How To Do Background Check On Your Employee?

In any organization, an employment background check is always vital. It helps you as an employer to learn about the people that will be working in your organization. An employee background check allows you to understand and even be close to your employees. It helps you to be sure that you have the right person for the job intended. The challenge comes when you need to do a background check on your employee. With the internet, you can have access to a lot of information that link to your employee. So how do you perform a background check on your employee?

• Be rational
As you are performing the background check, you will need to be as reasonable as possible. Keep in mind that the person you are about to hire is just a human being that could make mistakes. You must keep the investigation reasonable enough and ensure that you are not too strict on them. The background check should be carried out in professionalism. You can run a check on the credit report, or follow up the references of the employee that you want to hire. That is a good thing, and it is also very much reasonable. However, it is unreasonable to interview the neighbours, gathering the court records, or finding out about the physical addresses. When you dig deep into these things, you might not get the perfect results.

• Get the consent of the applicant
Even though you have the right to know about the employee that you intend to hire, you still have to request for their consent. You must get the consent of the applicant before you dig into their personal and sensitive matters. Getting the consent of the employee helps you to avoid getting into trouble. The employee could sue you for the abuse of privacy, which you might be liable to it. Such information like credit reports, tends to be sensitive. That is why you need to request for the consent of the employee before you can start investigating. Ideally, ensure that you get the consent in writing to be safe enough. You can easily get the applicants consent by asking for their consent when they are applying for the job.

• Make it business-oriented
As you are carrying out the background check on your employee, you must remember that it is all about finding a suitable candidate. That is why it is advised to keep it professional. The background check that you conduct must be related to the type of work that the candidate is applying. For instance, if you are in search of a security guard, you will focus your search on the criminal background of the applicant. You will need a person that is clean of any criminal record. A once-a-thief candidate may not be suitable and fit to become a perfect security guard. In case you are in search of a partial janitor, digging deep into their criminal records and other details might not be as appropriate as such. Always ensure that you link your search to the job that you are offering the potential candidate, lest you get sued.

The Top Records To Consider
During the background check on your employee, there are some records that you could focus on. The records will help you understand the candidate. These records will also help to show you who the employee is and their capabilities. As the saying goes, once a thief, always a thief, so you will need to focus on some records as you are carrying out the background check on the candidate. As you carry out the background, always remember to be relevant and reasonable. Here are the records to keep in mind and focus on mostly;
• Credit records. This will be relevant if the position is related to finances.
• Social number security number.
• Drug test. This is relevant in almost every department in the organization.
• Court records are also appropriate in most of the departments.
• Past employers help you to know if the candidate is suitable for the position.
• Sex offender lists are relevant if the candidate will be involved with offended with people that they abused sexually, especially female victims.
• Character references help to ensure that the candidate will work well with other employees.
• State licensing records are also relevant.
• Personal references are also records to consider.
• Property ownership records can also be relevant.
If the records are personal, always ensure that you get the consent of the applicant before you start the check.

Records That Might Not Be Relevant
Though some records are a must-have in a background check on employees, there are some that might not be as relevant as such. Here is a look at the records that you might not need to consider as you carry out the background check.
• Criminal records. The access of the criminal record will vary in the area or locality. Ensure that you have the right to carry out the criminal record check on the employee. Some employees might have done a minor crime many years back, and they are already over it. So when you dig into it, it might not give you the best results. That is why criminal records are not very much recommended.
• Worker’s compensation. This record is also not relevant. In case the employee files for the worker’s compensation claim, it will become a public record. That means that the employer will only have access to it when an applicant cannot perform the assigned work due to an injury.
• Bankruptcy. An employer has no right to discriminate the applicant due to a bankrupt record. Even when the employee applies for bankruptcy, the employer cannot discriminate them for it.
• Medical records. The employee is and should not be judged with regard to their medical record. Their qualifications are only based on the professionalism, but not the medical history. The employee can go through a medical examination, but they should not be judged according to the results.

Even the educational records might not be as relevant as such in some cases. As long as the candidate is qualified for the job and have other records that impress, then they should be hired. It is all about finding a suitable candidate that will help you well in your business.