Background Check Providers and Risks
Published September 2020
Background investigations and reference checks are employers' principal means of securing information about potential hires from sources other than the applicants themselves. A background investigation generally involves determining whether an applicant may be unqualified for a position due to a record of criminal conviction, motor vehicle violations, poor credit history, or misrepresentation regarding education or work history. A reference check generally involves contacting applicants' former employers, supervisors, co-workers and educators to verify previous employment and to obtain information about the individual's knowledge, skills, abilities and character.
A major reason to conduct background and reference checks is to avoid harm or legal liability of various types to the employer or to others. This includes harm to:
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Other employees by sexual harassment or workplace violence.
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The organization's customers by, for example, sexual assault on business premises.
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The public by negligent driving.
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The employer's business through financial loss or image and reputational issues.
Defense of legal claims, such as negligent hiring, is a compelling reason to conduct in-depth criminal records searches of job applicants. A multilevel jurisdictional criminal records search can be strong evidence that the employer exercised due care in hiring.
ESC highly recommends you review "6 Tips for Using Criminal Background Checks" (https://youtu.be/yZQCr1dSW-M) and "The Increasing Risks of Criminal Background Checks" (https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/1216/pages/the-increasing-risks-of-background-checks-.aspx) by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) before conducting a criminal background check.
Highly Rated Background Check Providers:
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HireRight: https://www.hireright.com/background-checks
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Transunion Background Check: https://hires.shareable.com/employment-background-check-cost
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GoodHire: https://www.goodhire.com/lp-employment-background-checks/
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Accurate Background Check: https://www.accurate.com/solutions/small-and-mid-sized-businesses/
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B & B Reporting Inc: https://bbreporting.com
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