An employment screening is a background check organizations use to verify a job applicant’s information before making a final hiring decision. Conducted late in the recruitment process, it confirms a candidate’s qualifications, experience, and character to ensure they are a trustworthy fit for the company. This process helps ensure the individual is a suitable and trustworthy fit for the company.
What an Employment Screening Includes
The specific checks in an employment screening can differ based on the employer, industry, and job responsibilities. An entry-level retail position will have a simpler screening than a candidate for a senior financial role. Employers tailor the background check to the position’s requirements.
- Criminal History Check: This searches for criminal convictions in local, statewide, and national databases. For jobs involving vulnerable populations, specific searches like sex offender registry checks are standard. The nature of an offense and when it occurred are weighed against the job duties.
- Employment Verification: This check confirms the accuracy of a candidate’s work history. Screeners contact previous employers to verify job titles, dates of employment, and sometimes the reason for leaving.
- Education Verification: This confirms a candidate’s educational credentials. The screening company contacts institutions to validate degrees, certifications, and dates of attendance, which is important for roles where a specific qualification is required.
- Reference Checks: While sometimes handled by the hiring manager, this can be part of the formal screening. It involves contacting a candidate’s professional references to gather insights into their work ethic, skills, and reliability.
- Drug Screening: For safety-sensitive positions in industries like transportation or healthcare, a drug test is standard. Candidates are sent to a third-party lab to provide a sample that is tested for various illegal substances.
- Driving Records: For any job that involves operating a company vehicle, a Motor Vehicle Record (MVR) check is common. This report details a candidate’s driving history, license status, and traffic violations.
- Credit History: A credit check is reserved for positions with financial responsibility, such as in accounting or senior management. The report provides information on debt and payment history to assess an individual’s financial integrity.
- Social Media and Public Records: A screening of a candidate’s public online presence is an increasingly common practice. These searches review publicly available information on social media or in other records for behavior that might misalign with the company’s culture.
The Purpose of Employment Screenings
Conducting background checks serves several purposes centered on making a well-informed, low-risk hiring decision. The primary goal is to protect the organization, its employees, and its customers.
A core reason for screening is to verify that a candidate is honest and has the qualifications they claim. Verifying education and employment history confirms that the company is hiring someone with the skills and experience to perform the job successfully.
Screenings are also a measure to ensure workplace safety and security. A criminal history check helps identify individuals who may pose a threat to other employees or customers. This precaution helps create a secure environment and protects the company’s reputation.
Employment screenings are a tool for mitigating liability and business risk. Hiring an unqualified or dangerous individual can lead to significant legal consequences, including lawsuits for negligent hiring. A thorough screening process demonstrates due diligence and helps ensure compliance with industry regulations.
The Employment Screening Process
The screening process is initiated after a company extends a conditional offer of employment. This timing ensures the candidate is the final choice, pending the background check results, which saves resources for both the employer and other applicants.
Once the conditional offer is accepted, the candidate must provide written consent for the screening. The candidate signs a disclosure form stating that a background check will be conducted. They also sign an authorization form, giving permission for the check to be performed.
With signed consent, the employer engages a third-party Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA) to conduct the screening. The candidate provides personal information directly to the CRA, such as their Social Security number and past addresses. The CRA uses this information to access records, compile the findings, and deliver a comprehensive report to the employer.
Understanding Your Rights as a Candidate
As a job applicant, you have legal protections during the screening process, governed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). This federal law regulates how consumer reporting agencies collect and use your information to ensure accuracy, fairness, and privacy.
The FCRA establishes several rights for candidates. First, you must be notified in a standalone document that a background check may be used for employment purposes. Following this disclosure, the employer must obtain your written permission before proceeding.
You also have the right to know what is in your file. If information in the report leads an employer to consider not hiring you, they must follow the “adverse action” process. This begins with a “pre-adverse action notice,” which includes a copy of the background check report and a summary of your rights under the FCRA.
This pre-adverse action step gives you an opportunity to review the report for inaccuracies and dispute any errors with the screening company. If the employer decides to officially withdraw the job offer, they must send you a final “adverse action notice,” again informing you of your right to dispute the report.
Handling Potential Issues on Your Report
Discovering negative or inaccurate information on your employment screening report can be unsettling, but you have clear steps to address the situation. Your approach depends on whether the information is incorrect or accurate but potentially damaging.
If you find an error on your report, your first step is to immediately dispute it with the Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA) that prepared it, not the employer. The pre-adverse action notice you received will include the CRA’s contact information. You should submit your dispute in writing, identifying the incorrect information and providing any supporting evidence, and the CRA is legally obligated to investigate.
If the report contains legitimate negative information, the best strategy is to address it proactively and honestly with the hiring manager. For instance, if you have a past conviction, being upfront about it early in the process can be beneficial. You can provide context, explain the circumstances, and demonstrate what you have learned from the experience, which can show maturity and integrity.