FYI Employee Background Screening

Faster, Smarter, Easier Employee Screening

Header Right

800.809.2419

Legal Compliance

8 Critical Background Check Mistakes HR Professionals Must Avoid

By

In the ever-evolving landscape of human resources, conducting thorough background checks remains crucial for ensuring organizational success and safety. Despite extensive experience, even seasoned HR professionals can sometimes fall into common pitfalls.

Here are eight critical mistakes to avoid in your background check process:

1) Lack of a Comprehensive Background Check Policy

A robust background check policy is the cornerstone of effective hiring practices. Without it, your team may apply checks inconsistently, leading to potential discrimination claims or the hiring of unsuitable candidates.

Best Practice: Develop a detailed policy that outlines:

  • Scope and Positions Requiring Checks: Clearly identify which job positions require background checks and specify the type of checks (e.g., criminal history, credit checks) necessary for each role.
  • Timing and Process: Establish when in the hiring process the background checks should be conducted, typically after a conditional job offer, to avoid bias and ensure compliance with legal guidelines.
  • Compliance with Legal Requirements: Ensure the policy adheres to all relevant local, state, and federal laws, including Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) regulations, anti-discrimination laws, and any industry-specific requirements.
  • Consistency in Application: Outline procedures to guarantee that background checks are applied consistently across similar positions, preventing potential biases or discrimination.
  • Confidentiality and Data Security: Implement strict measures to protect the confidentiality of the information obtained during the background check process, ensuring it is securely stored and only accessible to authorized personnel.

2) Insufficient Knowledge of Employment Laws

Compliance with federal and state laws is non-negotiable. Ignorance of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), anti-discrimination laws, and state-specific regulations can lead to severe legal consequences.

Best Practice: Regularly update your knowledge on:

  • FCRA requirements
  • State-specific background check laws
  • Anti-discrimination legislation
  • Proper use and storage of background check data

3) Overlooking Non-Full-Time Personnel

Focusing solely on screening full-time employees can leave significant security gaps. Remember, part-time staff, contractors, and vendors can pose similar risks.

Best Practice: Implement screening for all personnel who:

  • Have access to your facilities
  • Work in areas where employees are present
  • Can access sensitive information or files

4) Proceeding Without Proper Consent

Obtaining proper consent is not just a courtesy—it’s a legal requirement. Conducting background checks without explicit permission can result in lawsuits and damage to your company’s reputation.

Best Practice:

  • Provide clear disclosure about the background check process
  • Obtain written consent before each screening
  • Ensure consent forms comply with current laws

5) Neglecting Social Media Screening

While social media can provide valuable insights, it should be approached cautiously. Ignoring it completely may mean missing red flags, but over-reliance can lead to biased decisions.

Best Practice:

  • Develop a social media screening policy
  • Use social media as one of many screening tools, not the sole source
  • Be aware of potential discrimination issues when reviewing social media

6) Over-Reliance on National Criminal Databases

While criminal databases offer efficiency and quick access to a wealth of information, they often fall short in terms of accuracy and completeness compared to county-level criminal searches. Relying solely on these databases can lead to missed records or outdated information, resulting in potential liabilities for your organization.

Best Practice:

  • Use national criminal databases as a supplement, not a replacement for county-level criminal searches
  • Partner with reputable background check experts for comprehensive screenings
  • Regularly test and review the accuracy of national criminal databases

7) Mistaken Identity and Data Errors

Inaccurate data entry or confusion between similar names can lead to false reports, potentially costing you excellent candidates.

Best Practice:

  • Double-check all identifying information
  • Use multiple identifiers (name, DOB, SSN) to ensure accuracy
  • Verify information with the candidate when in doubt

8) Denying Candidates the Right to Dispute Findings

The FCRA requires that candidates have the opportunity to dispute and correct inaccurate information in their background checks.

Best Practice:

  • Inform candidates of adverse findings before making final decisions
  • Provide copies of background check reports to candidates
  • Establish a clear process for candidates to dispute inaccuracies

Conclusion

As HR professionals, your role in conducting background checks is pivotal to maintaining a safe, productive workplace. By avoiding these common mistakes, you can ensure a fair, legal, and effective screening process that protects both your organizations and our candidates.

