As an employer, the success of your business can boil down to hiring the right employees for your company. However, mitigating risks and liability doesn’t just involve conducting background checks on potential employees. The process of conducting background checks itself can also bring risk depending on how closely an employer follows the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) guidelines and regulations.

Increase in Violation Claims Under the FCRA

There has been an increase in claims under the FCRA by unsuccessful applicants for employment for violations arising out of background checks conducted by third party background check providers. If the claims are successful, claimants can recover actual damages, statutory damages, attorneys’ fees, and costs from an employer who violates FCRA. In translation, employers could be held financially responsible for improperly conducted background checks or for violating applicants’ rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. This is why it is so important for employers to be understand what they are responsible for and the documents and information needed to conduct employment background checks.

Tips for Employers to Maintain FCRA Compliance

It is important for employers to know that they may only supply the information required by statute and nothing more to an applicant or employee to obtain valid consent to conduct a background check through a third party credit reporting agency. Employers must also provide timely pre-adverse action and post-adverse action notices to the applicant or employee in connection with any adverse action that may be taken (pre-adverse) or will be taken (post-adverse) as a result of information contained in the report provided by the third party credit reporting agency.

Employers should review and make sure to have the following documents, as well as have the proper documents signed by the applicant prior to any background check is conducted:

(The following Resources Can Be Found Here)

• Background Check Authorization and Disclosure Forms
• Pre and Post-Adverse action notices and procedures
• Copies of any State Specific legislation regarding background checks

By making sure employers have these documents, it will be easier for companies to defend against claims of FCRA violations and more importantly, make sure to remain FCRA compliant throughout the background check process as to avoid any violation claims in the first place.

At Accredited Background Checks, Inc. we make sure to provide every employer with the knowledge and tool necessary to maintain compliance in accordance with FCRA and state regulations. If you have any questions about conducting a background check or need to start an employment background check, feel free to contact us online or call at (800)441-2728.

In today’s world of background checks, drug tests and all kinds of verifications for employment it can be difficult to figure out where the line is drawn. It is important for employers to know who they are hiring but we are all entitled to a little privacy. We are debunking one of the greatest employer myths today and please leave any additional questions about employer checks in the comments below and we will be sure to answer it in a future blog post!

“Credit Score” vs. “Credit Check”

It is very important to know the difference between your Credit Score and Credit Check before questioning what an employer can check because it may not be as bad as you think. Remember that your credit score is a three digit number composed of all of the contents on your credit report, which basically details all of your borrowing history from consumer credit cards, to car loans and school loans.

Your potential employer can pull a credit report BUT the report they request is not the same one lenders and credit card issuers see. Credit bureaus have a separate product available specifically for this purpose. There are several things excluded from this report including your birth date. Also, it is worth noting that an employer cannot check your credit report without your approval first. You must sign and consent for them to check your report. This is also a usual stipulation for pre employment verifications so if it is not run past you. the credit screening cannot be performed.

Employers can request credit report screenings during a background check for an additional fee through Accredited Background Checks. Email us or place an express order at AccreditedBackgroundChecks.com and be on your way to not only hiring better candidates if you are an employer but protecting yourself as an employee.

Seattle Bans Landlords from Conducting Criminal Background Checks

In a recent move that started with good intentions but with controversial effects, a new Seattle law has banned landlords from conducting criminal background checks. In the new city ordinance CB 119015, also known as the Fair Chance Housing Ordinance, prohibits landlords from excluding prospective tenants because of their criminal history, from requiring or conducting criminal background checks of those prospective tenants, or from charging them higher rents and security deposits.

Good Intentions

The intent was to lower barriers to housing for people with criminal histories, who now are often rejected by landlords. The new law passed with 8-0 votes in the city council.

“Regardless of my criminal history, I deserve housing,” Ballard resident Zachary Tutwiler, a vendor with the Real Change Homeless Empowerment Project, told the council during a public-comment period before the vote. “We all deserve housing.”

The Seattle Office of Civil Rights will develop rules for and enforce the ordinance and will launch an anti-bias training program for landlords. The office regularly conducts testing to check whether landlords are engaging in discrimination.

Rental applicants will be able to file complaints with the office, which will investigate. For a first-time violation, the maximum penalty will be $11,000; for a second violation in five years, $27,500; and for a third violation in seven years, $55,000.

