Three Things to Know About Background Checks

Hiring someone new can feel like a big gamble. Applications, resumes, and interviews help you find the right person, but sometimes you need to verify that the information a candidate has given you is accurate so that you don’t put your organization at risk. That’s where background checks come in. Here are three things to know about them.

There Are Different Kinds of Background Checks

Background checks provide you with information about an employee’s history, enabling you to verify what the employee has shared with you as well as find other information that might be relevant to the job. Background checks can include things like criminal records, driving records, education credentials, and previous employment history. Not every role needs the same kind of screening, even within the same organization or department. For example, driving records might make sense for delivery drivers, but they probably wouldn’t be valuable for content creators.

There Are Rules

A number of laws govern employer use of background checks, so if you conduct them or make decisions based on the information they provide, be sure to familiarize yourself with the laws that apply. The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act would be the one to start with. It has requirements around communicating your intent to run a background check, getting written consent before doing so, and what you need to do when deciding not to hire or employ someone based on information obtained in a background check, among other matters. But states and localities also have laws pertaining to background checks.

There Are Costs

Background checks aren’t terribly expensive, and there are vendors that can handle them for you, but doing them can extend your time to hire. If nothing else, it adds extra steps to your hiring process. The time needed to run the check and await the results. The additional communication with the candidate to get consent to do the check, answer their questions, and reach out to them about any notable inconsistencies in the report. That all adds up. On the flip side, background checks can save you from the many high costs of a bad hire. If you’re considering doing background checks, it’s important to weigh their pros and cons.