Infographic: Background Screening Roadmap

Posted Monday, July 10th, 2017 by Debbie Lamb, Sterling Talent Solutions

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Pack up the car and get ready for a background screening road trip! Sterling Talent Solutions surveyed 500+ U.S. based employers regarding their use of employment background checks for our just released, 2017 Background Screening Trends and Best Practices Report.  The surveys represented 33 industries including consulting, educations, healthcare, manufacturing, not-for-profit, staffing and technology with the responses coming from managers, business owners, executives and key company stakeholders. We created a snapshot of current screening practices, priorities and challenges of the hottest issues of the background screening industry in our infographic, Your Background Screening Roadmap.

Background Screening Checks Brings Value to a Company

We received some very interesting insights and trends from hiring forecasts to improving the candidate experience. Overall, 2017 is about getting new hires in the door quickly and efficiently with quality information for informed hiring decisions. We also found that companies find immense value in conducting employment background checks. Of those surveyed, 89% currently have a background screening program.

Some of the key findings are:

• Create a Compliant and Appropriate Program: Working with legal counsel, companies should develop a background screening program that is appropriate to their business and is compliant with local, state and federal privacy, discrimination, and employment laws, such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). What are the top three background checks used to evaluate employees?
  • Criminal Record Search-93%
  • Employment Verification-64%
  • Form I-9/E-Verify-55%
• Quicker Turnaround in the Hiring Process: 45% of our survey respondents stated that reducing the time to hire was a top priority to improve their hiring program. Propelled by a candidate-driven job market, employers want to get candidates onboarded as quickly as possible, so they don’t lose them to another company. This is especially true in the tech, healthcare, retail, hospitality and manufacturing industries. Selecting a background screening provider that provides and online candidate automation platform and making sure that the candidate has provided all of the necessary information will help speed the screening process.
• Inquiring About Candidates Convictions: Our survey found that 48% of companies ask job candidates if they’ve been convicted of a crime on their application. Asking that question on an application has become a “hot button” issue due to ban-the-box laws being passed in cities, counties and states around the US. These laws require companies to delay asking a candidate about criminal convictions until later in the hiring process. Legal counsel should be consulted as the ban-the-box laws are always changing. Of those companies surveyed a large number are not disqualifying job candidates because of criminal convictions. Employers are considering following EEOC recommends which require them to consider other factors including the severity of the crime, whether crimes are related to the jobs being south, the amount of time since the conviction and whether the candidate is a repeat offender.
• Marijuana Testing: After the 2016 election, 29 states have legalized the medicinal use of marijuana while eight states have approved recreational use of the drug. However, according to federal law, marijuana is still considered illegal. In the survey, we asked if recreational marijuana were to become legal on the federal level, would they change their drug testing policies. 34% of companies would continue with their current drug testing program, 16% of respondents would remove marijuana from the testing panel and 5% would ignore the positive test results. Companies need to create and follow a comprehensive drug testing policy that includes legalized medical and recreational usage in order to detail what is and isn’t acceptable and define proper company protocol.

By following the proper road signs and overcoming bumps in the road, companies can create a background screening policy to fit their business needs.  Learn more insights about today’s “Hot” background screening trends in our infographic, Your Background Screening Roadmap.

This publication is for informational purposes only and nothing contained in it should be construed as legal advice. We expressly disclaim any warranty or responsibility for damages arising out this information. We encourage you to consult with legal counsel regarding your specific needs. We do not undertake any duty to update previously posted materials.