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 and changes her name 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.