Background Investigation Blogs

The best way to capture a complete criminal history on your candidate is to implement a two tier approach: one tier involves an in-depth look into specific jurisdictions; the other tier is to cast a wider net utilizing electronic databases and resources.

The electronic information age has changed the way government agencies and the background screening industry stores, maintains, and disseminates criminal record information, and has made this information more obtainable. Expand your search parameters by using electronic databases to access millions of records from courts, state agencies, the Department of Corrections, The Public Safety Administration, Sex Offender Repositories, government maintained “Most Wanted Lists” and international terrorist watch lists. Finding a criminal offense committed on a business trip, locating a transient sex offender record, or discovering a driving under the influence conviction in another state is now easily retrievable at a low cost.

Employment Background Investigation’s (EBI) proprietary electronic database, National Criminal Records Database (NCRD), houses over 370 million records from a variety of county, state and federal jurisdictions, government agencies and international terrorist watch lists. EBI uses electronic record resources for background screening as a research tool only. Each record is verified to confirm its accuracy at the original report jurisdiction of record to ensure FCRA compliance.

Employers should never use instant online resources for criminal records as a final decision making tool. A viable Credit Reporting Agency (CRA), such as EBI, can guide you on the proper resources and techniques to optimize your criminal history search while keeping you compliant. Implementing a proper tiered approach to criminal record searches can help keep your screening program comprehensive, your due diligence process compliant, and your workplace safe.

In Part One of our background investigations discussion on criminal record searches, we emphasized the importance of the candidate’s identity, and recommended the search process begin with a Social Security Number (SSN) Trace. Based on the information provided by the candidate and the results from the SSN Trace, you now have a more accurate picture of the true identity and residential history of your candidate.

The next step is to take an in-depth look into specific jurisdictions. The most complete and up-to-date criminal records information will always be located at the jurisdiction of where a potential criminal offense is first recorded, and is typically where a final disposition is located for most misdemeanor and felony records. A thorough search within these courts, and where the candidate has spent the most time, will yield the best results.

Employment Background Investigations (EBI) will review the candidate information, and then deploy one, or several, highly qualified researchers to conduct searches at all court levels. Criminal court records across the United States are stored and maintained in many different ways. EBI’s Field Quality Department tracks and researches records storage procedures and search criteria in over 10,000 court jurisdictions across the country. EBI maintains a current list of court closures, delays and incidents of natural disasters that may delay the process of providing timely and accurate results.

Depending on the position you expect the potential candidate to fill, the specific candidate being screened, and the industry where the subject may be employed, EBI typically encounters an average of 5%-35% criminal record hit rates utilizing these processes.

Conducting a comprehensive search of a candidate’s criminal history can be a complicated piece of the due diligence process within a background screening program. There are over 12,000 criminal court jurisdictions in the United States, including local/municipal courts, county criminal courts, federal courts, and state repositories that maintain criminal records. Over the next few days, we’ll discuss best practices that provide comprehensive and cost-effective criminal record searches.

Before a background check begins, employers need to have a full understanding of the true identity of their subject: where they have lived; where they have worked; where they attended school; and even if they have spent time abroad for long periods of time. Gather additional information such as full name, other names know by, and key identifiers such as date of birth, Social Security Number (SSN), and passport number. Always consult your legal counsel when gathering candidate information to be sure you are asking the right questions and are within legal guidelines.

Employment Background Investigations (EBI) recommends the criminal search process begins with a SSN Trace to confirm the accuracy of the address history and other information supplied by your candidate. This initial step allows you to uncover anything that may have been unintentionally undisclosed, or even concealed by the candidate.

For the 4th consecutive year, Employment Background Investigations (EBI) has been named to Workforce Management Magazine’s “Hot List” of employment-related screening providers. The magazine’s “Hot List” selects leading HR providers, products and services by volume, revenue, number of corporate clients, and geographic region.

“The recognition by Workforce Management reinforces the company’s primary mission to streamline HR Processes through a continued investment in technology and commitment to outstanding customer service,” states Richard Kurland, president and CEO of EBI. “Even in this down economy, EBI continues to out-perform the competition through a strategic focus on the growing needs of clients.”

EBI’s innovative approach to screening solutions with state-of-the-art technology and real-time customer service continues to drive the company’s success on it’s core products and services: background screening, drug testing, occupational healthcare, electronic form I-9, and employer tax credit services.

For many years, the United States government has worked diligently to protect individuals such as the elderly and those seeking patient care. The ultimate objective is to clean-up the healthcare system by identifying and eliminating fraud, waste and abuse, and providing a mechanism for audits, inspections and investigations. To that end, specific government departments and programs were born as a checks-and-balances system.

One of the primary goals of the Department of Health and Human Services, in conjunction with the Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the General Services Administration (GSA), was to create and maintain a sanction list of individuals and entities called the “List of Excluded Individuals/Entities.” OIG/GSA 101: These databases, the “sanction lists,” include individuals and businesses/entities that are excluded from participating in Medicare, Medicaid, or other federally funded healthcare programs, and have been convicted for program related fraud, patient abuse, licensing board sanctions, suspended licenses, and default on Health Education Assistance Loans. To net it out, a healthcare organization cannot do business, or be associated with, anyone or any business on these sanction lists.