Adverse Effects

However, not everyone is happy with this controversial law. Many landlords are saying that the new law prohibits them from making decisions that will make tenants and the community safer. Under this ordinance a landlord can take virtually no criminal offense into account when choosing whether to rent to someone, no matter how serious or how recent the violation is. The only exception is for registered sex offenders. This makes the business of renting out apartment units more risky, and landlords will respond to that risk by toughening the screening requirements they are still allowed to use.

The following are some other adverse effects the new Seattle law may have:

• Increased rental requirements such as credit scores
• Landlords and property owners planning to sell their properties due to the new risk involved
• Fines for not attending mandated “re-education” & anti-bias training can lead to increased pricing on the consumers
• Putting communities at risk of potentially increased crime rates

Seattle also currently has one of the highest priced rental markets in the country as well as a worsening homelessness problem. Many are saying that perhaps making the rental business more risky and therefore more expensive, will only add to the current problems.

Accredited Background Checks takes your background screening needs seriously. We ensure that each and every background check, whether for tenants, employees or for an individual, is guaranteed to meet the highest security standards within the industry. We provide the most accurate background checks nationwide. From federal criminal history searches to prior employment verification, each background check conducted has the most up-to-date information so that you, the employer or property orwner, can make the best decisions for your company and tenants.

Background checks are designed to validate candidate resume’s and protect employers from hiring risks. The process of finding the right candidate for the job position can be a daunting task. What’s worse is when time and resources are wasted due to candidates falling off because of a poor experience during the background screening process. According to a recent CareerBuilder survey, more than a third of employers (38%) have lost candidates because they had a negative background check experience. Also, less than half of HR managers who conduct employment background checks have tested their background check experience themselves. For the employers that do test their screening process, 1 in 6 employers have found their screening process to be less than ideal and rated their process as fair or poor.

Many employers are aware that background checks are an important tool in the business process but even fewer take the time to evaluate the candidate experience, ease of use, the simplicity and how it impacts the hiring process. The unfortunate truth is that the longer the background check process, the higher the risk of losing a quality candidate to another employer. This is why it’s important for employers to be testing their application and background check process and make sure that job candidates are having a positive experience.

How the Background Check Process Reflects on the Business

The truth is, the candidate hiring process isn’t just the company reviewing the candidate. The candidates themselves are also forming an opinion about the company. That’s why a negative screening process, whether it’s the application, interviews or background check process, can determine how the candidate feels about working at a company. If the opinion of the company is a negative one, then the chances of the potential employee seeking another employer are higher.

56% of candidates think less of a company if they have a poor experience during the hiring process. 8% of those who have accepted a job offer but then withdrew their application did so because a background check took too long or they had a negative experience with a background check or drug screen. Accredited Background Checks, Inc. goes to great lengths to ensure the background check process is conducted quickly, confidentially and professionally to ensure employers are maintaining a positive experience for their candidates and employees.

How to optimize the Background Check Process for Candidates

A poorly conducted background check is one of the most common reasons employers have lost candidates who have accepted job offers. 21% of employers who lost candidates said it was because the background check process took too long and 21% said it was because the candidate had a poor experience. Fortunately, here at Accredited Background Checks, we have several suggestions employers could use to optimize their background check process.

1. Choose your Background Check providers carefully

Before choosing a background check provider, employers need to make sure that the provider keeps up with compliance standards. We recommend checking to see if the background check provider is accredited through the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS). You can also make sure that your provider gives timely communication and support relating to all of your background screening needs. Accredited Background Checks, Inc. is proudly NAPBS certified and always has client specialists ready to provide the best customer support.

2. Test the background check process turnaround times

As we mentioned before, the longer the wait times for a background check to be completed, the higher the risk of losing a candidate to another employer. We recommend that employers pay careful attention to how long it takes for their background check provider to produce a report. Typically, and depending on the type of background check requested, reports should generally take no more than five business days. However, many background checks on average take 24-72 hours to complete.

If you have questions regarding the length of time it takes for a particular background check request, you can give us a call or view background search descriptions to get a general idea of background report turnaround times.

3. Test candidate experiences

Employers can test the background check process themselves to get a good idea of how easy and straightforward their process is. We also recommend that companies conduct a brief survey or simply asking candidates for their opinion about the hiring process. Companies can utilize the insights received and implement changes where they can.

4. Have Accurate Candidate Information for reports

One of the best ways for employers to have a positive screening process is to simply have the most accurate candidate information as possible. Employers need to make sure to fully read the requirements for each background check report so that they can request that information from the candidate before a request is made. Having all the necessary information before submitting a request to Accredited Background Checks will allow the background screening to be performed immediately without any delays.

