What is the most common background check?
Pre-employment background checks are the most common. As an employer, you want to ensure a safe hire every time to protect your company’s reputation and workplace safety. Employees are often screened during the hiring process with a background check according to the company’s policy. Depending on the employer and the industry, background checks can vary greatly.
What kinds of criminal records show up on a background check?
Depending on the scope of the search allowable by law or requested by an employer, records of convictions of a felony or misdemeanor are usually reported on a background check. Non-convictions may be reported in some cases depending on the date of the charge or whether a case has been dismissed. Federal and state law will determine how far back criminal records can be reported.
A felony is typically defined as a crime punishable by a term of imprisonment of not less than one year or by the death penalty. Felonies may include crimes such as arson, assault, battery, fraud, homicide, kidnapping, rape, robbery, sex crimes, and terrorism.
Misdemeanors are often less serious crimes and are generally punishable by less than 12 months in jail. Community service, probation, fines, and imprisonment for less than a year are commonly issued punishments for misdemeanors. Obviously, each state may vary as to what is classified as a misdemeanor or felony.
If states overturn previous marijuana convictions, how does it impact background checks?
With the legalization of marijuana across many states, cities such as San Francisco have implemented conviction expunging policies (Proposition 64) which remove misdemeanors and non-violent charges related to marijuana. Policies like these aim to get previous convictions reduced or reclassified to lesser offenses, with some convictions being dismissed altogether. This means that charges that are expunged will not appear on background checks. Employers need to implement a comprehensive background check process that will navigate individual state and city regulations. When employers use cheaper instant background checks, information can be incorrect or outdated, which could lead to potential lawsuits or liability in the workplace.
In addition, employers should consider services, such as social security number validity, criminal history for federal, county, and state, employment verification, etc., to provide the most accurate and up-to-date information.
What questions do they ask on a background check?
Since each background check can be customized to meet the needs of the employer, job position, and state laws, questions can vary according to what is included in the check. For example, if the employer chose to include an education verification, then the candidate would be asked questions regarding what school they attended, the years they attended, when they graduated, what degrees (if any) they acquired, etc.