{"id":66,"date":"2016-11-19T09:37:05","date_gmt":"2016-11-19T09:37:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/inkthemes.com\/wptheme\/background-check-company-wordpress-theme\/?p=66"},"modified":"2016-11-19T09:37:05","modified_gmt":"2016-11-19T09:37:05","slug":"6-questions-to-ask-when-building-a-background-check-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/accuscreening.com\/index.php\/2016\/11\/19\/6-questions-to-ask-when-building-a-background-check-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Questions to Ask When Building a Background Check Policy"},"content":{"rendered":"

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$\"Gallery$ Many employers struggle with determining if they\u2019re at a stage where they really need to have a formal policy around employment background checks.<\/p>\n

The reality is that most employers, regardless of size or industry, should likely have some sort of policy in place.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because, no matter what type of employer you are, background checks should be conducted lawfully, and consistently \u2013 and background screening policies go a long way in helping ensure that this happens.<\/p>\n

Lawful, consistent background checks are the most important goals of a background screening policy.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s vital to have a consistent approach, one that will be both effective at vetting and fair to all candidates involved.<\/p>\n

Because a policy sets standards around multiple aspects of background screening \u2013 standards that everyone in your organization understands and follows \u2014 its formality works to attain that all-important level of consistency.<\/p>\n

In the absence of a written policy, it would be easy to inadvertently be inconsistent, which is not only unfair, but could also be legally unwise.<\/p>\n

So what are some questions you\u2019ll want to answer as you create and implement a background screening policy?<\/p>\n

Who will be screened?<\/strong> It\u2019s wise to perform a background check on all potential new employees, from janitorial staff to C-suite officers. But you may also want to consider if there is a reason for you to perform recurring checks on existing employees \u2013 some organizations do this for employees on a certain periodic basis as legally permissible.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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What types of checks will you use?<\/strong> There is a wide spectrum of individual elements of a background check that you may want conducted, such as criminal histories, driving records, and educational and employment verification\u2019s. Which of these areas you choose may depend on such criteria as the needs of your organization, the industry you\u2019re in, any relevant laws or regulations, and relevancy to the job in question (for example, driving information might not be important to you if no one in your organization operates company vehicles or drives rental cars when traveling for the company).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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How will these checks vary based on job role?<\/strong> While consistency is definitely the goal, it\u2019s not necessarily true that you will want to run the same type of check on everyone in your organization. Different job roles \u2013 and their associated responsibilities \u2013 likely merit a different combination of background check elements. It may be advisable (and legally permissible) to check the credit history of someone who would have financial responsibilities, like an accounting manager, while it may not be necessary (and may be legally impermissible) for someone like a receptionist who doesn\u2019t have access to your financial systems.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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When will you request information pertinent to the background check?<\/strong> This may be especially important when it comes to if and when you inquire about criminal history information. Delaying the request of this information allows you to get to know the candidate\u2019s pluses and evaluate them on a level playing field before you\u2019re exposed to a potential red flag that eliminates them from the candidate pool and could be seen as potentially discriminatory. It also helps you comply in the states and municipalities where it employers are not permitted to ask about criminal histories on the initial job application (commonly known as \u201cban the box\u201d legislation).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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What criteria might disqualify a candidate?<\/strong> As you make the determination, a few things to consider include the nature and gravity of the offense, the nature of the job, and how long it has been since the crime was committed or the sentence was completed. Here\u2019s where a written policy is really important, because it allows you to individually assess each candidate against a similar test or set of criteria.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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What are the relevant laws and regulations you need to consider?<\/strong> There are federal, state, and industry-specific laws and regulations that may pertain to your background screening program. That\u2019s why it\u2019s advisable to work with your legal counsel as you navigate drafting your background check policy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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Many employers struggle with determining if they\u2019re at a stage where they really need to have a formal policy around employment background checks. The reality is that most employers, regardless of size or industry, should likely have some sort of policy in place. That\u2019s because, no matter what type of employer you are, background checks…Read More→<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"pmpro_default_level":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,7,9],"tags":[16],"class_list":["post-66","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-background-checks","category-background-verification","category-employee-background-check","tag-gallery","pmpro-has-access","post-single"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/accuscreening.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/accuscreening.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/accuscreening.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accuscreening.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accuscreening.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/accuscreening.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/accuscreening.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accuscreening.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accuscreening.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}