When designing a background check program for your company it’s beneficial to understand the various components involved. Our previous posts have covered a lot of these topics such as: building a quality program, determining role-specific requirements and being aware of potential speed bumps in the screening process. Now we’ll go over the most important part; selecting your background check provider.

FCRA Compliant – Background check vendors are also known as CRAs (credit reporting agencies) under U.S. federal law. As such, they are required to be FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) compliant. The FCRA can be a little confusing because people think it’s only about credit; however it is more so about employment and screening guidelines regarding your employees. It’s about the accuracy of the information you’re being provided by any reporting agency. Consequently, selecting a vendor that is FCRA compliant is absolutely imperative.

Legal Documents – It’s surprising, but many vendors don’t provide their clients with the necessary paperwork to ensure they’re compliant. Make sure your background screener provides you with an overview of the FCRA regulations as well as the documentation required by law.

Customization – Many pre-employment screeners will prompt you to select a “package” that may include unnecessary searches/verifications. When running a background check, more data isn’t better (or helpful), but the right data is.  Everyone’s hiring situation is different, so make sure your provider is customizing your background checks. You should only have to pay for the services that you need. However, be wary of low price package deals as they may be flawed, or rely on limited and outdated databases. A quality vendor prioritizes your needs, not theirs.

Customer Service – Your background check provider should feel like a partner, not just a vendor. Their business approach should be customer-driven, not process-driven to reduce cost. When you need assistance you should be able to get it. Asking for help should never, ever, feel impersonal. If the person on the other end of the phone is on the other side of the world, reading a script or just checking boxes off a list, you should re-evaluate your partnership.

These are some of the things to look for when selecting a background check provider. If you’d like to consider a more personalized background check partner, give us a call! In the meantime, check out our next post on drug screening. It might leave you wondering, “What are they smoking in Houston, Texas?”

When your business needs assistance with employment screening, criminal checks, FCRA compliance, drug screening, education and employment verification, driving records (MVR), credit checks or social security number validation, contact the Swailes Background Team to get quickly signed up.