This is a three part article discussing the topic of conducting better background checks. In each part, we will cover one of three separate concepts that together are the ingredients to a better background check. However, alone neither of the three will result in a better background check because the result will not fully meet your needs as an employer. When these three concepts are brought together, the result will be a better background check that you can depend on and use to make the best hiring decision adding value to your company
Part One: Accuracy
Accuracy is a significant topic when it comes to background checks. You may think, “well that is kind of a “duh’ statement,” but accuracy goes beyond what you may think it is. Accuracy is specifically stated within the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the primary federal legislation that governs background checks. It isn’t just the term accuracy that is referenced in the FCRA, however. The statement that describes the standard for accuracy that all background screeners are measured against is “maximum possible accuracy.” So, what does this mean exactly? That question has been at the forefront of the industry since the statement was published. This is such a significant aspect of background screening that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) – the two federal regulatory agencies of the FCRA – held an open workshop on the topic of Accuracy on December 10, 2019. A few of the questions poised to the four panel of industry experts are below:
- How do background screening CRAs address accuracy in light of the limited personal identifying information included in public records?
- Can new technologies and data management practices be used to improve accuracy?
- How do consumers learn about inaccuracies on their consumer reports and navigate the current dispute process?
These are some tough questions that even the four separate panels of experts had difficulty answering. However, the one consistent message among each of the panelists was that accuracy is a critical topic when it comes to background screening.
So ask yourself – “What does accuracy in a background check report mean to you and how critical is accuracy to you, the employer, who will use the report? Any background screening company worthy of doing business with you knows that a quality background check means an accurate background check. This is not only required by the FCRA, but a common expectation among employers who are using background check reports to make hiring decisions. Inaccurate reports where information is not correct may result in the employer making a hiring decision that is contrary to established company policy. Imagine that you are responsible to hire nursing staff for an assisted living center and the facility has a policy that any applicant with a record of theft may not be hired. You make a decision based on a background screening report that is not accurate and hire an applicant who does have a criminal conviction for theft, but you are not aware of this record because the background check report is not accurate. The same can happen when an applicant’s background check report has an incorrect record of a criminal conviction for theft that precludes you from hiring the individual. In one case, an inaccurate report resulted in you hiring someone with a conviction and, in another, an inaccurate report resulted in you not hiring an otherwise qualified applicant who did meet your organization’s requirements.
Are you willing to trade something for accuracy? The FCRA mandates that background screening companies achieve “maximum possible accuracy.” What does this level of accuracy mean to you – or – Is this level of accuracy sufficient for you? Are you trading accuracy to get something else and what is that? When we talk with companies about using the services of VBOverified, we find out that the background screening company currently being used may not be achieving the level of accuracy the employer expects. You as the employer rely on your background screening partner to meet these expectations, but you may be unknowingly trading your accuracy expectations for something else and not even realize this. One of these trades may be the cost of the background screening report and another may be the timeliness of the report. The background check report that you currently use may be at a low cost and/or may use criminal database results so the report is available at a low cost and with a quick turnaround, but the report that you are using to base your hiring decisions may not meet your expectations for accuracy. This may also result in your company not complying with the “maximum possible accuracy” requirement of the FCRA. We will discuss these topics in the next chapters of this topic.