Want to streamline your background check process and avoid costly mistakes? Schedule a free consultation with our HR compliance experts. We’ll show you how our cutting-edge screening solutions can protect your organization and optimize your hiring process. Request your personalized demo today!

Related Topics:

10 Reasons Why FYI Screening Should Be Your Go-To Background Check Company

By

Making great hires is essential for any organization’s success. An effective screening process helps minimize risks, improves workplace safety, and builds a team of talented individuals you can trust. However, handling background checks in-house or using an outdated screening provider often leads to frustrating complications that disrupt hiring momentum.

If you’re tired of dealing with background check headaches, it’s time to partner with a company laser-focused on making compliant hiring refreshingly easy – FYI Screening. With over 25 years of expertise and innovative technology, FYI Screening provides a seamless screening experience tailored to meet the unique needs of your business.

10 Reasons:

Here are 10 compelling reasons why companies across industries consistently choose FYI Screening over other background check providers:

1) Founded by a Proven Screening Expert

FYI Screening was founded in 1994 by Chris Miller, a licensed private investigator with over 25 years of background screening and corporate investigation experience under his belt. Having served as the Director of Security and Investigations for a major retail chain, Chris saw firsthand the importance of thorough, legally-compliant background checks.

He built FYI Screening from the ground up to be a trusted partner dedicated to accurate reporting and ethical practices. This steadfast commitment to compliance and “doing things the right way” remains core to the company’s DNA today.

2) Quick Turnaround Times

In today’s highly competitive talent market, a slow screening process can mean losing out on top candidates. FYI Screening’s innovative platform accelerates background checks from end-to-end, providing quick turnaround times without sacrificing accuracy or compliance.

With rapid screening completions, you can evaluate and extend offers to candidates faster, improving your ability to secure the very best hires before competitors do.

3) Unyielding Commitment to Accuracy

FYI Screening’s diligent and ethical approach prioritizes accuracy above all else. The company leaves no stone unturned, utilizing robust data sources and proven research techniques to provide complete, up-to-date reports you can trust.

With a team of highly-trained professionals handling every report, you can be confident you’re getting the full picture about a candidate – not just partial records riddled with omissions or errors that create legal liabilities.

4) Cost Effective Solutions for Scalable Hiring

Whether you’re hiring your 10th employee or 1000th, FYI Screening provides right-sized packages and seamless solutions tailored to your organization’s growth. The platform’s automated workflows effortlessly scale as your hiring needs change, eliminating administrative bottlenecks.

FYI Screening partners with you to constantly evaluate requirements and make adjustments as needed through flexible, competitive pricing models designed with ease of use in mind.

5) Cutting-Edge yet User-Friendly Technology

In today’s digital age, companies need background screening technology that is powerful yet simple to use. FYI Screening combines robust data sources with a clean, intuitive platform that makes ordering and accessing reports a breeze.

The company’s innovative platform centralizes and automates every step of the screening process through customizable workflows tailored to your organization’s needs. This smart automation frees your team from tedious background check tasks and accelerates hiring cycles.

6) Dedicated, Premium-Level Support

FYI Screening provides employers and applicants alike with premium-level customer support throughout the entire screening experience. The company’s knowledgeable team is ready to provide guidance, answer questions, and troubleshoot issues as they arise.

7) Improved Candidate Experience

Given the challenges of attracting skilled talent, creating a positive candidate experience is more important than ever before. FYI Screening’s mobile-friendly platform provides a professional, user-friendly process for candidates to complete screening requirements.

With friendly in-platform messaging guiding them along the way, applicants feel supported and respected rather than confused and frustrated by clunky background check processes. This white-glove experience enhances your employer brand.

8) Demonstrated Dedication to Compliance

Compliance is much more than a buzzword at FYI Screening – it’s engrained into the fabric of how we operate. The company’s offerings are built from the ground up to ensure you remain compliant with all relevant employment laws, such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

With FYI Screening’s FCRA-approved products and services, you can make hiring decisions confidently knowing your candidate’s rights are fully protected. The company also continually monitors changes to regulations, updating processes and educating clients accordingly.

