A Detailed Guide for Background Verification Services In 2022

A Detailed Guide for Background Verification Services In 2022

Getting the right person to work for your organization is a difficult feat. Because 90% of the candidates who are in a battle to get a job desire to settle their career affluently rather than making an all-out effort for the organization's growth. But, there are many people you can still count on to fill the suitable position in your organization. Wondering how to make it possible? You can achieve this by running employee background verification services. These background verification services help you identify the candidate's true potential and help you hire the best suitable persons for the job role. During the headhunting process, there are countless resumes to be reviewed, interviews to be scheduled, and then if that goes well, employment background checks need to be conducted on the candidates.

What Goes Wrong?

Most recruiters do not feel the necessity to conduct background verification services during the hiring process. It may keep the organization at risk of bad hires and may even lead to the windup of the business. Want to know how? For instance, without conducting a background verification check, you have hired a candidate for your company based on their educational qualifications and excellent performance in the interview. You have given the individual a good pay job role and provided all the company details, including the information of clients you deal with. Everything went well for a few days, but after a few months, you noticed a huge drop in your accounts and even realized that you had lost many valuable clients. After a thorough investigation, you came to know that someone who is part of your company (probably an employee) is misusing the organization's data. But the loss has already happened, and you couldn’t avoid it. But if you had done a pre-employment background check, you could have saved your company from the massive loss and economic distress.

What Is An Employment Background Check?

The employment background check is the process of authenticating and validating the details and information provided by the candidate. It checks the person’s criminal record, employment history, educational information, and other candidates' past activities to help make the right decisions for hiring. Whether you’re applying for a job, purchasing a firearm, or even looking for a new apartment, you must undergo a background verification check.

Importance of Conducting Employment Background Checks

Conducting employment background verification checks on employees is an essential tool for the business. Background checks help in choosing the best possible employees for your organization. Take a look at some of the important reasons that show the importance of running employment background checks.

• • Reduces the Risk Of Job Fraud

  Background verification services play an essential role in making the hiring process safe and better. 84% of employers derive befits by running background verification checks on the employees. Almost 53% of job applicants lie on their resumes, and 84% of the employers continue to derive benefits from the background checks.

  It is estimated that the candidates who are not properly screened can impact your organization negatively. For example, an employee who misrepresents their educational qualifications or work experience may not produce the desired results or perform the given tasks inaccurately. Meanwhile, many organizations hire candidates solely based on their social media presence, which cannot ultimately help in the background screening process. Apart from a social media check, you even need to do a criminal record check, address verification check, and background verification check to validate the candidate's information. Tailor the screening process that reflects the job roles and the industries.

• • Determine Whether The Candidate Is Qualified For The Position

  Hiring a candidate who is not suitable for the job position can waste the quality time of the company, resources, and even the finances of the organization. Still, with the help of background verification checks, you can determine the actual qualification of the candidate and help you come to an idea of the person who is suitable for the job role. The background verification checks investigate the candidate's credentials and provide you with the educational details, past work experience details, and any fraudulent cases of the candidate.

• • Protects The Company’s Reputation And Organizational Assets

  Any employee can be subjected to ruin the company’s reputation; it’s even more perilous while coming to higher designations that involve more visibility and media exposure. In some cases, background checks can help you safeguard against the damage by allowing you to spot the intruder that causes negative behavioral patterns to the company’s assets.

  Suppose the job position constitutes any level of access to the company’s assets, important financial documents, or even proprietary information regarding the clients. In that case, it is essential to perform a background verification check beforehand. It helps avoid theft, destruction of property, and even corporate espionage.

• • Safeguards Against Negligent Hiring Claims

  It was reported that two women had been sexually assaulted by the Uber drivers and had filed a negligent hiring case against the company. In the lawsuit, it was claimed that Uber failed to conduct a thorough background screening process and that it had become impossible to check the background of the respective employees.

  Dealing with lawsuits like this can be costly. Not to mention it can even damage the reputation of the company. Performing employee background verification is essential in these kinds of cases as they help reveal the true causes of the candidates and absolve companies of liability in the event of negligent hiring claims.

• • Avoids Employee Theft

  According to statistics, it was reported that at least 75% of employees had stolen at least once from their employer, and 33% of it consisted of bankrupts. Such occurrences can impact the business. The company needs to take necessary measures to avoid such thefts.

  Theft can not only occur at the company's expense, but it can also happen to the employees working in it. To avoid such cases, consider running background checks to protect everyone in your company.

How Does Employee Background Verification Work?

This section will discuss the types of background checks and screening, the complexity of background checking, and an outline of the sources and information that must be consulted to do the right job.

