Background Checks

Pre-Employment Screening
Criminal & Civil Histories
Employment Credit Checks
Education Verification
Drug Screening
MVR (Motor Vehicle Records)
In-depth profile affiliation
Asset locator – (tangibly)
Financial locator - (liquid)
Stocks, Bonds, Mutual Funds

A background check varies based on what information you are trying to obtain, and how thorough of a search you require…however what has not changed is the necessity of conducting the search.

Are employee background checks necessary?

As a manager, executive or owner you are liable for all of your employees and if you are negligent in your hiring practices it could not only hurt you…but destroy your business. If an employee should steal from another or violate them and later it is revealed a criminal record existed for similar charges you the employer can be found negligent! Employees not only have access to key components within your business but they also communicate with the firm’s clientele more often than owners or CEO’s. Our employees are our ambassadors and regardless of the position each requires some type of background screening.

Depending on the position you’re filling and the access to key components within your infrastructure determines the severity of your background check and the extent of the security clearance you provide. Counter Intelligence Services offers various levels of employment screening, from a basic criminal search to a more detailed complex screening. By conducting a minimal criminal search you are at least protecting yourself and providing assurance that you were compliant and not negligent in your employment hiring practices.

Background investigations for employment purposes are regulated under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Drivers Privacy Protection Act (DPPA), GLBA and various other privacy laws. Businesses make employment decisions based on background investigations that utilize records of credit, civil, criminal and other consumer record information. The ability to make intelligent employing decisions requires informed business intelligence with the ability to access this information in an efficient timely manner. Employers have a duty to periodically investigate allegations of employee misconduct and to provide a consistent level of checks and procedures confirming accurate work, work performance…etc. However, due to different laws and regulations i.e. a Federal Trade Commission letter (the “Vail” letter) issued in 1999 contends that workplace misconduct investigations are governed by the same consent and disclosure rules that govern initial credit and employment background checks. This interpretation hampers the ability of employers to conduct misconduct investigations; however there is a way to protect you and your company before and during their employment.

Out sourcing pre-employment services to professional private investigative risk management companies assists you in many ways…as we are trained in conducting investigations and locating information. Conducting investigations over the years it is common to see many industries (attorneys, HR departments, insurance companies) employing their own staff to conduct investigations internally; however in due time they always come back to the industry professionals. Whether its poor results, improper training, or the costs out way the departments they created; in the long run, hiring a career professional always turns out being more cost effective.

In 2003 a no named cleaning company located in Beverly Hills was sued for four million dollars when one of their employees was recognized in a home burglary at their residence. The court award the plaintiff the judgment and the cleaning company was found negligent in their hiring practices, for a criminal background check was never conducted.
In another case a California Carpet company in 1998 was hit with a $9.38 million dollar verdict… which is being called “a loud wake-up call” to service type of companies that send employees into people’s homes. The Alameda County Superior Court jury found America's Best Carpet Care negligent in its hiring procedures for they never obtained a background check on one of their employees who later stabbed to death a Kerry Spooner. It was found that the employee had multiple robbery convictions and the court awarded the surviving spouse with damages of 9.38 million which surely devastated this company not to mention the spouse.
In a similar story, the Texas Supreme Court sided with a woman who sued The Kirby Vacuum Cleaner Company because she was raped by one of their door-to-door salesman. The Kirby Vacuum Cleaner Company was found to be negligent in its hiring practices for a background check was never conducted on their employee, which would have revealed previous complaints of sexual misconduct.

There are numerous heartbreaking stories and negligent hiring cases I can enlighten you to. However my position is to in heighten your awareness and your responsibilities towards the overlooked field of HR hiring practices.

Employers should have a signed disclosure & release BEFORE pre-employment screening commences.