Archive for the ‘Business’ Category

Types Of Background Checks

Steve Valentino asked:




There are quite a few types of background checks that can be done on a job applicant. These include credit checks, criminal record checks, driving records, and past employer checks. Even though it may be difficult to find candidates to fill all positions within an organization, cautious business practices require a person to conduct certain essential checks on potential employees. This is undertaken for the sake of restraining probable liabilities that can occur from neglectful hiring practices.

Credit checks are often carried out for positions that contain financial responsibilities. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) directs using credit checks for employment selection purposes. This is particularly true if the position involves handling large sums of money or exercising financial prudence. If the position does not involve this type of responsibility, the employer must be very cautious. It is a good practice to curb the use of credit reports to circumstances where this type of information is essential. Credit checks are of two types investigative consumer credit reports and consumer credit reports. An analytical consumer credit report contains a written report along with interviews from friends and neighbors. A written notice is to be given to a candidate before an analytical credit check is carried out

Criminal background check refers to the checking of a person?s past record in order to find out whether the person has carried out any criminal activity or not. Information regarding the same can be obtained from the police department or public courtrooms. Conducting a criminal background check enables a person to satisfy himself regarding the other person?s status. Employers are required to conduct a criminal record check for positions, which contain close, unsupervised contact with the public.

Employers should check the driving records of all aspirants who will be operating a company vehicle. This should be done before hiring the applicant and periodically right through the period of employment. It is the responsibility of the employer to check the driving records. Employers are also required to check if the applicant has a legitimate driver’s license.

Other types of background checks include previous employer record checks, Social Security number checks, educational credentials check, and nanny background checks.

Sue
 

Consumer Credit Reports – A Brief Review

Tima.ashar asked:


Being an employer, you may want to use consumer credit reports while hiring new employees and also while assessing them for promotion, reassignment, and retention, but only if you abide by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Sections 604, 606, and 615 of the FCRA clearly mention the employer’s responsibilities towards its employees when he uses consumer reports for employment purposes.

The FCRA was primarily constituted to guard the privacy of the consumer report information and to guarantee that the information that is printed on the report by the bureaus and agencies is precise. An amendment was made to the FCRA on 30th Sep 1997 stating that more and more obligations should be imposed on employers who use consumer reports. The Congress advocated this step, as they felt that inaccurate and incomplete consumer reports can cause someone his job or may be even his promotions.

The amendments made it clear that

individuals must be informed that the employer is checking his credit report and more importantly he should agree to it.

individuals have the right to be informed if the information in the credit report has negative influences on employment decision.

More information about consumer report: -

A consumer credit report consists of personal information along with credit characteristics, character, general reputation, and lifestyle. This report should be prepared by a consumer-reporting agency (CRA) according to the FCRA.

Employers feel safe and satisfied to run a background check on applicant before hiring them for the desired job. Some employers are only interested in your credit payment record, some in driving record and some in criminal records. Depending on your job profile, an employer can even ask for an investigative consumer report. These are types of consumer credit reports if acquired from CRA.

For more information on credit reports and identity theft issues, visit – Free Credit Report



AUGUSTINE