9) Seamless Integration Capabilities

For organizations already using leading HR and recruiting software solutions, FYI Screening seamlessly integrates with applicant tracking systems, human resources management systems, and more. These turnkey integration capabilities eliminate redundant data entry work while streamlining your overall screening-to-onboarding process flow.

Simply configure FYI Screening to sync with your existing tools to accelerate hiring cycles and reduce the potential for errors that often occur during manual data transfers between systems.

10) Ironclad Risk Protection for Today’s Uncertain Climate

In today’s ever-changing landscape, a single bad hire can expose your organization to crippling legal liabilities, compliance issues, workplace conflicts, and threats to employee safety. With the comprehensive background screening solutions from FYI Screening, you can mitigate these risks and build a resilient, high-performing team you can truly trust.

Make Compliant, Confident Hires With a Trusted Screening Leader

Don’t settle for subpar background screening that leaves your organization vulnerable. Partner with FYI Screening to build a trustworthy, high-performing team while staying ahead of compliance demands. Request a consultation today.

The Smart Employer’s Playbook: Mastering Background Screening

By

In today’s increasingly complex business environment, making informed hiring decisions is paramount for organizations of all sizes. A thorough background screening process is essential to ensure that new hires are qualified, trustworthy, and aligned with the company’s values and culture. By verifying candidates’ credentials, employment history, and any potential red flags, employers can mitigate risks and protect their reputation, assets, and workforce.

Understanding the Fundamentals of Background Screening

At its core, background screening is the process of verifying the information provided by job applicants and uncovering any relevant details that could impact their suitability for a particular role. This due diligence measure helps employers make well-informed hiring decisions while safeguarding the interests of their organization, employees, customers, and stakeholders.

Background screening can encompass a variety of checks, including criminal records, employment history, education verification, driving records, credit reports, professional licenses, and reference checks. The depth and breadth of the screening process may vary depending on the industry, job role, and level of responsibility involved.

Navigating the Legal Landscape

It’s crucial for employers to understand and comply with the relevant federal and state laws governing background screening practices. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is a key piece of legislation that outlines requirements for obtaining and using consumer reports for employment purposes. Employers must obtain written consent from job applicants before conducting background checks and follow specific procedures for adverse action notifications.

Additionally, background screening results must be treated as confidential information and handled in compliance with data protection and privacy regulations. Employers should have clear policies and procedures in place to ensure consistent and non-discriminatory background screening practices.

Certain industries or job roles may have specific background screening requirements or restrictions, such as working with children, handling sensitive information, or operating in regulated sectors like finance or healthcare.

Best Practices for Effective Background Screening

To implement an effective background screening process, organizations should follow these best practices:

  1. Develop a comprehensive background screening policy: This policy should outline the types of checks to be conducted, the criteria for evaluation, and the process for handling adverse information. It should be reviewed and updated regularly to align with changing legal requirements and industry best practices.
  2. Communicate clearly with applicants: Be transparent about the background screening process and requirements during the application or interview stage. Obtain written authorization from job applicants before initiating any background checks, using a separate disclosure and authorization form.
  3. Partner with reputable providers: When outsourcing background screening, choose reputable third-party providers that adhere to industry standards and comply with applicable laws and regulations. Alternatively, establish an in-house screening process with robust quality control measures.
  4. Evaluate results objectively: Review and evaluate background screening results objectively, considering the job requirements, the nature of any adverse information, the applicant’s explanation or mitigating circumstances, and relevant state and local laws.
  5. Provide due process: If adverse information is found, provide applicants with pre-adverse action notices and a reasonable opportunity to dispute or explain the information before making a final hiring decision, as required by law.
  6. Maintain proper documentation: Keep accurate and up-to-date records of background screening processes and results, adhering to data retention and privacy regulations.
  7. Train decision-makers: Provide training and guidance to hiring managers and decision-makers on interpreting and evaluating background screening results fairly and consistently.

