Employee Background Checks and the FCRA

Hiring the best employees is a top priority for most organizations. It is important to deploy employee background checks to know that the potential team members are reliable and trustworthy. Checking their credit is one way to determine if they are a good fit for your business. This is completely legal under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and is especially important if the future job includes dealing with money, security, or confidential information.

However, lawsuits against companies are increasing due to FCRA violations. The FCRA has very strict guidelines that must be followed before doing a credit check on an applicant. One way to protect yourself is through transparency.

Transparency

Before a financial history can be obtained, the employee must be clearly informed of the process by means of a document separate from the employment application. This can be a clearly marked document in the application packet explaining the possibility of a consumer report being obtained. These forms should be carefully worded: 

• Avoid using terminology that would keep you from being held liable for obtaining the report.
• Eliminate any wording that would cause the applicant to certify that all of their information is true.
• Take out anything that the applicant would need to sign regarding non discriminatory hiring practices.
• Don’t use sweeping authorizations of information not approved by the FCRA.

The information you receive will be a modified credit report which will not include the credit score; however, you can see the debt ratio and payment history of the applicant. This can give you insight into their potential characteristics such as responsibility and reliability.

Learn More About Employee Background Checks

The FCRA’s strict guidelines are in place and are vital to follow, so you need a reputable company to do this investigative work.  TruDiligence has over 20 years of untarnished experience, and we can do the job for you. Contact us and we will legally obtain the credit information you need for your future employees.