Employee Background - Be Your Own Detective

Pre-Employment Screening

Applicants Fudge on Applications
As an employer, you are likely well aware that an application for a position you offer may contain false or misleading information. You say to yourself as you are perusing the application, "Now, here's an applicant, who from all appearances, meets our company's stringent hiring guidelines, but can we really trust this person? Is the information provided accurate and truthful? Have important facts been omitted?"

Employer's Responsibility
Employers may be held liable for criminal acts committed by an employee, and may also be responsible for lost wages and damages incurred as a result of discharging an employee.

Negative Hiring Doctrine
Twenty-eight states have negligent hiring doctrines. Be especially concerned about the background of an individual who will be going into people's homes. As an employer, you could be held liable for crimes and misdeeds committed by your employee.

Employment Application
Get a signed employment application that includes a "Release of Information Statement." The signed application will grant you the right to access medical, worker's compensation, educational, credit, criminal, police, and court records.

The Application for Employment should ask for at minimum:

Subject's full name, SSN, current address
Addresses, phone numbers past 10 years
Landlords for the past ten years
Employers last three years
References, three, w/addresses, phone numbers
Credit history
Family and relatives; names, addresses, phone numbers
DOB and place of birth
Education
Driver's license number/state issued
Vehicles, property owned
Professional, other license numbers

Education Verification
Determine years of attendance, level of education, degrees earned, areas of study, special honors and achievements, and disciplinary problems. You may decide to verify all levels of schooling, but generally, only the highest level of education need be verified. Contact the university's registrar, who will verify if the person attended and when, if a degree was earned, and the type of degree. Many institutes of higher learning require a release signed by the student permitting access of student records by third parties.

Former Employer's Interview
Request the Human Resources or Personnel Department. Inquire about dates of employment, reason for leaving, title and job description, responsibilities and duties, skills, job performance and productivity, honesty and reliability, strengths and weaknesses, attitude, trustworthiness, willingness to rehire.

What's Missing
A job candidate will generally not list employers or others who will not speak favorably of his or her performance and reliability. Spans of time may have been intentionally omitted, so question unexplained gaps in the employment history section of the job application. You need to know and you have the right to know.

References
Talk to those listed as personal acquaintances and references. Interview others with knowledge of the applicant's qualifications, such as previous supervisors and fellow employees. Ask about relationship with applicant, how long acquainted, knowledge of work quality and performance, problems that might affect new job.

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Court Records
Court records are available for review at county, state, and federal level. Records maintained at the county level will generally yield the most complete information.

Driving Records
Conduct a driver record search if the applicant will be driving your personal or company vehicles. The Department of Motor Vehicles keeps driver records for three, seven or eleven years (according to which state you are checking). The records may show revocations, suspensions, DUI and traffic offenses. DUI convictions might indicate a problem with alcohol. Note: Applicant's driver license number is required for driver history searches.

Professional Licenses
If your applicant's occupation is one which requires licensing, ask the Secretary of State, Department of Labor, or the Accountancy Board for the status of a license. Inquire in states where applicant previously resided. Ascertain the date the license was issued and expiration date. Is the license in good standing? Any complaints?

Liability Insurance
If your contractor will be accomplishing structural work, make sure you are protected by adequate liability coverage.

Worker's Compensation
As an employer, it's your right to check worker's compensation records to make sure the person in question does not have a history of accidents occurring on the job. The "Worker's Compensation Claim History" is comprised of two parts: "First Report of Injury" and "Contested Claims." The records will show: date of injury, type of injury, time lost, and the disposition of the case. The " History" lists the name of the employer, the individual who will almost always willingly volunteer the most relevant information. If the job applicant will perform physical tasks, a worker's compensation search is particularly important. Be on the lookout for possible abuses of the system.

Criminal History Investigation
Check records held by various courts. Federal records are maintained at Federal District Courts. The State Supreme Court, Department of Justice, keeps state records. State records are stored in the Central Criminal Records Repository. Criminal records are most complete at the county courthouse.

Criminal Records Searches
Criminal history searches should include: a county criminal court search, a statewide criminal courts search, and a national Department of Corrections felon search.

National Criminal Search
If the applicant has moved from job to job, conduct a National Criminal Search. The records may show charges, adjudication, DOB, and aliases.

If a person you anticipate hiring will be coming into your home, caring for your children, and/or driving your vehicles, you should perform a Criminal History Investigation. Check backgrounds of domestic help, child and health care, elderly care providers, and others who furnish services and have access to your home. When these individuals are represented by an agency, both the individual and the agency should be checked out.

Civil Court Records
County - liens and judgments, State UCC filings; Federal - Bankruptcy

Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)
UCC filings are maintained by each state's Secretary of State office. UCC filings contain information about civil litigation by individuals and businesses. UCC records may show names and addresses of plaintiffs and defendants, court name, county and filing date, SSN, or Tax Identification Number, DBA's, asset/lien filings, amounts of judgments, evictions, bankruptcies. Federal Bankruptcy Court records may turn up information about financial difficulties, a deciding factor about whether or not to hire an applicant.

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