So far, every post on my blog has been authored by me. Well, today’s post is different. A colleague of mine who, like me, is a solo business owner authored the article contained in today’s post.

Tony Ramos, owner and president of Integra Security Alliance, has written articles and presented at conferences. Tony represents companies that conduct employee screening, investigations and provide security related services. Integra is endorsed by the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, and Tony is Vice Chair of their Public & Private Police Liaison committee. Also, Integra is the only security related company endorsed by the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce.

The following article, “The Need to Pre-screen Your Pre-screening Vendor,” was written by Tony and based on over 30-years of combined experience in developing, implementing and selling employee background screening to private/public corporations and governmental agencies nationwide. Tony has also authored “The Guide to Background Checks,” which he developed for the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police and is available for download at his website. For more information, or for copies of this article, you may contact Tony directly.

The Need to Pre-screen Your Pre-screening Vendor

“Search Over 160 Million Criminal Records Instantly”, “Instant Criminal Background Check Record Searches” or “NationScan Criminal Index Turnaround time: 30 minutes or less” are just some of the claims being made by screening companies in their advertising today. Employers looking to implement a background screening program are faced with the challenge of deciding,

  • Who can be trusted?
  • Where do databases get their information?
  • What exactly am I getting?
  • Which claims are true?
  • Are all screening companies the same?
  • What should a background check consist of?
  • What is my best option?
  • Which is the most legally sound program?

Most of these questions can easily be answered by first understanding how criminal records are generated, maintained and stored.

The county courthouses in Illinois, as well as county courthouses throughout the U.S., remain as the place of origin for most all criminal records. This is also the location were these records are physically stored and updated with both arrest and conviction information. Properly accessing these files will provide you with the most complete and up-to-date information available. The issue here is knowing which county courthouse to search, considering there are over 10,000 courthouses nationwide.

Many companies claim to address this issue by collecting criminal information from various sources and providing employers with various types of electronic criminal databases. However, while many claim to have records from all states, many states do not provide their repository of records. The ones that do, typically contain less than half of the available records. In addition, this information is stale and needs to be confirmed. So, regardless of the size of the database that the company is claiming to have, why settle for having access to just a fraction of the criminal records actually available and of those records that are available, why settle on making a hiring decision based on out-dated information?

Employers need to become familiar with The Fair Credit Reporting Act which can provide important protective immunities against civil lawsuits for defamation, invasion of privacy and negligence, but only if followed. With respect to databases, The Federal Trade Commission who authored the FCRA has issued an opinion letter indicating that “an employment screening service that uses ‘stored data’ (which may be as much as 90 days old) does not comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act Section 613(2). State Repositories are available in some states, but many provide partial or out-of-date information because they are not frequently updated. Except where the repository is updated daily, state repository searches should not replace county criminal searches.”

So what should a background check consist of and what should one look for in a screening company?

Simply stated, always begin by conducting a social security trace. This will verify the name, provide up to ten-years of residential address history and other names (aliases) associated with that number. These results should then be used to determine which counties and names to search.

In selecting a screening vendor:

  • Your vendor must have full access to the over 10,000 courthouses nationwide and not rely on any database for information.
  • Your vendor should have a year-to-date national hit rate of at least 10%. Hit rate is the percent of records found as compared to total records searched. This will provide you with a very effective tool to determine the efficiency and accuracy of your vendor. Don”t be surprised if a vendor is reluctant to provide you with their current hit rate percentage.
  • Expect to wait 24 to 48 hours for the results.
  • Make sure your vendor is a consumer reporting agency and fully FCRA complaint.
  • Does your vendor have experience in conducting court record research? Too often, many of these screening companies are strictly pass through companies. They utilize third party companies to conduct the actual court searches. This information is then sold to these screening companies who then repackage it and resell it to employers.

Following the simple mandates of the FCRA and selecting a reputable screening vendor can provide you with a highly cost effective, legally sound screening tool.