For Healthcare organizations, being in federal compliance is vital, and searches on the OIG and GSA databases is mandated on a pre-employment and annual basis for every individual or entity within, or tied to, the organization. In other words, anyone working within the walls of a healthcare organization, be it employee, service firm or contractor, must be checked. If an organization has an affiliation with an individual or entity included on one of the sanction lists, they may be forced to pay back all Federal funds back to the date the individual or entity became affiliated with the organization. This could mean hundreds of thousands in lost revenue depending on the length of the violation. In addition, Civil Monetary Penalties (CMPs) of up to $10,000 per violation can also be levied. Continued violations could even mean that a healthcare organization be denied to receive any government funds from Medicare, Medicaid or any other government supplemented program, virtual putting them out of business.

The question is will OIG and GSA searches alone ensure complete compliance? The answer is two-fold: “yes” on a federal level, but “no” on a state level.

The OIG and GSA federal databases only reflect the current status of an individual or entity and provide no historical data. If there was fraudulent or criminal activity in the past with an individual or business, and the healthcare organization continued the relationship, the organization would be in jeopardy for liable and non-compliance. On a state level, most states maintain their own database with state specific sanction information that may not be updated into the OIG and GSA. These state exclusion and sanction lists pertain to state fraud, along with medical license information which may reflect a suspended or revoked license.

The only way to ensure proper compliance is to include a multi-state search, in addition to the OIG and GSA searches. Global screening firms, such as Employment Background Investigations, can provide multi-level options of screening against a comprehensive and historical database of adverse actions and sanctions, and provide batch processing and yearly program management. Enhanced due diligence and risk mitigation can only be achieved by a thorough search of both federal and multiple state databases.

Let’s review a few interesting statistics: the U.S. population is currently around 308 million people; as of 2009, 3.6% of this population (or 11.5 million) are unauthorized immigrants; 7% of the total population travels abroad each year; and 25% of international applicants lie about employment and education credentials.

When it comes to talent acquisition, hiring from overseas is healthy for diversity, and for some industries, a necessity for keeping up with industry trends and rival competition. For most hiring managers, screening potential new-hires outside of the United States or even those that have previously lived and worked abroad can be difficult due to lack of knowledge or even resources to conduct proper screening. Employers need to understand that background screening in some countries is not yet fully accepted, based on current customs or lack of screening regulations, and for some countries, not even a standard business practice.

The following guidelines will help employers navigate across these uncharted waters:
• Don’t ignore international screening just because it may be a higher cost than domestic. If your candidate has spent the better part of their life or professional career abroad, conducting an international background check makes good business sense, especially when specific credentials, specific skill sets or education levels need to be verified.
• Always inquire as to the source of the data received; develop a full understanding of what types of criminal records are received from each country; ask how they compare to felony and misdemeanor records here in the United States; and insure these records were obtained according to the legal requirements of the country.
• Always obtain a candidate’s written consent and provide a full disclosure of the nature and scope of your investigation, no matter what country you’re screening in. Always follow the FCRA when hiring someone to work in the United States, and consider other country specific laws and guidelines for obtaining screening information abroad. Country-specific privacy laws, data security regulations and third party accessibility may come into play as well.
• Outsource your international screening, especially when you need to verify candidate information such as international past employment, education, and other such information. Barriers such as language, time and dateline can be some of the hardest obstacles to overcome when conducting global screening, and add unnecessary cost and time to your company’s bottom line when you find yourself working late hours or along-side a translator to obtain and decipher information in-house.

Employment Background Investigations (EBI) has proven global screening expertise. With EBI, employers can control costs, decrease liability, provide a safer workplace and ensure the right candidate is hired for the job. EBI can advise you on what information is available in each country, if it’s legally accessible, and provide the proper forms to manage the process. EBI will only conduct international background checks where we can obtain information in a legal and ethical manner.

EBI provides resources both internally and on the ground in the country of interest to manage the screening process from start to finish no matter the time zone or language. Outsourcing all of your screening needs to EBI - domestic background investigations, global screening, drug testing, occupational healthcare and Form I-9 compliance - is an easy, cost-effective solution.

Many industries require post-hire and continual screening programs on specific employee positions based upon federal and state regulations or insurance guidelines. For example, the Department of Transportation (DOT) requires that truck drivers who hold a commercial drivers license undergo a yearly audit of their driving record, and submit to periodic random drug and alcohol testing, along with physical capabilities testing on a periodic basis for proper compliance. The Healthcare and Pharmaceutical industries are mandated to conduct re-occurring screening as part of regulatory compliance measures to receive federal and state funding. Yearly review of sanction databases, such as the Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the General Services Administration (GSA), are required to ensure that employees, contractors, and even vendors are screened for previous activities of fraud, embezzlement or other non-compliance measures.

But what if your company doesn’t fall under DOT or other requirements? If you employ individuals that drive as part of their regular job function, impose regular driving record checks. Never incur the potential liability of someone on your staff driving without a license. Remember that a criminal record search on a pre-employment basis is a must to achieve proper due diligence; however always remember that a criminal record search is perishable, and the potential for future criminal activity is always a possibility no matter the employee. Conducting an ongoing national criminal search is always a best practice on any employee. Remember that employees that conduct strenuous physical labor or heavy lifting should undergo yearly physical exams to protect their safety and may help to reduce the ever increasing worker’s compensation insurance premiums. On-going random, post accident, and for cause, drug and alcohol screening will also help keep your company free of potential safety hazards, and help identify substance abusers that add to lost production and additional safety hazards.

Employment Background Investigations (EBI) offers an entire suite of services such as monitoring commercial driver’s license status; administration of random, post accident, and for cause drug and alcohol testing; and other occupational healthcare needs. With state-of-the art screening technology and an integrated network of over 15,000 clinical locations, EBI can administer and manage all of your screening programs. It just makes sense to incorporate ongoing screening with all of your staff to enhance safety, decrease workplace risks, and ultimately reduce worker’s compensation premiums.