Hiring an employee is not just checking the basic application form, resume, and taking two or three interviews. Even verifying professional and educational qualifications is necessary. But you must conduct a proper background check before selecting a candidate.

It is not just a formality but a requirement that every employer should follow. If you perform a background check, your records may reveal employees’ criminal records or financial issues. That might cause the company to consider that person an unsafe employee.

What is the importance of background checks?

Research published by the NAPBS in 2017 came with some intriguing facts about this. It revealed approximately 96% of employers perform this background check. And other types of pre-hiring checking before offering any positions to applicants. Although, you need to notify the candidate before performing this as the condition of employment.

You can even fire applicants after joining if some disputes reveal in background checks. A background check is one step to getting security clearances for many positions within the federal government. In short, background check is nothing but adding a layer of protection for the company and also the co-workers.

What type of background check does an employer perform?

  • A normal background check involves verifying a person’s information at the national, state, and county levels. The purpose is to find out whether the person was involved with a crime or not in the past.

  • In some cases, submitting a fingerprint report is also required for an extensive search. Especially in the sectors like accounts, hospitals, or the daycare industry.

  • Some background checks also come with checking the social security number. It allows you to check the credit or financial status of the applicant. This verification is required when you hire someone to handle the cash or the financial instruments.

  • Verification also involves checking past employment. That features the data like work performance and behavior. It also reveals information related to job titles, job description, and salary.

  • You can also go through some other verification depending on the industry you run. Such as verifying academic credentials, driving records, and drug testing.

Will a background reveal the termination?

It is pretty problematic to find out about the termination from the last job by a routine background check. As an employer, you can ask the applicant the reason for leaving the last employer.

Or whether the applicant has been fired or not from the previous job. Maintaining genuineness is the main thing for selecting any. Obviously, you will not disqualify someone for getting fired from their previous work, as there could be any reason for taking such action.

But hiding any fact can be an issue in offering a new position to the candidate. The best policy is to ask the candidate the actual reason for termination with a proper explanation. And also go through an employment background investigation to get genuine information.

It will help to create trust and reliability between the employee and employer. And it will be even better if employees have already provided a full explanation in their application.

What does it mean by background investigation?

In general, a background investigation is more lengthy and complex than a casual background check. If you run an extensive verification, the result will reveal the details of leaving the previous work. Although, this investigation is a bit costly and complex. And that’s why most employers like to stick to the basic one.

It involves the process of hiring an investigating company. They will go through the process of checking their social media account and contacting past employers. And even checking criminal records and references.

If the termination was high profile, the investigator finds it out by checking the newspapers or publicly available data. A high-profile termination also comes up with criminal offenses and violations.

Should the employer ask for a disclosure?

If you are concerned about hiring applicants, you can ask them to submit a full disclosure in their application. Or you can ask them during the interviews.

This method will make the selection process easy both for the applicant and the employer. And the extensive investigation also will be a lot easier if they have already mentioned the reason behind the termination. Or the actual cause for getting fired from their previous job.

If you want a good employee background check, contact us today!