Does a National Background Check Exist? In a word, no!  Other employee screening companies may offer a service called a National Background Check, but as of yet there is no one source for all records in the entire nation. There are database searches that might have some records from some counties in some states, but there is no such thing as a database with all records from all counties in all states. For example, California has 58 counties total and at last count, only 11 of these counties report to the databases. Do the math and you can see the probability of missing out on important information! In addition, these 11 counties aren’t even required by law to report anything, so you can see how the accuracy is questionable. Also keep in mind that most counties that do report to these databases only do so quarterly, so you are probably not getting up to date information.  Lastly, an employer will not meet FCRA compliancy if they are only using database information when making a hiring decision. This is why when you are doing an employee screening, it is imperative that you do a county criminal search for each county an applicant has been in for 7 years.   

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Employers must have personal information about their employees including Social Security numbers, date of birth and full name.  This information is crucial to the employer for them to comply with hiring laws.

Recently, Oregon and Washington passed legislation regarding how this information is protected, stored and destroyed.  An article regarding New Employee Privacy Rights in Oregon and Washington explains the requirements.

We would think that common sense would dictate taking special care with employee’s personal information.  Yet, we frequently hear stories of personal information being disposed of improperly or made available to identity thieves.  Now each business must have a security plan and breach notification procedures.  There are regulations that spell out exactly what must be done and the business may be held accountable.

Maybe the new regulations will make a business think twice before handling employee information in an unsecure manner.  What do you think?  Comments Welcome!

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Many businesses feel that they do not have the money to do employee screening. 

Fact:    30% of all business failures are due to employee theft

Fact:     The average award in a Negligent Hiring Lawsuit is $1 Million Dollars

Fact:     The direct and indirect average cost of employee turnover is 1.5 times the

               annual salary of that position.

The cost of employee screening should be considered as an essential part of operating costs.  It is just as important as keeping the lights on and paying the vendors.  It only takes one bad hire to devestate a business. 

 The time and money that is saved by not doing employee screening will be more than lost in defending a negligent hiring lawsuit.

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As a private company, you can be put out of business by the actions of just one employee. As a governmental agency, poor hiring practices can increase insurance costs and cast a negative light on all you do. That’s why employee screening and pre-employment background checks are so important in today’s employment environment.

Employment background checks, employee screening and pre-employment background checks have become one of the best ways for employers to avoid exposure. Pre-employment screening services from ERS can protect your company or agency from liability damages and a negligent hiring suit.

Checking employment references and verifying previous employment can be a time consuming activity for an employer or HR department. Slight embellishments or outright lying on a resume can cause significant problems for a company after a hire is made.

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