4 Important Truths Employers Should Know About Background Checks

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4 Important Truths Employers Should Know About
Background Checks
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• Investing in background checks for potential
  employees can often be worthwhile, but without
  really knowing what youre looking for and
  understanding what type of action youre
  permitted to take based upon the findings,
  theyre not always as helpful as they might seem.
• Firstly, lets look at what an employee
  background check actually is

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• What is an employee background check?
• A legal process verifying the personal, criminal,
  professional and credit history of an applicant,
  employee background checks are a standard
  procedure for many companies, and are typically
  carried about by human resources. Helping to
  reassure a company that they arent putting
  themselves, their business, or their customers at
  risk, background checks are also extremely useful
  when making international hires.

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• What are the different types of background checks
  available in the U.S.?
• Listed below are some of the most common forms of
  background checks carried out by U.S. employers
• U.S. criminal record
• Employment history
• Medical screening
• Credit history
• Education history
• Social media check

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• Before asking your HR department to start
  conducting background checks on applicants for
  roles within your company, here are 4 important
  truths you should be aware of
• 1. All applicants must be treated equally
• If an applicant feels as if they were in any way
  not treated fairly during the background check
  process, your company would be held liable by
  law. As such, you should design a process that is
  exactly the same for every candidate,
  irrespective of the position theyre applying
  for.

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• 2. Internet searches do not constitute a legal
  background check
• It can be tempting for employers to avoid the
  formal background check process by simply going
  online and checking the social media accounts or
  internet backgrounds of a candidate, but hiring
  decisions based upon your findings could land you
  in deep water. Lets say you Google an applicant
  and find that they were arrested at some point,
  but if they were never convicted of a crime, any
  actions you take as an employer based upon your
  findings, could mean that the candidate has legal
  recourse.

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• 3. Applicants must be informed of the results
• Information found when running a credit check is
  protected under something known as the Fair
  Credit Reporting Act, and a copy of the report
  must be provided. When it comes to background
  checks, companies are not permitted to carry one
  out without first gaining the signed and written
  consent of the applicant, and if the individual
  isnt hired based on the information found in the
  check, they must let them know. They must also
  provide them with the details of the company they
  used to carry out the check.

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• 4. Centralized information doesnt exist
• Inconsistency is one of the biggest problems with
  background checks, and with no national,
  centralized store for this kind of information,
  companies conducting such checks who claim to
  offer complete results, are not being entirely
  truthful. For starters, different states have
  different laws related to what can be reported
  and to whom, making the process complicated and
  not providing enough data to be able to make an
  informed decision.

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• The best way of ensuring that background checks
  are carried out within the confines of the law,
  is to hire an HR and payroll provider to carry
  them out on your behalf. With their up-to-date
  knowledge of the law surrounding hiring and
  onboarding, theyll keep you compliant at all
  times, while helping you select the right
  candidates, for the right roles.

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• Apollo Payroll is dedicated to delivering expert
  advice, responsive service, and highly accurate
  payroll processing and reporting to ensure the
  success and growth of the business that we serve.
  Our services include comprehensive payroll
  services in Homestead and other cities in
  Miami-Dade County, employee background check and
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