Better Safe than Sorry
Background checks can ensure quality hires—and reduce your liability
by Jennifer J. Salopek
As amusement parks and attractions gear up for summer, human resources departments go into a hiring frenzy. With the pressing business need to get properties fully staffed for high season, how can you ensure the safety of your guests, reduce your liability to negligent hiring lawsuits, and still hire enough seasonal workers quickly and efficiently?
Although it may sound costly and intimidating, conducting thorough background checks on prospective—and returning—employees is critical. It is also faster and less expensive than you may think but, considering the alternative, background checks are a bargain at any price. Here are some things to keep in mind.
First Steps
First, it’s important to lay the appropriate groundwork for conducting background checks. United States legislation has been trending strongly toward greater protection of individual rights and the privacy of personal information. That trend governs applicant notification and permission as well as the information you may be able to uncover, which varies from state to state. The federal law governing background checks is the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), which applies whether you are seeking credit information or not. Under FCRA regulations, job applicants must be informed of, and consent to, background checks in writing. This form must be a conspicuous, standalone document; you can’t just add boilerplate language to the bottom of your employment application. It makes sense to generate this form only for finalist candidates who have a strong likelihood of being hired.
Mulligan Family Fun Centers in Palmdale, California, conducts background checks on candidates for salaried manager positions. “Language on the application says that we reserve the right to conduct these checks,” says General Manager Kevin Altobelli. “When they receive an employment offer, we renotify them of the background check in writing and ask them to sign a liability waiver. The document also says that the employment offer is contingent upon the completion of a satisfactory background check.”
Mary Poquette, chief compliance and security officer at Verifications Inc., suggests waiting to collect Social Security numbers until that point, as well. “Employers should not collect personally identifiable information, or PII, unless they are reasonably certain they will use it,” she says. Employment applications should include name, date of birth, and residence addresses for the past seven years. These items are key to a successful background check.
What Third Parties Do
The companies that provide background-checking services are known as CRAs, or credit reporting agencies. When you outsource background checks to these third parties, they are subject to FCRA regulations as well as industry standards and best practices; part of their service is to ensure that you are following the rules, too.
“A third party conducting the background checks is advantageous. It keeps us out of the process, but the company also provides us with the necessary forms and so forth,” says Altobelli.
At minimum, a background check should include three elements, says Kellie O’Shea, certified human resources professional with Creative Services Inc.: a criminal record search, a sex offender search, and a Social Security Number trace. “The industry standard is to check the court records in every place of residence for the past seven years,” she says. “The best practice in the industry is to go directly to the court documents.” CSI does this through its vast network of trained information retrievers. “There is no government-endorsed, comprehensive national criminal check that is easily accessible online,” O’Shea notes. In other words, doing the legwork is critical.
Sex offenders are listed in a national registry as well as state by state. According to a 2006 CBS report, Mississippi officials estimate 2,000 sex offenders relocated across the country in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Many of them failed to register in their new states of residence, which is why CSAs check records in every place of residence for the previous seven years.
It is a common misconception, says Poquette, that criminal records are kept by Social Security Number (SSN). They are not; rather, they are kept by name and date of birth. Therefore, a criminal check can be conducted without a Social Security Number. However, an SSN trace is also important, says O’Shea; it can turn up previous addresses and alias names.
When Hiring Minors
Amusement parks and attractions often hire workers under the age of 18. Although the industry standard of going back seven years does not apply to these applicants, there is important information you can gather on these prospects. It is worthwhile to conduct the criminal check, says Laura Randazzo, vice president of services at Accurate Background in Lake Forest, California. Although juvenile records are sealed, the check could uncover something if the applicant was tried for a crime as an adult. Round out the information on underage applicants by requesting school records, such as transcripts or report cards, and check references carefully; perhaps call the school guidance counselor. A little creativity can help you develop a fuller picture of your potential employee.
Questionable Online Resources
A key consideration of background checks is that the results are only as good as the information sources and the people who check them. Although it may be tempting to conduct low-cost searches online, those proprietary databases are “rife with errors,” says O’Shea. Poquette agrees: “It is a common misconception that all information is available online, instantly.” Employees at firms such as Creative Services, Verifications, and Accurate Background are carefully trained to generate the necessary information while protecting an applicant’s privacy. Further, they are governed by industry standards. The average cost of a basic background search is $50.
It’s important to carefully select a provider you can trust. Poquette notes background screening is a booming business, worth $2 billion to $4 billion a year in the United States alone. Attracted by that potential and encouraged by the upward trend in background screening since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, unscrupulous firms abound. Randazzo serves as chair of the board of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS; www.napbs.com), which has established standards and best practices for its 600- plus company members. The organization recently launched an accreditation program, a six-month process in which NAPBS members prove they have the necessary policies, procedures, and employees in place to meet organizational standards (and their own claims). Look for this accreditation when seeking a third-party provider to conduct background searches. NAPBS also provides a sample request for proposals on its web site; the information it includes is instructive in what to seek in a CRA. “Look for company size and credibility. Check references from past clients,” advises Altobelli.
After Hiring Is Over
Once an applicant is hired, however, the process does not end there. Industry standards recommend conducting background checks annually, especially on seasonal employees. Randazzo notes laws are changing all the time, and some states require fingerprint checks of workers who interact with children, such as teachers and coaches. The only fingerprint database in the United States is the one maintained by the FBI; employers gain access to it through specialized “channeling agents,” but these searches can take months.
The international aspect of the business is also growing, as American companies seek background checks on foreign nationals and recent immigrants. Poquette reports Verifications can check for criminal records in more than 170 countries, territories, and dependencies, but the available information varies by country. “Not all countries will allow the checks to be done, even with the candidate’s consent,” she says.
Because criminal records are kept only by name and date of birth, there are many opportunities for records searches to turn up information on someone other than your applicant. One of the key aspects of FCRA is that, if there is anything in a background check that adversely affects the hiring decision, applicants must be informed and given the opportunity to dispute. “This is one of the most important protections provided to the consumer,” says Poquette. “Our job is not to prevent people from being hired, but to permit our clients to make the most informed hiring decisions.”
“The checks are a valuable tool that we have used to our advantage,” says Altobelli.
Jennifer J. Salopek is a freelance writer in McLean, Virginia; jjsalopek@cox.net. |
