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In some job profiles, criminal record checks are the necessary require to get a job. Many employers in the United States use background check as a part of their screening process. Future employees also have rights about checking their prospective hires when it comes to this type of documentation.

The reports used for background checks are regulated by a federal body. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the agency that administers background checks of employees in US and the same organization enforces a series of laws around these background checks. The motive of the organization is to make sure the whole process runs smoothly without any interruptions, respecting the rights of everyone involved.

Fair and Reasonable

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is another organization that makes sure that there is no discrimination in the hiring of the prospective employees. Every effort is taken by the organization to ensure that the process surrounding these criminal record checks is a fair and reasonable one.

It is very important to understand what is normal and what is outside the existing laws for both the employees and employers. For example, there are many different rules and regulations around the questions concerning the prospect’s background. However, it is well within the right of any prospective employer to ask some questions that includes those who enquire about your education and past employment

Criminal background checks are quite an important aspect of information that can be collected by any organization. So, it is important to keep in mind that a prospective employer cannot ask for any extra information that is based on the age or ethnic background of the prospective hire

Criminal Record Checks and Third-Party Companies

Third party company checks are also an important part of background checks. If the employer asks for a background check and hires a third-party company to get the information they are seeking for they will have to get the persons consent. Of course, it is very important here to make sure the third-party hires has all the understanding of the legal obligations involved in the process. For example, if the background checks are fully compliant with all the necessary human rights as well as the national and the state privacy legislations.

The primary priority of a third party to providing excellent service to their customers maintaining compliance. These companies use all the latest technology while conducting the background checks. But before you make any such hires you must make sure that you do not run afoul of any legislation when you are an employer who is looking to put together criminal background checks is essential. Selecting honest and reliable employees is a priority for businesses in every vertical today.

The Indian Bar Association (INBA) conducted a survey on 6047 members across India shows that a major part of the respondents has experienced instances of sexual harassment in some or other format the workplace. Though there is a common notion that senior position is characteristically associated with harassment at the workplace, the survey shows that harassment can take place at any level in an organization. Even vendors, business partners, supervisors, junior or mid-level managers have also been identified as offenders. Sexual-harassment at Workplace is not a new term. It has a long history and is quite a serious concern for social activists and HR managers worldwide. Many cases of sexual harassments went obscure either due to power pressure or due to lack of support for fighting.

Here are five most suggested approaches recruiters may consider for preventing cases of sexual harassment right from the time of recruitment with the help of background screening.

Include Employee referrals can as an assessment step

If you allow candidates to submit names of individuals with whom they have formally interacted with or directly worked with, you are basically removing a chance of employing a toxic-employee. This is because, in reference to their past interactions, the referring employee can at least attest the fact that there is a high or low probability that the candidate can prove to be a harasser or harmful employee. However one can also tamper with the referrals which you can reduce by making the interviewee aware that they will be held responsible for the kind of the referrals they are giving, for there will be a background check that labels employees who have made a toxic referral.

Identifying a harasser during the peer interview

This is yet another important step because the fellow team members will be the ones who will suffer the most if a bad hire is made. An interview with the team members can also help to screen the candidates if they have the probability of being hazardous. The process of peer interview in recent times is the most effective in the opinion of the employees who can look for pre-identified signs that reveal if the candidate has the probability of being a harasser creating nuisance in the workplace.

Criminal background checks

One of the easiest ways to determine the probability of the candidates being hazardous is through a criminal background check. If a candidate has a past of sexual harassment which took the form of sexual assault, such case will surely appear in criminal records. Background verification companies can also trace non-sealed public records of civil harassment cases if the individual has been involved in any of them.

Ask them situational questions that might reveal toxic behaviors

There is a chance that candidates reveal a history of sexual harassment if they have any while answering traditional past behavioral questions. A more clarified result can be expected if you ask them how they would handle a sexual harassment issue specific to the current employment scenario. Situational questions in every way produce better results. You can also ask them questions like “In a situation where you yourself were actually witnessing sexual harassment, what would you do?” try to look for any hidden expression in their answers like not reporting the incident or playing safe. You can also ask them some questions as to how they will handle a situation of workplace conflicts, harassment, and what steps they will take to resolve it. You can also ask them if they have difficulty in working with some specific types of employees in their new job and how would they handle such a situation.

