Every employer who orders background checks on job candidates or current employees should have a written background check policy.
A written background check policy must be:
Based on legal requirements.
Thorough.
Fair.
Applied uniformly
Designed to apply to both domestic background checks and international background checks.
Reviewed regularly to make sure it remains in concert with legal requirements.
Protection from Civil Lawsuits
A written background check is one of the first steps that you can take to protect your company from civil lawsuits that can arise from the hiring process. This gives hiring entities a uniform roadmap for everyone in the hiring process to follow and also documents the process.
Complying with Federal Regulations
Companies that order background checks have many laws, rules and regulations they must follow. The policy must reflect those requirements.
All background checks must comply with the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), which is enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). They also must comply with the Equal Employment Opportunity Act, which is enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Both those agencies create and enact regulations that must be followed to be in compliance with those laws. The Department of Labor also may enact regulations that impact background checks.
Legal requirements regarding background checks also may emanate from state and local lawmakers and agencies. Federal regulations exist to guard the wellbeing of job applicants and employees. State and local regulations may add to those protections. Examples of state and local regulations are ban-the-box laws, which in most cases prevent employers or background checkers from asking about criminal arrests or convictions before a job has been offered.
Streamline Decision Making
A written policy also can help to streamline the decision making process for hiring managers. They won’t need to decide who needs a background check and won’t need to debate about what to do with the results. If a candidate lies on their application or fails a criminal history check, managers can simply follow company policy. This can save time in the hiring process by eliminating debate and discussion.
Thorough Background Checks
Background checks aren’t much good to a company if they are not thorough and relevant to what a company and its departments do. That's why it’s best to include people from all facets of company operations in formulating a written policy.
If your company decides to check backgrounds of all job candidates and to check all current employees at specific intervals, you’ll be following what the EEOC recommends in those circumstances. In both cases, it’s incumbent on the employer to make the policies known to candidates and employees, with notification specific to the policies. After the first year, permission must be obtained from current employees before a check is ordered. Applicants also must give permission, but they can be rejected if they do not.
The EEOC favors consistency in the way background checks are administered. Decide not just whether background checks will apply across the company, but also the level of employment that must undergo checks. That might be all employees, only employees on a certain level of management, or employees whose job requires a clean record, such as eldercare workers or professional drivers. The point: Define the policy, put it in writing and administer the policy equally.
How thorough a background check must be for effectiveness depends on the work a company — and an employee — does. A written policy can list the type of background check appropriate for different types of employees. Ongoing criminal checks and financial record checks might be appropriate for a manager who handles accounts. A check on drug-related offenses and driving infractions might be appropriate for drivers. A check on criminal activities with implications in childcare or eldercare would be appropriate for caregivers.
International Background Checks
An international job applicant should be treated equally in your background check policy to all other applicants, including a U.S. citizen. That doesn’t mean it’s illegal to order an international background check where it’s relevant, as opposed to a domestic background check, or to order an international check in addition to a domestic background check.
If, for instance, the background check policy is to order a background check in the country where a person has lived and/or done business, both domestic and international background checks are covered. An international background check is reasonable for applicants or employees who have spent or continue to spend considerable time living and working in a foreign country. A written policy that’s structured to require a background check on criminal and civil court records, for instance, would call into play both domestic and international background checks, where appropriate. For someone who has lived and worked only in the U.S., only a domestic check is needed.
Review Your Policy Periodically
Determine how often you should review your background check policy. The professional background check agency with which you partner will know about changes in laws and regulations. Use any information you have on new regulations to consider whether you need changes in your policy.
Periodic checks should be done at least annually, and someone within management should be monitoring changes in applicable laws.