Some Do's and Don'ts of Conducting Pre-employment Background Checks

Pre-employment background checks have become a norm in organizations recently. We are seeing more and more organizations irrespective of their employee strength, opting for the screening process. The reason being, bad hires can cause lot of damage to the brand reputation of the organization. Bad hires invariably lead to the firing of the individual hired for the vacant position which results in double efforts from the employers since they now have to restart the hiring process from the scratch resulting in unnecessary wastage of time and money.

But only practicing the process of pre-employment background check is not enough. There are certain things that need to be taken into consideration while conducting the screening process. We have highlighted these things in the form of some do’s and don’ts that will help you take the wise hiring decision and protect your organization from legal hassles.

Do’s

1. Do perform comprehensive background checks on candidates which includes different facets of information like the candidate’s education, employment history, criminal history, social media search etc. It has generally been found that organizations that perform only a single form of screening tend to lose out on great candidates. Then there is this restriction from EEOC guidelines that lays down restriction on ignoring a candidate on the basis of their caste, religion, color, sex etc.

2. Do ensure that you follow the legal compliance while conducting the pre-employment background check process. You need to ensure that FCRA laws are followed to the “t” by taking the written consent of the candidate to conduct the screening. It is also important to let the candidates know about their rights when it comes to adverse action communications and getting a copy of the background check report in case of any discrepancy.

3. Do be consistent while screening all the candidates. If you have multiple candidates who have applied for the same job designation the background check should be conducted with the same investigations. Although different jobs may have different levels of investigation. But, for the same job designation, ensure that the same process is followed to avoid any charges of discrimination from the candidates.

4. Do opt for one of the leading background verification companies in usa. The company should have adequate experience and expertise to conduct the screening process in the best possible manner by providing precise reports. Such an organization will also ensure that you follow all the laws pertaining to background check to avoid any discrimination charges from the candidates.

5. Do look for consistent patterns of behavior while conducting the background check process. A single good behavior or bad behavior should not be the parameter to measure the capability of the candidate in question. Once you have done that it will result in objective judgment that will quite helpful in taking the final hiring decision.

Don’ts

1. Don’t ask criminal history questions from the candidates in the job application forms due to the emergence of Ban the Box laws across the US. Instead of that treat every candidate equally and run a thorough background check.

2. Don’t break any legal laws pertaining to the background check process even if you are tempted to do that. Remember, the rules regarding background check differs on the basis of state, federal, local and job-specific laws. Always take the help of a professional legal counselor before initiating the screening process for best results.

3. Don’t procrastinate by avoiding any communication with the candidate in case you find anything that can impact their hiring decision. Always remember, direct one-to-one communication is a great way to let go any mistakes, misconceptions and reporting errors that can unnecessarily lead to a dispute.

4. Don’t search for negative information while conducting the background check process. If you do that invariably you will find everything negative about the individual. The best thing is to look for the positives while comparing the reports of two candidates who are applying for the same position in the organization.

5. Don’t try to find everything online. There is a restricted amount of information that can be retrieved from online sources. The best resort is to hire a licensed background check firm for taking well informed hiring decisions.

Author Bio:

Vivek Asrani is a content specialist at cFIRST Background Checks, one of leading employee background verification companies in india. Vivek writes about the various aspects of recruitment technology.