Use existing personality and behavioral tests

Being compliant to background checking responsibilities is a difficult task which even branded companies are entirely not successful at managing. While there are many potential pitfalls, one of the most common errors that make an organization non-compliant is the absence of proper authorization and disclosures.

To explain it in the simplest manner, in order to maintain compliance the Fair Credit Report Act (“FCRA”) mandates that a candidate should be provided with a document that says it is “solely for the disclosure” of the process of the background checks. The legal courts have also made this as a rule that the disclosure has to be a single document in its own and it should not be a part of the job application or any other supporting document.

Though it might sound very simple, the time when organizations try to streamline the process of application, some of them seem to succumb to the attraction of using other information on the consent and disclosure forms which us at most of the times misleading and unimportant. Though most of the organization adopts these procedures to simplify the process of being complaint sometimes these activities are completed simply with the intention of ignoring the law but this mistake can prove to be very costly, both in terms of penalties, litigation, loss of protected data as well as damage to the reputation of the company.

The consequences of being non-compliant are not only limited to business which is headquartered at the US. In fact, after the affiliation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), it has become quite a global concern to protect the data of an organization. It is because of these regulations that the individual residing in the European Union and European Economic Area have better control over their personal data, and hence the penalties for violating the GDPR are incredibly high in this part of the world. It has been reported that business might be fined up to an amount of 20 million Euros which is more than 23 million USD OR 4 percent global annual revenue of the company of the past financial year, the higher value among both is accepted.

A federal criminal background check refers to gathering information about specific types of criminal cases that are prosecuted at the federal level which includes robbery, fraud, larceny, tax evasion, and some other white-collar offenses. Employers and hiring managers perform federal background checks for an in-depth screening of prospective candidate who, they have shortlisted for joining the company.

Federal crimes are put on trial in the U.S. district courts, and defendants have the right to appeal about unfavorable verdicts in the federal appellate courts. Hence, documents and proofs from both the district and appellate levels can be derived by a federal criminal background check.

What Is a Federal Background Check?

Federal background checks is a screening procedure that finds out criminal offenses that are prosecuted through the U.S. federal courts. They are quite different from national background checks, which include checking court records from various tribal territories, counties, and states throughout the US.

With the help of a federal job background check, an employer can collect any records about any prospective candidate if he has ever been held by the federal criminal courts, including all the case details. Background screening of such types involves only specific districts or can cover all the federal districts which lied in a state or a group of states. Employers at times prefer to conduct state- and county-level background checks along with federal checks in order to gain a comprehensive profile of the candidates.

Elements of a Federal Screening

Following are the list of the things that federal background screenings include, and it shows how it is different from a typical background check. Though both federal background and criminal background screenings have few features in common, there are some features that are unique for federal checks.

Federal background checks include the following features:

• Specific information subjected to government clearance for a position

• A list of arrest records which includes the charge, the date of the crime if any, and the duration of stay in custody if applicable.

• Records regarding crimes allegedly committed on state property or that crossed state lines

• Felony convictions if any

• Social Security number check

• Criminal records check

• Employment history check

• Any filed lawsuits against the prospective candidates.

How Federal Background Checks Are Used?

Federal background checks are at most of the times an important part of government employment screenings especially for the appointment of law enforcement officers and employees related to public-sector. However, certain banking employees who have access to highly confidential data or financial information are also liable for a federal background check. Employers and recruiters may also use federal criminal background screening while hiring high-level executives who work in the medical field, especially with children and older adults.