• Verifying The Candidate's History

  Employers run a pre-employment check to avoid fraudulent candidates in hiring. The candidate you hire can be a liability and threaten the workplace. During the employee background verification, check the candidate's work history, driving record, medical history, criminal record, and other details are verified.

  It includes certain guidelines as follows:
  • • The candidate has to be notified in a written form about the background check, and the document has to be kept separated from the employment application.
  • • The applicant must agree to it and provide written consent for the background check process.
  • • If the pre-employment check is compulsory for hiring, then the business must state it clearly in their written policies.
  • • As a job applicant, the employee has the right to notify about the background check on their lifestyle, reputation, history, or character.
   

  All these guidelines are necessary to follow to ensure 100% trust!

  • 1. Criminal Background Checks The criminal record checks are mostly used in the background screening process but are most complex and misunderstood. There are two categories of crimes that are major crimes and minor crimes. As an employer, you must define your organization's values and understand where to draw the line when screening employees for a safe hiring process.

    An individual's criminal history affects the company's safety and affects qualification and job performance. If you are hiring an accountant or a stock manager for your company to handle the funds and inventory, it is very crucial to see if they have been charged with fraud or theft in their past workplace.

    Criminal background checks help make informed and confident decisions during the hiring process.

  • 2. Address Verification: Address verification services are a part of background verification. Finding out the candidate's place of residence makes it easier to follow up on the other tests and also may reveal jurisdictions where a criminal background check must be carried out.

    It helps carry out correspondence with the employees in the pre-hiring and post-termination phases. The address verification also covers sending offer letters, application forms, final settlement documents, and dues, and in some cases, it also helps in sending legal notices.

  • 3. Pre- Employment verification The pre-employment background checks are conducted on the candidate’s past. The candidate’s previous employment, education, criminal records, medical records, credit, etc., are checked.

    For candidate’s information is needed, including

    • • Name
    • • Current address
    • • Date of birth
    • • Social security number
    • • And the consent of the candidate

  • 4. Police verification

    During the police verification, a police clearance certificate is given due to a background verification check by police or government agencies. It is done to enumerate the crime rates that the applicant may have. Criminal records may include conviction, arrest, and possibly criminal proceedings.

    The police verification is done for the following purposes:

    • • Applying for vocational positions that require clearance
    • • Seeking to immigrate or obtain visas
    • • To satisfy an individual employer's request.

How Is Background Verification Done?

The background verification companies provide current and accurate information before deciding on hiring. A common misconception was made that all consumer reporting agencies rely on one common database for the information. But in fact, there are hundreds of records, databases, and other resources that carry enormous data on the individual being screened. The background verification agencies verify and double verify the data accurately.

How Do Background Verification Companies Get Information?

The background verification agencies get information from the applicants themselves. Tenants and employment applicants submit resumes, applications, and other background check forms. The consumer reporting agencies verify the applicant's information and status by searching public records such as credit headers, DMV, birth records, and other third-party sources. Sometimes the applicant information is illegible and could not only provide the wrong information about the candidate but also slows down the hiring process. Many property management companies and employers are turning to online verification and employment history portals to reduce the likelihood of errors.

How Background Verification Is Done On Education and Employment Records

Employment verification companies will often attempt to contact the school and employers directly to verify the applicant's employment and educational records. The employment screening services include information about the job title, dates of employment, responsibilities, salary details, and rehire eligibility. Obtaining employment information can delay the hiring process and cost more if the employer cannot be reached or can only be accessed through an employment verification database.

How To Proceed If Something Negative Is Found During Employee Background Verification Process?

There are various reasons that make the job candidate fail in the background check process. Some of these are:

• • Bad criminal history
• • Poor credit history
• • Poor employment history
• • Bad driving record
• • Failure in drug and alcohol tests
• • Faking educational & employment qualifications
• • Bankruptcy

If the candidate fails in any of these during the Employee Background Verification process, that does not necessarily mean you shouldn’t hire them.

While reviewing a candidate’s employment background check, it’s essential to follow the law before making an informed decision. Review your company’s employment policy and equal employment opportunity commission guidelines. There is always a slim chance that the information you received is inaccurate due to data entry or database issues.

Follow these steps to help you make a sophisticated decision while following your company’s laws and hiring guidelines.

Step 1: Consult Your Policy:

Your employment screening policy must outline everything that goes into a background check, including social security number verification, educational verification, past employment, criminal history, motor vehicle records, and credit history. You will need to adhere to these equally with every candidate.

Step 2: Send a Pre-Adverse Action Notice

Suppose you consider not hiring the candidate based on the results of background verification screening. In that case, you need to let that person know with a pre-adverse action notice along with a copy of the background verification check and “A Summary of Your Rights Under FCRA.” This will give the candidate chance to review the results and help respond to any of your questions regarding the information discovered from the report.