The Value of Background Screening for Organizations

Implementing a comprehensive background screening process offers numerous benefits to organizations, including:

  1. Risk mitigation: By verifying information and identifying potential red flags, employers can reduce the risks associated with negligent hiring, such as workplace violence, theft, or legal liabilities.
  2. Improved quality of hires: Background screening helps ensure that new hires possess the necessary qualifications, experience, and integrity for the role, leading to better job performance and a stronger workforce.
  3. Enhanced workplace safety: By screening for criminal records and other relevant information, employers can create a safer working environment for their employees and customers.
  4. Compliance and legal protection: Adhering to background screening regulations and maintaining proper documentation can help protect organizations from potential legal issues and lawsuits related to negligent hiring practices.
  5. Reputation preservation: A thorough background screening process demonstrates an organization’s commitment to upholding high standards and maintaining a positive reputation in the industry and community.

In today’s competitive business landscape, effective background screening practices are not just a best practice – they are a necessity. By implementing a comprehensive and legally compliant screening process, organizations can make informed hiring decisions, mitigate risks, and build a talented and trustworthy workforce that drives success.

Related topics:

Smarter Screening: Ban The Box, Salary History Bans, FCRA, GDPR, Medical Cannabis and More

By

FYI Screening NewsHaving trouble keeping up with all there is to know about employee background screening?

We can help.

FYI Screening stays on top of the latest industry news, trends and relevant compliance issues.  We are a powerful source of advice, information, and experience.

One of the best ways to tap into our vast source of information is to follow us on Twitter @fyiscreening.

Here’s what we’ve been reading…

June Will Bring New Ban-the-Box and Fair Chance Laws

“In June, new laws will go into effect that restrict employers’ ability to request and use criminal history information about applicants in three jurisdictions: Kansas City, Missouri; the State of Washington; and the city of Spokane, Washington.” – huntonretailindustryblog.com

Salary History Bans – A running list of states and localities that have outlawed pay history questions

“State and local governments are increasingly adopting laws and regulations that prohibit employers from requesting salary history information from job applicants.

The laws are aimed at ending the cycle of pay discrimination and some go further than merely banning pay history questions. A few also prohibit an employer from relying on an applicant’s pay history to set compensation if discovered or volunteered; others prohibit an employer from taking disciplinary action against employees who discuss pay with coworkers.

Here, we track the states, cities and other jurisdictions that have passed such bans, and offer a brief description of each law’s requirements, its effective date and a link to the original law.” – hrdive.com

California Employers: Beware the Background Check Bugaboos

“California is rife with regulation of how employers may obtain and consider background check information for use in hiring and personnel decisions. The relatively new California ban-the-box law (effective January 1, 2018) and the older Los Angeles and San Francisco ordinances and amendments to the California Labor Code set strict rules on when and how employers can consider criminal and credit histories in employment.” – seyfarth.com

Frito-Lay Will Pay $2.4M to Settle Background Check Class Action Lawsuit

“Frito-Lay Inc., a subsidiary of Pepsico Inc., has agreed to pay $2.4 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging that the company violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by using consumer credit reports when they conducted background checks as part of a hiring process without properly disclosing this practice to the job applicant.” – topclassactions.com

Budding Development: States Requiring Employers To Tolerate Medical Cannabis Use

“Can employers deny employment to people who use cannabis under a medical prescription authorized by state law? In more and more states, the answer is now “No.”

Changes in cannabis laws are creating a new haze for employers. What follows is a quick summary citing some (not all) states that now require employers to think twice before denying employment to individuals because they tested positive for the use of marijuana that they are ingesting for state-authorized medical reasons.” – seyfarth.com

Everything You Wanted To Know About GDPR But Were Afraid To Ask

“On May 25, 2018, the EU’s new data protection law goes live. The General Data Protection Regulation, commonly known as the GDPR, is the biggest change to European data protection law in over 20 years and will seriously impact businesses across the U.S. and around the world.” – lockelord.com

Worth Your Time

Can Artificial Intelligence Make Work Better?

10 Ways A Website Can Betray Your Privacy

10 Keys to Successful Onboarding Checklist

HR Leaders Correct the Top HR Misconceptions

About FYI Screening

FYI Screening provides reliable, in-depth, and compliant background checks for organizations of every size.  We offer a beautiful, user-friendly background screening system, backed by in-depth expertise, and great customer service.  FYI Screening provides you with everything you need to create a compliant and effective background screening process for your company.