Arrests that Lead to Convictions

A criminal record search is one of the most important sources of gathering information for employers which means that employers can take special efforts to examine the kind people who they are hiring. We are living in an age of digital information and the commercial world is currently ungovernable without the proper application of strict measures, compliance and risk mitigation. Therefore, a recruiter should take great care in complying with federal, state and company policy while hiring prospective candidates. This is the reason why you must understand some critical procedures that are applied in checking arrest records for prospective employees.

When a person is arrested and detained on grounds of civil offense, that event goes into permanent records of the government but it never goes away. In spite of the fact whether an individual is guilty or not, an arrest record can negatively affect their chances of employment depending on where the arrest took place. Any arrest or any judicial detention, however, is not just recorded as an arrest. It should be further categorized depending on the kind of judicial outcome of the arrest. The arrest could be classified into the following categories:

Dismissed Charges Dismissed Charges are probably the most employment-friendly arrest record people can get. It means that the legal obligation for some reason was either negotiated or obligated or the charges against the suspected individual were dropped. In most cases, it denotes innocence, mistaken identity or civil pardon by the accused victims.

Not-Guilty Arrests Not-Guilty Arrests also insinuates innocence and is considered safe in comparison to other types of judgments. This kind of arrest record means that the police or the prosecuting attorney was not convinced of the suspect’s innocence but got defeated in the court trials.

Pending Case Arrests This type of arrest record should never be taken lightly. The hiring process on general terms is very tedious, time-consuming and very expensive so an employer should never take the risk of hiring a person who has the chances of ending up in getting convicted.

These type of arrests records are most unfavorable scenarios of getting employment. In fact, regardless of the numerous acts that have been made to protect prospective candidates from discrimination on the grounds of previous arrests, criminal records do not count in any of them.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act allows employers and recruiters to find and use judicial arrest records in their hiring processes. However, as a recruiter, you must be careful to comply with state laws and anti-discriminatory laws decided by the federal bodies.

According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), employers or the "end users of background verification reports" are required to notify the concerned applicants in writing if a decision has been made to follow adverse action based on the results from the report. In other words, if an applicant is denied a job or promotion because the results of their background check look suspect, they need to know.  There are numerous FCRA claim filings that reveal the importance of these adverse action notices.

What do Pre-Adverse Action and Adverse Action Notice mean?

To begin, we must first know the differences between the concepts of pre-adverse action notices and adverse action notices. Adverse action can be defined as any negative decision which is based on a request from the applicant like a denial of employment due to the results of a background check or information revealed in the applicant's report. With that in mind, a clearer definition of "pre-adverse" versus "adverse" is obvious. Pre-adverse action notices hence is the notification to the applicant that an adverse action is being considered. Adverse action notices further reveal that a negative decision has been in regards to the applicant.

What should be the timing of an Adverse Action Notice?

After receiving the background verification report, the pre-adverse action must be sent within three consecutive business days, any public holiday can be excluded. The applicant can then have the ability to fight for any allows an applicant 5 business days to review and respond to the pre-adverse action notice. If the applicant does not agree with the pre-adverse action, an adverse action notice can be sent within five business days from the date of the issue of pre-adverse action. Failure to complying with the FCRA rules can lead to litigation and penalties on the part of the concerned person.

What Comprises a Pre-Adverse and Adverse Action Notice?

As per the rule of Section 604 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, no action can be taken until a copy of the background verification report has been provided to the applicant. The report should also contain a written summary which is known as a Pre-Adverse Action Letter, which would detail the potential adverse action apart from specifying the information that led to the decision. Every applicant will be provided with a copy of their rights under the FCRA rules along with the allowed time to dispute the findings of the report.