How Accredited Background Checks, Inc. can help

At Accredited Background Checks, we pride ourselves in providing easy-to-use, safe, secure and confidential background screening solutions whether you’re a small trucking company in rural America or a large global enterprise. Accredited Background Checks helps solve background screening problems and helps your organization to work smarter. We provide a background check process that will ensure a smooth and efficient screening process for all of your potential candidates and employees.

Our focus is to make sure every company makes better hiring decisions to prevent potential liabilities and risk. Our express accounts allow employers to quickly enter candidate information and request common background checks in order to provide the best candidate experience possible. At Accredited Background Checks, every client receives the best customer support in the industry.

Client Resources

We understand that there are many laws on the Federal level and State level in regards to background checks. As an NAPBS Accredited employment background check provider, Accredited Background Checks remains FCRA Compliant so that clients can rely on quality, safe and secure background screenings. We also like to make sure every client has as many resources as possible to maintain compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Federal and State law. Some of the resources that we provide are also to make sure clients have the necessary information for any type of background report request. As we mentioned before, having the right information from the candidate for the report being requested can help expedite turnaround times.

The resources that Accredited Background Checks provides such as candidate questionnaires, disclosure & authorization forms, or motor vehicle records release forms can be found on our Background Check Resources page.

If you’re an employer seeking employment background checks, or to provide a better screening process experience for employees and candidates, please give Accredited Background Checks, Inc. a call at (800)-441-2728 or simply send us a message online. One of our client support specialists will be happy to answer your background check needs.

You can also get started today by signing up for our Premier Employer Account or for faster ordering, setup an Express Account today.

As an employer, it is important to be aware of the history of the employees you hire and the type of work environment that they will be working in. Knowing the backgrounds of your employees and having a proper screening process in place could help prevent your business from potential losses and liabilities. Some business owners may be reluctant to have an employment background check system but having one could mean life or death for a company. Below, you will find some of the many reasons, or statistics, to why ordering an Employment Background Screening from Accredited Background Checks is not only a good idea, but it could save your company.

Did You Know?…

In the United States, there are over 2 million crimes that occur in the workplace annually and 30% of business failures are due to poor hiring practices according to the Department of Commerce. These staggering figures alone should be enough to encourage employers, especially small and new companies, to conduct at least a basic criminal background check on all potential employees.

Workplace Safety

According to the United States Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration, workplace violence costs employers $36 billion each year and the average award in a workplace violence lawsuit exceeds $1 million per case according to the Workplace Violence Research Institute. Workplace violence, including its most extreme form, homicide, is a very serious issue. It is imperative that businesses properly vet potential employees to ensure that they are hiring candidates that are least likely to commit violence in the workplace. At Accredited Background Checks, we care deeply about maintaining a healthy and safe workplace which is why we recommend employers to conduct multiple background screenings. We have multiple background check packages to choose from to ensure employers have as much information to make the best decisions possible.

Employee Fraud & Theft

Theft in the workplace is one of the main concerns companies have. Workplace theft tops out at more than $120 billion annually with 95% of all companies being victims of theft. Unfortunately, only 10% of these employers will ever discover that they were victims of employee theft. Again, having a proper vetting system in place through Accredited Background Checks will give you the tools to hire the most qualified and trustworthy candidates.

Job Application Claims

Unfortunately for business owners, job candidates tend to minimize their criminal history when applying for a position or leave it off their application all together. The reason for this may be because applicants feel comfortable misrepresenting this information because employers will not follow through on conducting a criminal background search anyway. This is why we suggest to every employer, no matter what industry, to conduct the most basic background search in the form of a criminal background check.

Unemployment rates coupled with competitive job markets for what jobs that are available has led to a rise in misrepresented information on job applications and resumes. Job seekers who don’t have a degree or special skills are inventing them out of desperation due to unemployment. About 40% of information on a resume is misrepresented with 67% of resume’s and applications in the U.S. contain false information. The consequences of false information on applications and resume’s tend to affect the employer because candidates who misrepresent information on applications, tend to misrepresent issues on the job. It is said that resume fraud costs employers over $600 billion annually.

What Does This All Mean?

If you’re an employer, taking the previous information and statistics into account should be step number one. You must consider the costs to your business and decide whether you want to become a victim of these statistics or take steps and precautions to ensure you’re hiring the right candidates for your organization. Instituting a background screening program within your hiring process will no doubt save your company from unnecessary losses and liability. When you order an employment background check from Accredited Background Checks, you are receiving the most accurate reporting available as well as the keys to a successful business.

For more information, contact us online or give us a call for your background check needs at (800)-441-2728.