search” court.
In the worst case, a request is submitted to the court, and the clerk checks for a record when there is time. If a record is found, the submitter is contacted and returns to the courthouse and retrieves the record. The time line for this can stretch up to two weeks. Also, because of decreased budgets and personnel furloughs, some court administration offices are running reduced hours and with fewer people. In most cases, inconsistencies in the return of criminal records is out of the control of the background check company.
Cost of the criminal background check is also somewhat dependent of the court, as access fees and administrative costs vary widely from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Most providers pass these additional fees on the customer, so that the cost of the record retrieval may also be inconsistent.
Your provider will let you know up front if there are any extra fees by providing a listing of the jurisdictions that charge. Be careful of any provider who charges one price for all criminal history checks.
There is a story of a mechanic who had a sign in his shop stating, “Our work is good, fast, and cheap… You can pick any two!”
This also applies to employee background checks.
For further information call 770-426-0547 or click here.
