While our last post was geared towards helping you design role-specific background checks, here we thought we’d share what can create speed bumps for your background check program. Some slow-downs are unavoidable; however, many have work-around solutions that a knowledgeable background check vendor should have on hand. Here are a few explanations for slow turn-around times on your background checks and more importantly a few ways you can avoid them!

Court Closures – When courts close due to natural disasters or pandemics for example, it can affect the turn-around time of your background check. A good vendor however, should have alternative solutions to recommend when these situations occur.

International Searches – Yep, a background check that requires any inquiries from the other part of the world can often take longer. While this is not always the case, sometimes the types of records being requested and their country of origin can dictate the length of time. Also keep in mind some jurisdictions don’t even allow access to criminal conviction records. A good background check partner can give you insights into the international complexities on any given applicant background.  

Employment & Education Verifications – Employment and education verifications can also impact turn-around times. For example, contacting an applicant’s previous employer may be difficult if that employer is now out of business. Mergers, name changes or corporate relocations can also make the verification process difficult. You may want to ask your vendor if their process routinely involves the use of investigative resources to locate these previous employers, or do they just keep the background in pending status.

Workflow Problems – That’s right; sometimes your system and errors can slow down the process! You have enough work to do without having to add more data-entry to your laundry list. This is where a solid background check provider will step in to ease your workload. By doing so, you will experience less delays. Our team for example, immediately customizes an application portal with a company’s logo and branding for an applicant to use.  An applicant is then immediately sent an email with secure log-in details and instructions.  This will start the background process and results will be provided to you sooner. This not only saves you time, but shields you from reviewing identifiers (i.e. date of birth) which could create needless liability. We’ve also found that it encourages applicants to remain engaged throughout the process and keeps them informed on any issues.

These are some of the more common reasons an employer may experience slower-than-usual turn-around times on their background checks. However, an established and knowledgeable vendor should be able to help you avoid some of these speed bumps. If a work-around isn’t possible, keep in mind a reasonable solution can also be to make an offer of employment contingent on the outcome of the background check. For some more helpful information on background checks go here! In our next post, we’ll go over a quick checklist of what you must know when selecting a background screening partner!

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.