8 Effective Options For Personal Background Checks for Employees
Every employee is an asset to any company, business or organization. Therefore, hiring the right candidate is highly crucial. They are the elements that have the power to succeed or fail a company. For this reason, selecting a good employee requires a thorough background check on the applicant during the hiring process. Personal background checks on employees are done to find probable information, such as a criminal past or a bad credit history. Employers also verify past employment, academic success, and reputation.
Why Should You Run A Personal Background Check?
Employers and hiring managers have the following benefits if they run a personal background check on selected candidates:
1) Making a smart choice: Employers can remain assured that they are hiring the best candidate if they have complete and accurate information in their hands.
2) Lessen potential harm to the organization: Employers might discover a record of crime by looking into a candidate’s pertinent criminal history. It can safeguard the safety of your organization.
3) Validate applicant claims: Background checks can be used to confirm a candidate’s displayed identity, background, level of education, and work history.
4) Reduce the possibility of claims or legal action for negligent hiring: It’s best to thoroughly screen candidates and prevent a negligent hiring claim in any business or organization.
8 Personal Background Checks You Can Run
But the question arises of how to run a personal background check. What should one consider while performing this task? Thus, here are 8 different personal background check options that you may use to determine the best match for your company.
1) Identity Verification
An employee identity check’s primary goal is to authenticate their identification. There are many cases where identity theft might have happened. Therefore, employers and hiring managers must ensure that applicants do not use stolen or false identities when seeking employment.
It comprises the applicant’s name, date of birth, address, and other
personal data. Through this exercise, the given data are compared to a criminal and civil database that might possess the very same information.
2) Work and Education
Prospective employers can ask for personal information, such as a candidate’s history of employment and schooling. It’s a good idea to double-check the accuracy of candidates’ information on their resumes and cover letters. There is a possibility that they might falsify their education, depth of experience, work responsibilities etc. A comprehensive work and education background check will reduce the risk of hiring an unsuitable employee.
3) Credit Background Checks
Credit background checks usually are required for positions needing security clearances, financial access, and access to confidential client and corporate information. A credit report contains details on a person’s financial transactions.
This report details a job applicant’s payment of debts, borrowing history, bankruptcy filings, and other activities. This activity screens out individuals who could be a risk to the company. Financial troubles could signify more serious issues, a general lack of maturity, or trustworthiness.
4) Conducting employment verifications
While conducting job verifications, employers can contact previous employers to confirm necessary details like position titles and length of work. It is one of the initial steps in ensuring a candidate’s prior experience qualifies them for the position. Most verifications comprise the following basic verifications:
- Period of employment
- Job title
- Employment category (full-time, part-time, temporary)
- Cause of resignation
5) Checking Motor Vehicle Report
Any employer requiring staff members to operate company vehicles should verify their driving histories to ensure they are selecting the most responsible and safe drivers. Additionally, MVR screening should be done by employers subject to the regulations set forth by authorized organizations.
What is disclosed by an MVR check?
- Driving background
- License, License Class, and License Status
- Endorsements
- License statuses in the past, including suspensions, revocations, and cancellations
- Vehicle offenses
- DUI convictions reported in accidents
- traffic citations
- Insurance failures and unpaid summonses
6) Fingerprint data Check
The Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System, which houses over 70 million criminal profiles, is where the FBI collects and stores fingerprint data. If the candidates have any criminal histories, this test primarily seeks to clarify them. Law enforcement agencies from throughout the nation submit them.
As a result, this review is required to find out whether your candidate has a criminal history or not. For positions in all categories of government institutions, this test is required. It is also necessary for specific roles in the gaming industry, finance, healthcare, pharmacies, etc.
7) Checking social media
Employers who want to learn more about possible employees might consider conducting social media verifications and reviewing their posts, stories and interactions. They can gather data through an online social network search, such as Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
It can reflect their daily life as well as their personality in general. However, not everything on social media is true. Employers can also get unverified or false data about a job applicant. Therefore, they should ensure that they are collecting correct information.
8) E-Verify Background Checks
E-verify is a computerized system that scans data from Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, to determine whether an employee is legally permitted to work in the United States.
One of two results can often be expected from an e-verify background check:
Employment Authorized: This indicates that the data entered corresponds to records in the SSA and DHS systems. The employee has the approval to work in the United States.
Tentative Non-confirmation (TNC) from DHS or SSA: This denotes that the information was inappropriate. This result is typically contestable by an employee if the employee accepts the output or receives a Final Non-confirmation result, which means that their work authorization cannot be confirmed; you, as the employer, may be allowed to terminate their job.
Conclusion
Personal background checks are a significant component of the hiring process in the modern corporate recruitment process. A poor hire can cost a lot to any company in the long term. Therefore, to run a personal background check before onboarding, a new employee must be necessary to prevent any possible errors.