Should you use Background Checks?

By: Kip Goldhammer Click author's name for more of his/her articles

Background check is a very important and essential element of making yourself comfortable with people you might be looking forward to having a relationship with as an employee, business partnership or even personal. A background check can be diverse in its nature, from a simple check to a due diligence investigation, however, most background checks involve the following:

· Education Verification
· Employment Verification
· Criminal record search
· Credit check
· Driving record check

The above mentioned aspects are most common in an employment screening process. However a more complicated process of background check that involves a due diligence investigation can bring in various other aspects that can include multi-jurisdictional civil searches, interviews with family, friends or neighbors.

Need for a background check

The reasons to conduct background checks are numerous. Many companied today undertake this procedure to make sure that their prospective employees do not have a criminal record, especially when the job may involve handling large amounts of cash or involves close working with customers. Let us imagine a situation where a background check has not been conducted and an employee has been hired in a customer service position. If the employee has previous record of violence, the company can be looking down the barrel of a negligent hiring suit and heavy liability.

Another example can be where a company hires a tax attorney, who is on the verge of bankruptcy and deep in debt. Despite all educational credentials, the background check does have significance when it comes to employment. Although these background check reports are taken on a case to case basis and have relevance only to the employment vacancy and candidature.

The above examples will indicate the existence of ample reasoning behind conducting background checks. The reasons are often compelling and cannot be overlooked.

Requirements to conduct a background check

Background checks are bound by a plethora of laws and guidelines which need to be followed. The correctness of a background check is of paramount importance since a company may be making a decision on another person's career opportunity. Most of these rules are set in FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act). The FCRA is a set of rules and standards developed by the government to ensure that all information used while conducting a background check is updated and accurate.

Another part of Background check has been recently enacted, known as the DPPA or the Drivers Privacy Protection Act. This is a part of the federal law which regulates the flow of information from the DMV records.