Section 615 of the FCRA further specifies that a second notice, termed an Adverse Action Letter, must also be provided to the applicant, in writing, as a notification that an adverse action has been taken against him. The applicant must also be informed that the adverse action that has been taken is based on the information found in the background check and they will have had time to fight for any findings as specified in the pre-adverse action notice. The Adverse Action notice hence must include the following highlights:

Contact information for the reporting agency who prepared the report

A written confirmation that the consumer reporting agency is not the party taking the adverse action and cannot provide reasons for the adverse action

An identity check is an indispensable part of a comprehensive background check. This crucial verification enables you to be sure about the identity of the applicant and to know that the applicant is not misrepresenting this basic personal information. The identity check is the foundation step based on which other verification processes can be carried out. Identity verification does not reveal any information regarding the applicant’s credit, financial history, or criminal history. The main purpose of this information is to check it against the information the candidate gave you to determine if they were being completely honest. If they are not, you may want to reconsider hiring them. An identity check verifies the applicant’s identity by checking the following:

Full name

Any aliases

Social security number

Date of birth

Current and past addresses

Types of Identity Checks

Social Security Number (SSN) Trace

A social security trace is a report that will return all current and reported addresses associated with a specific individual based on his or her social security number. If there are alternate names (aliases or also known as [AKA]) these are reported also. You should have a CONCERN if the name provided by the nanny to conduct the search does not match the name on file with the credit reporting agency.

Passport (MRZ) Check:

Due to the emergence of latest technologies, it does not take time for an individual to hijack the identities of innocent people and use them as their own. One of the best ways to overcome this problem is by conducting passport verification of individuals. This search involves an algorithmic check that the date of birth, gender and country are valid. It’s considered a “level-one” check, rather than the more in-depth check above.

Motor Vehicle Record Search

Motor Vehicle Records (MVR) reports statewide driving records, including Commercial Driver's License status (CDL) for at least 3 years, oftentimes up to 7 years. Motor Vehicle Records (MVR) offer driving history information including insurance lapses, license suspensions, revocations, accidents, traffic violations, and unpaid, or unanswered summons. The MVR report can flag Driving under the Influence (DWI or DUI) charges and other potential substance abuse problems.

Hiring Background Screening Professionals for Comprehensive Identity Checks?

When it involves building a business, it is highly influenced by the resources one hires.  A company is like a puzzle. Beneath each operation, role and deliverable could be a person, and also the creator for every one of these responsibilities goes to dictate its success. In short: the resources of your organization are one of your most vital assets. However, several firms create mistakes once it involves hiring. They might rent entirely for the role and not the corporate as a full, or they could rent preemptively before responsibilities are clearly established. Sometimes they simply create a hurried call and find yourself housing a foul apple. Remember, your company could be a reflection of the folks you use. If you want to be successful, you’ll want to avoid these hiring mistakes at all costs:

Missing Out Background Screening Part of the Prospective Candidate

Performing background verification of the applicants is a must for recruiting and hiring the best employees. You can discover whether or not the candidate has the information and skill you wish. You must screen the prospective candidates you have shortlisted for your organizations except those who ask for a remuneration that's out of your league.  You can gain a way of the person's congruousness along with your culture. Hence background screening of the prospective applicants is a must.

Not Having a Proper and Organized Hiring Procedure

Not knowing precisely what quite a person you wish to rent usually ends up in hiring “generalists,” or those who are usually smart at everything but not at what you actually need. Before delving into the accomplishment method, create it crystal clear what quite person you wish for the work and what the work position entails. This additionally lets potential candidates recognize what you wish and saves each you and also the candidate a great deal of your time, energy, and money.

Hiring the Right Person for the Wrong Role

Another common mistake firms create is hiring the proper person however inserting them within the wrong role. They love the person and wish to seek out how to form the rent work, in order that they place them in a position somewhat kind of like the initial role they were hiring for. In such a situation the company is without any adequate resource for the position they needed to fill, and the new employee is frustrated because they aren’t doing the kind of work they thought they were getting to be doing.

Not Asking For Enough References

Another way by which one can confirm whether a candidate is really as efficient as they claim is to ask for references in their previous workplaces. Simply line of work a former boss or ask their former superiors to put in a good word for them. To avoid this lure, ask their former supervisors if you can also talk to their colleagues. The candidate’s ex-colleagues can give you information about the candidate’s performance and behavior in the previous workplace, their work ethics, and their general behavior.