How to do a background check when hiring staff for your business?

Background checks are vital to building a credible team for your business. It is a critical component of the hiring process. While hiring, it is essential to have background information about the potential hires. The right approach to background checks is fundamental.

Third-party, legally compliant sources can provide reliable background checks with reports. Pre-employment background checks offer a sense of relief to the employer about the veracity of the candidate’s claims. Such assessments are beneficial in all cases as it helps to establish a great rapport with the new hire.

What is meant by a pre-employment background check?

The pre-employment process often includes a background check of the applicants to cross-check facts. Background checks conducted for employment purposes help unearth records from the state and national files, felonies, charges, records from the drug enforcement bureau, sex offenders registry, etc.

Education and employment verification are also a part of the background check. Money embezzlement, credit score, and history of bankruptcies can also be traced through background checks if required.

Different types of background checks

Some standard background checks are mentioned below:

Pre-employment background check

Wondering how to get a background check on someone? The answer is okstaff third-party background checks. A background check can be conducted at any point in the hiring process.

How do employers check employment history?

A conviction concern might lead to the necessity of a background check on a current employee. Sometimes a company might have a regular background check policy. The policy must be communicated to the employees and executed fairly.

Some employee background check tips and benefits

Roughly 53% of job applicants lie on their resumes and during the interview process. The inaccuracy of the information provided to the employer raises the need for background checks. Benefits of background checks in the workplace are as follows:

1. Ensuring the safety of the workplace

By ensuring that the candidate does not hold any criminal reduces the chances of violence and theft.

2. Avoiding bad hires

Often criminal charges found on record are not criminal or offensive but provide information about the candidate concerning behaviour and character. This also helps in checking if the candidate has been truthful about their education and past employment.

3. Reduces liability and legal costs incurred

Incidents of a felony by employees who have been past offenders can lead to severe liabilities. “Negligent Retention” is one of the major liabilities for the employer.

4. Ensuring position fit

While hiring for high-trust positions, such as those involving money handling or armed positions, it is essential to undertake background checks. It helps determine a candidate’s suitability for the job.

All businesses, small and large businesses, require background checks. There is no legal binding for background checks; thus, company policy must mention a pre-employment background check. Limiting potential criminal activities at the company helps avoid liabilities and pick the right candidate.

How to do a background check on someone?

By now, we understand the importance of background checks on potential employees. Now let us go through a step-by-step process for conducting a background check while hiring a candidate. Let us explore how companies do background checks.

1. Get legal advice

Consulting the lawyer before deciding to conduct a pre-employment background check is important. It helps you to progress in the right direction. The corporate insurance carrier must be consulted regarding the liability plan before deciding on the background check.

2. Brainstorm and develop a policy

If you wish to go ahead with a background check policy, it must be well thought-out and brainstormed. All the stakeholders must be informed regarding the background check policy. Information regarding the potential checks and causes of each must be clearly mentioned in the policy.

3. Notify the applicants

The applicants must be well informed about the background check, drug screening, or any other tests conducted by the company. It provides fair information to all the interested candidates, and the candidates who are aware that background checks might not find them fit for the job opt-out of the application process.

4. Make a job offer before a background check

It is important to extend a job offer before conducting a background check. It is best practice legally and morally to offer the job before running the background checks.

How to do a free background check?

If you reach out to a third party, such as okstaff, for a background check, you just need to provide basic information, answer some questions, and submit a request.

1. Review and analyse the findings

Meticulously conducted background checks require proper analysis to provide vital information to the employer. Convictions on the report definitely look bad, but it must be well-reviewed on how long before the conviction was made and if there are any other felony charges or financial issues. If the issues are recurring and nothing is being done to resolve them, then the candidate might be problematic, and the employer must not progress with such a candidate.

2. Follow up on results

Contact the applicant post the review of the background check for a question and answer session. It should be an open forum where you can ask questions to the candidate and the candidate gets a fair chance to correct a misreporting, provide context, and clear their name.

In case you are revoking the offer letter based on the findings of the background check, you must share the facts and findings with the candidate. The points that matter and why they matter must be explained to the candidate.

3. Be consistent

As a responsible employer, you must be consistent in running background checks on all potential employees. A proper policy must be in place, and it must be adhered to under all circumstances.

4. Save your records

Proper records must be maintained for all the background checks conducted. At least one year of records must always be available at hand. You must always hold a fixed and clear policy regarding background checks for the hiring process.

How do you do a background check vs. how do companies do background checks?

For reliable and legally backed background checks, you can reach out to third-party firms, such as okcredit and okstaff, who provide background checks on candidates under consideration for hiring. Such third-party sources are proficient and experts in their work as they know their sources well. These companies are legally compliant and follow all rules, which helps you to avoid lawsuits as to how the checks were obtained.

Expertise in the field means faster and secure services will be delivered. A third-party source such as okstaff conducts unbiased background checks, whereas if a company chooses to run its own background checks, it may be alleged that biases have crept in.

A business might be tempted to run an online background check or use its sources in various departments due to multiple reasons such as money crunch, a large number of connections, etc. Such online sites are not verified and might not follow proper rules.

Always put professional and well-established background check services to use. Pre-employment screenings are vital to hire appropriate candidates. Correct, unbiased background checks are helpful in finding the right candidate.

How are employment reference checks different from background checks?

Checking both employment references and background checks are equally important, but they are not the same. The employment check refers to the cross-checking of facts with the mentioned past employers in the application form or resume of the applicant.

The facts checked under background checks at okcredit and okstaff include employment tenure, date of joining/leaving, pay history, a title held, etc. Work quality and character traits of the candidate are checked with colleagues, managers, clients, etc.

Also Read:

1) How to Make a Supermarket More Sustainable?
2) How to Make a Grocery Store more Sustainable?
3) Losing Customers Regularly in Business? Know Why and How To Prevent It
4) How to Make an Online Business more Eco-Friendly?

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FAQs

Q. What exactly is being checked in a background check?

Ans. Background check covers criminal records, employment history, education history. Information is checked in the government records and other institutional records.

Q. How frequently are background checks conducted?

Ans. Background checks are often renewed yearly or as per the company requirements.

Q. What happens if I don't pass a background check?

Ans. If you are unable to clear the background check, you might not be considered for the job or service under review.