Today Anne Stephanie Cruz stops by to clear the air on employee background checks. Anne is a 25 year old writer from Cleveland, Ohio and has been an employee of crimcheck.com for 5 years. Crimcheck.com was founded in 1991 by security expert Ted L. Moss, and has received the Weatherhead 100 award for the past 4 years for outstanding service and growth.
When potential employees find out that the condition of their employment may be dependent
upon a background check or vetting process they may become nervous at the thought of an invasion of their privacy. Even the squeakiest clean of us don't like people poking around in our personal business and it can be quite off-putting to many people. I would like to address this situation and maybe give some techniques you can use to set your employees mind at ease.
1) Unless you work for a government entity background checks are not a mandate by the Federal government and it is not the result of the Patriot Act. Background checks have been a part of many companies hiring process for decades and they are used to find the best candidates for jobs.
2) There is nothing personal about background checks. They are not only used to protect the company from liability but they are used to protect employees as well. Providing a safe work environment for employees is the responsibility of every employer.
3) Each type of check you are running on an employee should be made clear to the candidate. Some people have no problem with you conducting a criminal record check but may balk at having a credit report run on them. Whatever your company's reasons are for running each check these should be explained to the employee or potential candidate.
4) Referring back to number one if your company does work for or is a contractor for the federal, state or local government you may be required to conduct background investigations due to certain mandates. If this is the case you should also explain this to a potential employee. If a certain job position requires a security clearance these investigations may probe deeper than a normal background check, this should be explained in writing to your employees as well.
5) Make sure that your organization has policies in place about what information is available to whom and under what circumstances. Are upper level managers going to be able to see the results on an employees background check or will HR be the only ones allowed to view this information? Can third party entities request copies or access an employees results and under what conditions? Employees should be made aware these polices as well.
6) Above all, be up front and honest about your employment screening policies, explain the employee's rights and the processes that are involved. Even if you are a small company your policy should be written down and followed to the letter of the law. Within that policy decide what will be disqualifying factors and let your candidates know this ahead of time.
If done correctly and explained properly background checks do not have to be a point of contention between employers and employees. Some employees have the idea that background checks are used to discriminate against them specifically or that they are an invasion of their privacy. We, as HR professionals, need to dispel these myths and assure potential candidates and employees that their private information is just that, private and that all candidates will be treated fairly and in accordance with Federal (FCRA) state and local employment laws.
Photo by: bionicteaching
When potential employees find out that the condition of their employment may be dependent
upon a background check or vetting process they may become nervous at the thought of an invasion of their privacy. Even the squeakiest clean of us don't like people poking around in our personal business and it can be quite off-putting to many people. I would like to address this situation and maybe give some techniques you can use to set your employees mind at ease.1) Unless you work for a government entity background checks are not a mandate by the Federal government and it is not the result of the Patriot Act. Background checks have been a part of many companies hiring process for decades and they are used to find the best candidates for jobs.
2) There is nothing personal about background checks. They are not only used to protect the company from liability but they are used to protect employees as well. Providing a safe work environment for employees is the responsibility of every employer.
3) Each type of check you are running on an employee should be made clear to the candidate. Some people have no problem with you conducting a criminal record check but may balk at having a credit report run on them. Whatever your company's reasons are for running each check these should be explained to the employee or potential candidate.
4) Referring back to number one if your company does work for or is a contractor for the federal, state or local government you may be required to conduct background investigations due to certain mandates. If this is the case you should also explain this to a potential employee. If a certain job position requires a security clearance these investigations may probe deeper than a normal background check, this should be explained in writing to your employees as well.
5) Make sure that your organization has policies in place about what information is available to whom and under what circumstances. Are upper level managers going to be able to see the results on an employees background check or will HR be the only ones allowed to view this information? Can third party entities request copies or access an employees results and under what conditions? Employees should be made aware these polices as well.
6) Above all, be up front and honest about your employment screening policies, explain the employee's rights and the processes that are involved. Even if you are a small company your policy should be written down and followed to the letter of the law. Within that policy decide what will be disqualifying factors and let your candidates know this ahead of time.
If done correctly and explained properly background checks do not have to be a point of contention between employers and employees. Some employees have the idea that background checks are used to discriminate against them specifically or that they are an invasion of their privacy. We, as HR professionals, need to dispel these myths and assure potential candidates and employees that their private information is just that, private and that all candidates will be treated fairly and in accordance with Federal (FCRA) state and local employment laws.
Photo by: bionicteaching
