How Does a Pre-Employment Screening Work?

The decision to screen potential employees

The decision to screen employees before or after employment is made by the company. More specifically, the standards for how someone will be hired, screened, or terminated is made by the CEO, or the responsibility of screening employees is assigned to someone by the CEO of the company.

There exist any number of reasons to pre-screen employees, and these are mostly having to do with being able to confirm that the person in question is who he or she claims to be. When information obtained from a social security number, college, and name do not match the address history, for example, then a company might consider inquiring more about the individual. Identity theft can be discovered by finding the missing links in a background check done thoroughly enough.

In general, companies are responsible for the actions of their employees. That, and the cost of investing in new employees, is a major motivating factor in the decision to pre-screen employees.

Criminal background checks

Criminal background checks are among the most serious of the pre-employment screening categories. Employees want to feel safe with the people that they work with. Criminal background checks are often done by third-party companies on behalf of the hiring company.

The procedure for checking someone's criminal background begins with an operator at a third-party company, referred to as a background checking company, calling the lawful court records departments. These records are accessible by providing the full name, date of birth, and social security number of the individual in question. The court records clerk will tell the background checking company whether or not the individual has ever been arrested. If a record is found, the court records clerk will tell the background check operator whether or not the record is open or closed. The operator then takes notes or requests more information.

Access to criminal records may be denied if the file on the individual has been permanently closed. This information is then written up in a report and sent to the hiring company for their consideration.

Civil background checks

As with criminal background checks, a third-party agency will contact the courts by phone. The court records clerk will inform the background checking agency of any lawsuits filed by, or filed against, the individual in question. One of the purposes of running a civil background check is to determine if the person in question has ever tried to sue their employer. As well, there are some people who try to make a living by suing other people. Companies cannot afford to hire someone who may not have good intentions.

Residency or address history

The purpose of checking someone's address history is done for much the same reason as screening past employment. The company considering hiring a new employee is inclined to know if a candidate has stability.

Resources

• Background checking experts