Pre-employment screening is a well-established practice utilized by nearly 80% of corporate America. For some, employment screening is merely a “check-the-box” activity designed to demonstrate a basic level of due diligence. For others, screening is a strategic activity undertaken to increase brand value, reduce risks, and build a safer and more productive workforce. For a small business just beginning a screening program or for the experienced HR manager looking to maximize your screening investment, there are 4 components to consider including.

1. Criminal Records Checks:

When most people think of a background check they think of a criminal records check. Commonly used, criminal records are verified by companies hiring for safety-sensitive roles or in situations where an individual will have unsupervised access to people and/or property. There are many different types of criminal record checks, including:

• National Criminal Records
• State Criminal Records 
• Local Criminal Records
• Federal Criminal Records
• Sex Offender Registry
• International Criminal Records

The variety of record types and sources make criminal records somewhat challenging to order and difficult to understand. While knowing the criminal background of a prospective employee can be valuable information, before you order criminal records it’s important to know what you’re getting and whether the information is likely to be accurate and up to date. (Those cheap database searches you find online are unlikely to pass the sniff test in court so beware using them to make hiring decisions.)

Importantly, as criminal records screening has come under fire by the EEOC and others, employers should have a solid policy in place for avoiding discrimination with criminal records checks.

2. Employment Verifications:
According to research by the Society for Human Resource Managers, 53% of people lie or misrepresent themselves on their résumé. If there’s a chance that a claim on a resume could prove harmful if discovered inaccurate, it’s worth verifying ahead of time. What’s more, verifying employment claims is a good measure of an employee’s level of honesty; something worth discovery before you hire.

The most common employment verifications include:

• Employment Reference Checks
• I-9 Right to Work Verification
• Education Verification
• Professional License Verification
• Employment Verification Services
• Supervisor Interviews

3. Personal Searches:
A somewhat catch-all category of pre-employment screening, personal searches specifically relate to screening of an individual’s behavior and activities outside of what you might find in a criminal check or drug screening.

Civil court records, credit reports, DMV driving records, media searches, and social security number locators can offer insightful information about the character, reputation, trustworthiness, and personal responsibility of a potential employee. If your current screening program fails to deliver the insight you hope for, consider adding personal searches.

4. Drug Screening:
One of the best ways to protect your company from employee substance abuse is a through drug screening program.

Depending on the job requirements, your legal obligations, and your company’s policies, you may choose to implement either or both a pre-employment drug screening program and a random drug testing program. Companies with drug testing in place report a wide range of benefits, including:

• Reduced absenteeism, accidents, downtime, turnover, and theft;
• Increased productivity and overall improved morale;
• Decreased premium costs for certain insurances, such as worker’s comp;
• And more.

In addition, many find that simply having a drug screening policy in place deters individuals who have substance abuse problems from applying in the first place.

5. Program Management
For the large corporate screening program and even for small companies with comprehensive screening needs, program management is a component worth considering. Program management services offered by your employment screening provider will ease the burden of creating, managing, and implementing compliant and effective pre-employment screening programs.

For example, FCRA compliance fulfillment offers significant relief to HR departments when it comes to handling pre-adverse and adverse action notifications. In other words, if and when you decline someone employment on the basis of their background check results you have obligations under FCRA. Fulfillment services take care of this obligation for you.

Other program management services include policy development, risk management consulting, and other services to improve your efforts.

6. Technology

Technology exists across all aspects of our personal and business lives to make traditionally time-consuming or manual processes more effective and efficient. Same goes for employment screening. Think about it: When you have an applicant ready to hire, you want to get their background check done quickly and effectively so you can move forward with confidence. When building your program, consider the technology capabilities of your background screening company. Look for a company that integrates with any existing HR applicant tracking software you run. Look for intuitive self-serve web-based access to ordering and retrieving your background checks. And make sure the technology suits your specific needs.

A comprehensive background check averages $50 per employee and a basic check starts at around $25 so screening is quite affordable and the ROI is significant when you have the right program in place. The 4 components described above, in combination, can give you what you need to make better hiring decisions, boost your brand equity, and improve workplace safety and productivity.

Need help? Turn to the guildance of a qualified NAPBS background screening company.