Questions to Ask a Background Screening Partner 13 Dec 2017

No matter if you own a small business, manage a division, or work for a nonprofit, partnering with a third party always involves a high degree of trust. Whether it’s outsourcing your IT security or working with an industrial cleaner to keep your uniforms perfectly clean, you’re putting some aspect of your business in the hands of another party.

And it isn’t always easy to do that, especially when it comes to something as important as helping you make a hiring decision.

We here at Trusted Employees know just how much trust is involved when you contract with a background screening company. Not only are you trusting them to verify credentials, education, experience, and other factors that are crucial to properly performing their job, but you’re trusting them to screen out criminals, people with a violent past who could harm your employees and leave you in deep legal water.

Because this is such a crucial relationship, we thought we would take the time to look at six of the most important questions you should ask a potential background screening partner.

1. Can you explain your full line of services?

Even if you are only interested in a few background screening products, such as a criminal background check and a drug screening for employment, you still want to partner with a company that offers a full range of background screening products. After all, your priorities may change in the future. It only takes one bad experience with hiring someone who embellished their resume or lied about past work experience for companies to make education and employment screenings a mandatory part of the hiring process. In such cases, making the change will be much easier if you already have a trusted partner.

2. How long will it take?

Waiting for the results of a background check can be frustrating for you and discouraging to a prospective employee. You want the results quickly, but don’t want to sacrifice accuracy. Good, trustworthy background screening companies should be able to get you accurate results in one to three business days. Beware of companies who guarantee results in a day! Because there are so many variables involved, such guarantees are highly suspect.

3. How can you guarantee the accuracy of your reports?

There is no way around it: You need the background checks to be accurate. Otherwise, what’s the point of conducting a pre-employment screening? Anyone can conduct a DIY background check online and get a lot of questionable data back in return. It takes experience, technology, and an exhaustive set of proven processes to get accurate information. Look for how many databases they draw from to cross-check information, how frequently they update their technology, and the number of years they have been in the business.

4. How do you ensure that everything you do is legal and complies with state and local laws?

Performing an employee background screening check involves a lot of legal ins and outs, and it’s essential that you partner with an agency that is up to speed with all the legal complexities surrounding the screening process. Be sure there is someone on staff who is familiar with the specific Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) guidelines and can answer any questions about what can and cannot be included in a background check, which will ensure you are complying with the law.

5. What kind of certifications do you have?

Just like you want to be sure you are hiring employees that have the right certification and credentials, you also want to be sure the agency you’re partnering with is trustworthy and held to certain standards. The easiest way to do this is to ask if they are a member of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS).

6. How can you guarantee the security of a candidate’s sensitive information?

Protecting personal information is a big deal in this day and age. With numerous security breaches making the headlines, people are understandably concerned about how a background screening agency handles highly personal information. Therefore, you want to be sure that a candidate’s information is only seen by those who need to know the information and will report the data to you. Ask them about the digital and physical safeguards in place to protect this information. For a more extensive statement on privacy protection, see our in-depth statement about security.

At Trusted Employees, we invite prospective candidates to bring a lot of questions to the table. We believe that the more confidence an organization has in our ability to deliver accurate and timely reports, the stronger it will make our relationship and the better we can serve you.