Do:
- Application: Ensure your employment application does not contain personal data. An application is simply when a person shows interest in your company and a position. Social Security numbers & dates of birth are not relevant to the application interest; the job description; hours obligated to work, tools to get the job done etc.
- Interview: If you include a “Job description”, this will keep you on task when moving the interview forward.
- Release: Once the employer has had an initial interview, has described the job requirements, made an offer to hire based on passing some needs. At this point, employers need a release to obtian permission from the applicant to check their abilities or history. Examples are: A physical exam, a drug test, criminal history, drivers operating record, references, education, etc.
- Photo Identification: Always make a copy of the applicant government photo identification. Either a state driver’s license, a government passport or state majority Identification card works fine. This is a “Reasonable Practice” by the employer. If the applicant is fraudulent at least you went by the same standards as the government.
- Preparation: As an employer, you have the right to ask about the following needs: Education, Job Experience, Volunteering experiences, be specific as necessary to ensure the job will be described even to the simplest person.
- Run a background check profile based on the position: Any company position has exposures and risks. Base your background check on the exposure not the applicant. This will keep your discrimination claims to a minimum. A file clerk does not drive a fork lift and a window cleaner does not need access to the company checkbook.
Do not:
- Smarter: Do not assume the applicant is not as smart as you. Applicants look for technicalities to bring a suit or otherwise extract money from you for wrong doing.
- Personal: Do not ask personal questions outside of the scope of the position. If you ask about “Who picks you up after work late” it could be leading down a personal path. If you ask if you have transportation to work some late nights, that is reasonable.
- Names: Some US Citizens will have 4 names like the following example: Mary Elizabeth Rodriguez Nunez. BestHire offers our primary report to determine what different names your applicant has used in their adult life. A person could have been convicted under the name of: Mary E. R. Nunez . Three years later she gets married andchanges hername to Mary E. Rivera. The employer does not have the capacity to determine such great detail on each and every applicant.
- Efficient vs. Effective: Don’t buy cheap background checks. Buy background checks that you understand. Once you understand them, you will find they are worth your while.