A key step to hiring a new employee is making sure that they are who they say they are. It sounds simple, almost paranoid, but for the sake of your employees’ safety and your business’s integrity, it is important to thoroughly vet employees to make sure that they aren’t hiding a criminal record. This is especially true if you are hiring someone to work with children or other vulnerable populations, like refugees or abuse survivors. Here are a few ways you can feel secure in your new higher by delving deeper into their background.
Pull Public Records
Unlike credit reports and school records, arrests and convictions are public information and can be accessed by anyone. Pulling public records takes time, though, so it might be better to use third-party software to automatically pull these records for you. Since the information is freely available, this should be an employer’s first step when initiating a background check.
Trace Social Security Numbers
A drawback to pulling public information is that you can only use the person’s given name. If a potential employee has changed their name and not disclosed it to you, they could have a criminal record that your background check won’t pick up. Once again, this sounds paranoid; anyone can legally change their name, and they do not have to disclose that information in their application. But an SSN trace removes any ambiguity from the situation. By tracking their social security number, you can get a much better idea of their history and can reveal hidden criminal charges that they may have kept hidden.
Background checks are not meant to assume that every potential employee is a criminal. They are merely a precaution to make sure that your workplace is safe. Conducting thorough checks can allow you to hire someone with confidence for any position.