Step 3: Allows The Candidate To Respond

When you allow the applicant to discuss the issues that background screening brought, you will know the real reason behind the remark. Try to understand why the candidate has been falsified, as this will help you know the candidate's strengths, and you could know the persuasiveness, diligence, or effort of the candidate.

Step 4: Make A Decision

Once the candidate has been reviewed and given adequate time to explain the adverse results of the background verification check hiring policy, a decision must be taken regarding the candidate's hiring.

Step 5: Send An Adverse Action Notice

If you decide not to hire the candidate because of what you discovered, send a final adverse action letter to the person that they have not to be continued further with your organization due to the failure in the background verification check process.

Common Misconceptions Of Employee Background Verification

Most employees and employers have misconceptions regarding background verification checks, resulting in hiring mistakes. Let’s take a look at some of the common misconceptions everyone has.

Myth 1: All Employee Background Verification Checks Are the Same

Fact: Background verification checks are not the same for everyone. All candidates are not required to pass a similar background check before the company hires them. Every position has its own rules and requirements for background verification. For example, people who hire taxi drivers, bus drivers, and other driving roles may verify the candidate's driving records. Still, the recruiter may verify the past work experience, educational details, and criminal record check while coming to IT roles.

Myth 2: A Criminal Record Means No Hire!

Fact: Most candidates and employers think that if a candidate is subjected to a criminal record means no hire! But to be clear, not all lead to conviction, and having an arresting remark on their profile is not proof of guilt. Although the background screening process may get into the details of the individual’s past, there may be no clear clarification on the situation, which does not ponder the candidate's character.

Myth 3: Only Large Scale Companies Can Afford Background Checks

Fact: Whether your business is a large scale, medium scale, or even small scale, conducting an employee background verification check is crucial. Small and medium-sized companies cannot afford to hire the wrong candidates as their business is small, and they need trustworthy candidates who help grow their business. And hiring the wrong team is one of the main reasons startups fail. The company must realize bad hires can cost a company more than the background verification service.

Myth 4: Background Verification Check Is A Time-Consuming Process

Fact: How long a background verification check takes place - is depends on the extensiveness of the search, location, length of records, and local laws. However, the background Verification Agencies like TrueBGV give accurate results in less time.

Myth 5: Job Applicants Are Powerless

Fact: Most job applicants think that they do not have any power regarding background verification checks, and the employers hold all the cards. And even sadder that some employers think the applicants do not have any right to reject the background screening.

But to be frank, the background check cannot be carried out without the applicant's permission, and the employer is also supposed to inform the job applicant if they decide to run a background check before hiring. A copy of the background check must be issued to the applicant, and the applicant has the right to question or deny the background check based on the guidelines that the employers state in the copy of the background check.

How To Get Started With Employee Background Verification Check Process?

Performing background verification by yourself can be complicated and time-consuming. And you go for traditional employment screening services, which are costly, time-consuming, paper-heavy, and manual, but what is the best way to choose a background check service?

The Answer Is Here!

We provide seamless and flexible background verification services with minimal effort from both the employee and the company.

TrueBGV is the modern take on employee background verification age-old problem being costly, tiresome, and out of reach for any small business.

The TrueBGV Employee Check Process

We use automation and technology to reduce the complexity in every step of the background verification process. Here is an overview of TrueBGV process:

• Buying Verifications: Any company, big or small, approaches the background verification process.

• Easy Process Initiation: The human resource team uploads the necessary information of the candidate, like name, phone number, and email.

• Online Form Filling and Submission: The candidates are intimated to fill out the online form when asked to upload their documents.

• Verification Process Initiation: The verification process starts as soon as the forms are submitted.

• Dashboard Progress Tracking: TrueBGV dashboard provides a complex overview of the progress, and it shows timelines for any disparity in uploaded credentials, along with the completed checks at any given point in time.

• Detailed Online Report: Once the background verification process is complete, a digital report is generated. Easy!

Some Common FAQs

• 1. How To Verify Current Employment?

  To verify a candidate’s current employment, the companies ask for the full and final statement of experience/ reliving letter as proof.

• 2. Can Salary Be Verified In Background Verification?

  Yes, salary can be verified in a background verification check. Verifying the salary requires the full and final statement of the employee salary slip.

• 3. What Is The Next Step After The Employee Background Verification?

  The employer might take a few days to review the background verification reports. If the background verification occurs before confirmation, the next step is sending an offer letter. However, many companies conduct background verification after onboarding the employee. In this case, it indicates that the employee's job is safe and chances to be continued.

What Happens When Background Verification Fails?

When the background verification fails, the employer must focus on discussing the situation with the candidate and needs to give a chance to explain the situation. However, no response from the employee can lead to termination of the employment.