Who are you really hiring?

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• Who to Check:

  You do not have to do background checks for everyone in your company, but your reasons for doing  them all or not doing them all should be related to legitimate business interests. For example, if your company has 120 employees, 40 of whom read utility meters and work on appliances in customers' homes and 80 of whom are administrative personnel, you may have a legitimate reason for investigating only the meter readers and appliance repair personnel. But if you investigate one meter reader  or appliance repair person, you should investigate all of them.
  
  Depending upon your business, there are many different types of applicants whose background should be checked as a part of your routine decision making process:

  
  

  Prospective Employees (entry-level as well as upper level)
  
  Prospective Business Partners
  
  Prospective Customers
  
  Prospective Tenants
  
  Interns / Volunteers

• When to Check:

  Knowledge is only valuable if it can be used effectively. So check early and often:
  
  

  Prior to hiring
  
  Prior to annual review and/or promotion
  
  Prior to renting or granting credit
   
  Prior to entering into major business deals
  

• Types of Background Checks:

  You may want to consider utilizing some or all of these in your efforts to perform due diligence:
  
  

  Key Person / Partner / Executive Profile
  
  Employment Credit Report (retail credit file and public record check)
  
  Motor Vehicle Records (MVR’s)
  
  County Civil Court
  
  Academic Verification
  
  Federal District Civil Court
  
  Federal District Criminal Court
  
  Previous Employment Verification
  
  Social Security Number Verification
  
  Fictitious Business Name Search
   
  Liens, Bankruptcy & Judgment Records
   
  Uniform Commercial Code Filings (UCC)
  
  Workers Compensation Appeals Board Filings

• Questions to ask a prospective background screening vendor:

  How long have you been in business?
  
  Do you carry Professional Liability Insurance (similar to malpractice insurance)?
  
  Do you have a physical office; are you just operating in cyberspace from a post office box?
  
  Are you licensed to operate by your state?
  
  Are you available and qualified for testimony if I need to litigate?
  
  Are you capable to testify on my behalf if I need to litigate?
  
  Do you supply disclosure forms for my applicant?
  
  How do I know that your reports are legally compliant with the FCRA?
  
  Can I talk to someone about questions that I have, or are you just a web site?

• Then ask yourself the all-important question;

  

  Trusting confidential information to strangers on the internet with criminal intentions can become a nightmare for you and your applicant. And there’s also the legal liability from the lack of proper compliance with state and federal laws.
  
  A faceless company in cyberspace can be a ticket to disaster! So when considering which supplier of background checks to work with, be on the lookout for the following  12 Bad Practices:
   

  1.   There is no mention of The Fair Credit Reporting Act anywhere in their Web site
  
  2.   They promise to “find out anything about anyone”
  
  3.  They don’t have a physical address listed anywhere on their Web site
  
  4.  They claim that their “law enforcement contacts” provide special data to them
  
  5.  They don’t have anyone to answer questions
  
  6.  They are not licensed investigators in their state or managed by a licensed professional
  
  7.  They offer “National Wants & Warrants” direct from the FBI files for sale*
  
  8.  They offer a “National Criminal Record Search” from the FBI files for sale*
  
  9.  They claim to provide instant compliant results on criminal searches from any state
  
  10. They don’t have a Privacy Policy
  
  11. They do not carry Professional Liability insurance (Errors & Omissions)
  
  12. There are no applicant disclosure forms or subscriber agreements