The world of background checks is a complicated one! Hiring decisions of any employer revolve a lot around successful background checks. Employee background verification is the most stressful process in recruitment if not dealt with care. There are many parts to employee screening process and one of them is criminal record check.
A criminal record check is conducted to check if you have been charged or convicted of a crime. If a name-based criminal record check does not provide a definite way of confirming your identity, you may be asked to provide fingerprints. The use of fingerprints is the most accurate way to confirm a person's identity. They ensure that individuals cannot evade their criminal past, and protect individuals from being falsely associated with a criminal record that is not theirs.
There are many questions that come to anyone’s mind when they think of criminal record check. Let’s see the important questions.
Why is criminal record check needed?
Criminal background verification is absolutely necessary to ensure a safe workplace – free from all kinds of criminal intent. With proper criminal record check, employers can be sure that they are hiring employees with clean past. It improves the quality of candidates being hired. One can be sure that they are not letting in anyone associated with crime or litigation. It is important for the safety of business as well because you need to be sure about the safety of company’s assets in the hands of a new employee. It is also a way of ensuring the customers that their company’s accounts containing their personal and financial information will not be compromised and misused.
How to get started with criminal record check?
If you want to get started with criminal record check and you don’t have much knowledge about it, it is better to approach the employee background companies. They conduct background checks for your employees and verify their records to find anyone guilty. They conduct police verification process for employees and they have access to litigation databases and indexed criminal records. But before getting started with the process, it is important to get the written consent of the employee.
DEWII is a background verification company providing a range of verification services. You can contact them for professional background checks.
Who should it be conducted on?
Criminal record check should be conducted on every employee. Starting from the low ranking positions to top notch executives and directors, everyone should be undergoing the process of background verification. It is never too late to start verification and never exempt anyone from the process for the wellbeing of everyone associated with companies. A small mistake can leave a permanent black spot on the brand reputation of companies.
What can be checked through this verification?
A criminal record check will include the verification of following information:
· court orders, charges, warrants, peace bonds, probation and prohibition orders that are still active
· any crime that you got an absolute discharge for, unless you were sentenced more than one year ago
· any crime that you got a conditional discharge for, unless you were sentenced more than 3 years ago
What are the actions to be taken if something negative turns up?
When an employee background company gives you a negative result for a criminal record check, it is important to conduct a detailed background review of the candidate before you take hiring decision. Hiring decision is basics of hiring right candidates and a detailed review will help in taking a strong decision. It would be prudent to give the employee a chance to explain the negative finding before making hiring decision. It is easy to reject someone but make sure you are rejecting the right ones. Private companies usually have the liberty of taking independent decisions on each and every case; whereas government organizations reject the candidates within 48 hours if anything negative comes up in criminal record check.
However, things are changing are little bit because everyone deserves a second chance. People are undergoing drastic changes and redeeming their past actions after going to rehabilitation centers. So someone who have a committed a rather petty crime and undergone rehabilitation can be considered for job positions by potential employers depending on the nature of the business and if they are found eligible for the job.