Does An Employer Need To Notify You When They Conduct A Background Check

You've filled out hundreds of applications, interviewed with dozens of employers, and finally, received an offer! Celebration time! Simply wait – your offering is dependent on a background check and drug test? Panic sets in as you have never had to practice a groundwork screening or a drug test before, and y'all have no thought what to look.

What is your new employer looking for exactly? How far back will they check? And why do you lot need a drug exam?

Worry no more! Background checks (also called groundwork screening, employer screening, or employment verification) are very common and, by and large speaking, a piece of cake! Around 95% of employees in the U.S. are screened in some fashion before they are officially hired for a chore. Today, we'll take you through the ins –and outs of groundwork screening, to put you lot at ease and get you to work.

Candidates in the Us are screened in some style before they are officially hired for a job. We are going to have you through the ins-and-outs of background screening, to put you at ease, and get y'all into your dream chore.

Background Screening – How It Works

At some point, most probable post-offer, your new employer will let y'all know that they need to do a groundwork screening. They volition provide you with a disclosure form and ask yous to sign an say-so for the screening. Once signed, this permits your potential employer to request a report from a third-political party Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA), like HireRight, to examine specific areas of your life.

It's of import to notation that your futurity employer decides what kinds of background screenings will be conducted, not the CRA. In the U.S., the Off-white Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) has strict guidelines well-nigh how an employer, through a CRA, can asking a background screening. The FCRA and country laws provide consumers' rights equally they pertain to information contained in their background reports in general.

How do CRA's conduct these background checks? CRA'due south, like HireRight, employ diverse ways to verify your information, including digital verifications, searching public records, and calling employers and educational facilities. In some jurisdictions, a visit to a courthouse to obtain documentation may be required. Our researchers ofttimes consider themselves highly analytical, looking to complete verifications as efficiently and finer as possible!

Acquire Well-nigh the Life of a Verification Researcher

We know that candidates are anxious to get results from their checks. The CRA works equally quickly to inquiry all of the requested information, assemble information technology in a study and return information technology to your potential employer. Today, many CRA'south like HireRight utilise online portals for quick and convenient communications. The entire process mostly takes a few days but can take up to a couple of weeks. Why? Some searches and verifications are contingent on returned telephone calls and public record systems – and that access tin can be impacted past holidays, government close-downs, or even pandemics.

Why Are Background Checks Needed?

Each year, HireRight surveys thousands of Man Resources professionals and shares those results in our almanac Global Benchmark Report. We larn why they perform screenings and the about common types of searches and verifications requested. Such screening may seem intense and unnecessary to candidates merely think of it from an employer'due south point of view. They need to know that the person they are hiring is truthful nigh the information provided to secure the chore. A quick web search can reveal some significant cases of employment fraud, demonstrating the demand for background checks.

The well-nigh mutual types of background checks search for criminal activity, verify employment and education, including identity verification, and request driving records. Some employers also review credit, and social media, and conducted drug tests. What kind of screening will you get? It depends on the employer and the task position – if you work in finance, your credit may exist checked. If y'all are a driver, your driving records will probably be screened.

Let'south demystify the nigh common background checks

Employment Verification
With your consent, your future employer tin can asking that nosotros contact your past employers to verify that you were employed there. The CRA will contact your old employers to verify dates and positions held. References may also be contacted.
ProTip: Have your pay stubs or W-2's set up to speed along the verification process. Sometimes the CRA cannot reach your former employer, or they are no longer in business, and this volition aid.

Education/Licenses
Similar to employment, the CRA volition contact educational institutions to verify your course of study, degrees, and/or any professional licenses. Many educational institutions don't respond direct to requests for information and instead subscribe to an education records reporting provider. These providers verify student records, transcripts, and degrees and protect confronting fraudulent data supplied past "diploma mills."
ProTip: Every bit with verifying employment, you might exist asked to provide a re-create of your transcript, certificate, or degree.

Criminal Records
The CRA may search canton, state, and federal courts for criminal records. How far dorsum in history they go is determined by the employer's requirements and the FCRA or state or local laws. The FCRA and some states restrict the reporting of convictions that occurred more than seven years ago unless certain exceptions are met.

Identity
An identity search verifies that you lot have a validly issued ID and that your proper name is assigned to that ID number. The search is performed through various sources, depending on the state where your ID was issued.
ProTip: You may be asked to provide your commuter's license or passport, so take them set.

Motor Vehicle Tape
If your role involves driving, your future employer will likely bank check your motor vehicle tape (MVR). An MVR is often necessary for them to provide you lot with a work vehicle.
ProTip: It'south best to accept a discussion with your prospective employer and disclose annihilation on your MVR that might raise a red flag, such every bit speeding tickets or driving-related crimes.

Drug Testing
If your employer requires a drug exam, you lot will be asked to go to a drove site and provide a sample which is typically urine, saliva, or hair. The types of tests performed, such as what drugs are in telescopic for the test, are determined past your future employer. For example, while many states have legalized marijuana (medically or for recreational developed use) non all states crave that employers adapt its use. Check with your futurity employer if you take questions on the drug test and their workplace drug policy.

The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nix But the Truth

HireRight found that 54% of employers found discrepancies in employee background checks. The most commonly institute discrepancies are previous employment, criminal history, and teaching credentials. Not all of the discrepancies are intentional, just the employer volition brand hiring decisions based on the information they are provided. These inconsistencies will likely be discovered during a background screening.

At this point, you may be having some anxiety over an upcoming background screening. What if you accidentally provide wrong information? What if y'all embellished or made a small fib on your resume or application? Have a deep breath, and permit's get over the next steps.

Resumes and work histories are long, and we do not always recall things like verbal employment dates. Many employers will understand a faulty memory and will not agree it against you. Providing pay stubs via the application portal tin can verify right dates of employment. If your inconsistencies are more than profound, such as big date discrepancies, you may desire to be upfront with your recruiter and explain whatever large gaps in employment.

All the same, if there are items on your resume that are complete fabrications, it's futurity clean with your future employer. Afterwards all, they are going to find out well-nigh information technology. This may or may not impact your job offer – but you volition never know unless you tell the truth. If you are reading this and are currently seeking a new job, now would exist a skilful time to check out your resume and make sure that it isn't a piece of work of fiction.

What Adjacent?

If an employer finds misrepresentations or negative elements in your background check, it's upward to them to decide what to practise with that information. – the CRA does non decide whether y'all are hired, nor does information technology brand recommendations. You tin can always request a copy of your background study to better empathize the reported information.

Suppose the negative aspects of your report practise indeed impact your offer. In that case, your prospective employer has a legal obligation to inform you lot of the potentially adverse action and give y'all a reasonable opportunity to dispute the accuracy or completeness of the findings directly with the CRA. If you lot initiate a dispute with the CRA by and large, inside 30 – 45 days, the CRA will complete their investigation of the disputed information and will notify y'all of the results. Should you even so be unsatisfied, you lot have the pick to include a brief statement to rebut the findings. If an employer makes an adverse employment decision, such as revoking your job offer, based in whole or in function on the findings of the background study, they must send you an adverse action observe advising you of their decision.

For a complete breakdown of each party's obligations and your rights in the background screening process, read the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

We hope that y'all are a little less broken-hearted nigh any upcoming groundwork checks! Next week we volition take a deeper dive and answer some of the most frequently asked questions about background screening.

HireRight

HireRight is a leading provider of on-demand employment groundwork checks, drug and wellness screening, and electronic Form I-9 and E-Verify solutions that assistance employers automate, manage and control background screening and related programs.

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