Businesses and individuals may conduct criminal background checks on employees or volunteers for security reasons. Employers may be required by law to perform these checks, especially for those working with vulnerable populations. Private investigators or specialized companies can conduct checks, but online data brokers may not provide accurate information.
Businesses hiring new employees or volunteers, or screening existing employees and individuals may choose to run a background check on someone for a variety of reasons that relate to the security of the business. Many businesses or individuals are more specifically interested in a criminal background check. A criminal background check focuses on an individual’s criminal record and allows the inquisitor to learn about any crimes the check subject may have been convicted of, such as serious crimes such as murder, rape, or theft. It is commonly thought that if someone has a criminal conviction that they may be a repeat offender which endangers everyone around them.
While individuals may run a criminal background check on someone, such as a landlord checking a tenant, criminal background checks are primarily handled by employers. Some employers are even required by law to perform a criminal background check. It is more common that a check is required on employees who work with children and elderly or disabled people. Employers are checking criminal records for child abuse and child abduction. In recent years, it has also become popular to look for crimes that have to do with suspected terrorist activity.
When criminal background checks are not required by law, employers may choose to conduct one for their own interests. Once a company hires an employee, it can be accountable for the employee’s actions. When a company makes a bad hiring choice, it can be costly in many ways. Not only can a wrong decision cause financial problems by requiring payment in a lawsuit or losing funds to fraudulent activities, but a company can also suffer damage to its reputation.
For individuals or employers who want to conduct a criminal background check on someone, they have a variety of options. Private investigators are most commonly used for individuals or small businesses looking to play a criminal background on someone. For medium to large businesses that need to run multiple criminal background checks, there are companies that specialize in employment screening.
Alternatively, anyone wanting to run a criminal background check on someone can do so through an online data broker. Employers should be wary of conducting criminal background checks on the Internet. Information offered to the public by web-based information brokers is not accurate or up-to-date. In the United States, it is against federal law to report or make hiring decisions about inaccuracies.
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