5 Things You Should Know About Pre Employment Screening

Every employer aspires to find the ideal employee – one who has received a quality education, works in harmony with other team members, and above all, stays loyal to the organization.

A myriad of factors needs to be scrutinized before hiring an employee. The process of pre-employment screening service helps you reach a conclusion about the prospective candidate’s eligibility to work in your organization. If a critical process such as a background check employment verification is overlooked, the consequence of hiring an untrustworthy employee can be dire.

Though the process of selecting a pre-employment screening service varies with each employer, an employer must adhere to certain fundamental rules and policies during the hiring process.

1) Treat Everyone Equally

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) determines the guidelines under which employers may conduct background checks. It is illegal to discriminate any applicant on the basis of a person’s race, disability, religion, color, sex, or national origin. Ensure that you have a consistent and systematic screening process in place for all people applying for the same job position. Making a decision based on facts and evidence helps you avoid any discriminatory issues.

2) You Need To Inform The Applicant

If you schedule a background screening check, the FCRA requires employers to give prospective employees a disclosure that the employer plans to conduct a background check. Depending on the state laws, the FCRA may require different levels of authorization from the potential candidates, but all background check employment verification require written consent from the job applicant.

3) Provide a Copy Of The Background Check Report To The Candidate

If the background check employment verification contains adverse information that affects your hiring decision, you must provide the candidate with a copy of the background check report, a letter advising that adverse action might be taken, and also a copy of “A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.”

This educates the candidate about their rights and provides them with an opportunity to dispute any inaccuracies that may be part of that report.

4) Federal Search Is Essential

Although conducting county and national database searches is a crucial step in the background screening process, the federal crimes search is also an equally critical, but often-neglected aspect of the pre-employment screening service.

Federal crimes or “white collar” crimes such as fraud, embezzlement, bank robbery, kidnapping, and more may not be reflected in the county, state, or national searches. Conducting a federal search is the best way to identify applicants involved in federal crimes.

5) All Background Check Reports Must Be Discarded

After you have satisfactorily stored the reports for a necessary amount of time as stipulated by the law, you are required to discard all the background reports you have received. However, this must be done securely so that the information in the report cannot be read, misused, or reconstructed. These reports can be burned, shredded, pulverized, or suitably destroyed to prevent any misuse.