Applicants/Felony Convictions

Our company currently considers applicants with felony convictions on a case by case basis (crime committed, position applied for and etc..) We use a background company for investigative reports and have been pleased thus far. However, recently I discovered that the background company when running the criminal check, does not verify any other matching criteria besides the applicant's name. For example, when they do a criminal check for applicant John A. Doe and they find public records showing ten convictions for John A. Doe, they assume that any and all convictions belong to our applicant and will include all convictions on the report they send to us. The background company does not verify that it is the same person by going further to match D.O.B., social security number or anything! I was basically told by the owner of the background company that reporting all convictions that match the spelling of our applicant's name takes the liability off them.

While I always assumed the background company was requesting criminal reports specifically by name and date of birth, I felt safe relying on their info. We have denied employment to two applicants recently because of felony convictions reported on their criminal report. One applicant verified that the convictions the background company reported belonged to someone with the same name but a different gender! The other applicant verified that the convictions belonged to someone with a different date of birth. Offers were later made to both applicants and the background company reran the reports free of charge.

Though I am pretty green in HR, I feel this puts an undue burden on our applicants when we treat them as if they are guilty and make them prove their innocence. Though I should probably look at other background companies, has anyone else run into this? Does anyone else think this is unfair? Any suggestions, please!

Comments

  • 8 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added

  • >Though I am pretty green in HR, I feel this puts an undue burden on
    >our applicants when we treat them as if they are guilty and make them
    >prove their innocence. Though I should probably look at other
    >background companies, has anyone else run into this? Does anyone else
    >think this is unfair? Any suggestions, please!

    Your background company is not giving you your money's worth. When you fill out the request forms, you list name, DOB, ssn and possibly other information. They are doing a cheapie of a search for you. Change companies immediately. Don't even explain the problem to them. They know they are screwing you. Background investigation results like you describe are absolutely worthless! The disservice is not to the applicant.....IT IS TO YOUR COMPANY!


  • "Though I should probably look at other background companies.." my friend you are green. From your post and knowing only what you have presented and nothing else - it sure seems to me to be unfair - but I could be wrong. As to a suggestion, I would go look at other companies without hesitation. Good luck.
  • Your background company is placing you in a very bad situation. CHANGE COMPANIES IMMEDIATELY!!!!!! The legal liablity is staggering. Go to the internet and you will find a lot of background companies along with a lot of psuedo background companies. Set the protocols with the company you choose and go from there.

    The one we use is very good and up front about all aspects of the background. Call Randy with TSW at (800) 447-5530 he will help you. Tell him Earl had you call.

    But, what ever you do CHANGE YOUR BACKGROUND COMPANY NOW!!!!
  • I am still in SHOCK! Run, don't walk, to a reputable firm who will provide you with a true background screening service. This individual you're dealing with is simply doing electronic searches (which anyone can do) and nothing more. A true and reputable firm will employ a system by which they search court records in each State and County of residence listed. Then, they will run a credit bureau or SSN TRACER report to get additional/possible addresses that the applicant failed to list. This weeds out the guy who beat-up his grandma with a baseball bat in Iowa and never listed Iowa as a place of residence or gave you a different County or zip code.

    The company I use will actually call me to verify DOB's and even middle initials or full middle names in the case of possible duplicates! They are VERY detailed. I appreciate the extra effort in that it minimizes my company's exposure in this messy area.

    Gene
  • Also, check with your trade association(s), if applicable, to see if there is an association-approved/recommended vendor. You can often get better rates that way. If nothing else, the association brass or other members can give you some excellent referrals.



  • I recently read a good article on this subject - "Background report backfires — what now?" in the September issue of Illinois Employment Law Letter. Er fired ee based on bad background check, ee sued the er and the background-checking company. The court is allowing the case to go to trial, which is ugly and expensive.

    If you subscribe to the Employment Law Letter in your state, you can read the article in the Subscribers Area of this website:
    [url]http://www.hrhero.com/lc/[/url]

    James Sokolowski
    HRhero.com
  • Thank you all, I now feel vindicated in my concern. I've spoken to our in house legal counsel and other management and all agree this company (Nationwide) may not be the best for us. Amazingly, the owner of the background company is now telling me that they search other databases besides public records and in fact do match D.O.B and SS# with name. He further explained if two out of the three match then they report the conviction as our applicant's. The change of story alone makes me insecure enough to switch companies. I will check out all of the links everyone provided and keep you posted.

    Thank you!
  • We use [url]www.verificationsinc.com[/url], have been happy w them. Who are you using now so I DON'T use them EVER!?

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