Your organization’s people are your most important resources. Excellent employees can make a good business great. You’ve got performance management and review processes to track how employees are doing and help them improve, but you’re best off if you avoid hiring those who may not be a good fit for your organization.

The one way to help you achieve that goal: The Employment Background check

What Is Employment Background Verification?

With a highly mobile workforce, employers use background verification for vetting and screening candidates and new hires. 

Background verification is the process of vetting employment history, commercial records, financial records, criminal records, and other activities of a person or a company to confirm their authenticity.

The digitization of numerous public records in India, such as the voter ID, driver’s license, PAN card, and academic certificates, police records, and court records, have facilitated prompt screenings of the entities. With so much information available online, some of which are for free and some available for a fee, there is a thin line about the legality of what can be vetted. It can be confusing for both the employer and employee. 

When you’re in the process of hiring and sorting through a group of potential candidates, you clearly want to be as thorough and careful as possible. But if your organization is like most, you may not have the resources to dive deeply into each candidate’s background.

Fortunately, you’re not in this alone. You can use a background check service to handle the screening, allowing you to focus your attention on the other attributes of your job candidates.

Pick the right platform, and you’ll have a partner who knows how to get the screening done right and is quite familiar with pertinent laws and regulations.

In this article, we’ll talk about the six different background checks for different situations and the legal information for the employer to access. (Click to Tweet)

6 Types of Background Verification for New Hires

1. Candidate History

Employers run background checks to avoid hiring someone who could be a liability to the employer or pose a threat to the workplace. An report revealed that one in every six candidates lie on their resumes.

No wonder the background check discrepancy levels shot to 48% in 2018 from only 10.29% in 2016 in India. An employment background check typically includes the candidate’s work history, educational qualifications, driving record, medical history, and criminal record.

These days, verifying candidates’ social media has also become an authoritative source of screening. SpringRole, for instance, lets individuals create profiles on the platform which are verified using blockchain technology.

They can add meaningful endorsements to the profile, showcase projects in detail, and customize the profile by adding links to other profiles such as Twitter, GitHub, and Quora.

Although employers are allowed to access background information on existing and potential hires, there are strict rules set by United Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that must be followed. They are: 

• The candidate has to be notified in writing about the background check. This document is separate from the employment application. 
• The applicant must provide written consent for the background check. 
• If the pre-employment check is compulsory for hiring, the business must state it clearly in their written policies. 
• The employee has the right to be notified about checks being conducted about their reputation, lifestyle, history, or character. 

2. Criminal Records

Criminal record checks are one of the most widely used background screening tools, but they also happen to be one of the most complexes and misunderstood.

The two main categories of crimes include serious crimes and minor crimes. As an employer, you must define your organization’s values and draw the line when screening employees and making hiring decisions.

An individual’s criminal history affects not only a company’s safety but also job performance and qualification. If you are hiring a stock manager who handles inventory and funds (the job requires a high level of trust), it’s important to see if the individual has ever been charged with theft or fraud.

One thing is certain—criminal record checks are helpful in making more confident, informed hiring decisions.

3. Credit Score

It is also known as a credit report card. It is a standard requirement by banks when applying for a credit card and car or home loan. The credit background screening helps in verifying the record of a person’s credit-to-debt ratio.

For some jobs in the finance industry, where fraud and embezzlement are possible, conduct a credit background screening. 

In the USA, as per the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the employer has to obtain written consent before they request the candidate’s credit report. This consent is required in all 50 states. 

Further, when a business rejects a candidate based on their credit report, they are required to give an explicit reason, along with the contact details of the credit reporting company that shared this information. This way, in the case of misinformation, the applicant gets a chance to correct it before the hiring decision is made. 

4. Gamer Profiles

With 100+ new online games set to enter the Indian gaming ecosystem, the addiction levels will only grow. Fraudsters and scammers will continue to do what they do best. To combat this, gaming companies are deploying fraud detection solutions to authenticate a user in real-time.

SpringVerify, for instance, verifies the KYC details of the gamers to create real customer profiles. When gaming companies have more information about the users, they can screen them before they gamble.

A reliable verification process paves the way for a safer environment for individuals to play and combat gaming-related harm.

5. Personal Background

With access to 200+ million court records across India, many companies have developed their in-house AI and ML-powered search algorithm. The technology is so precise that it can pick a needle from the haystack.

Therefore, to see what employers or banking professionals see when they run a background check, individuals can screen themselves too. This exercise helps them check where they have lived and worked and if their name appears in any public litigation database, both criminal and civil.

Background verification is a great way to address any potential errors and not miss out on any opportunity to bag a job or loan or start a business.

Simultaneously, it is illegal for the employer to ask about age, race, ethnicity, disability, marital status, and pregnancy during an interview or a background check. Protected information cannot be used to influence employment decisions. 

6. Professional License

When the job applicant is a doctor, realtor, or accountant, background screening verifies if he possesses a valid license to protect the employer from negligent hiring claims. 

The background screening company typically contacts the state licensing board to verify the license hasn’t expired or lapsed and is in good standing. Sectors that majorly run a professional license background check include:

• Home contractors, including electricians, builders, and plumbers
• Education, including college professors and administrators
• Banking and insurance

Before obtaining the records of the profession of the hire, the business has to ask the candidates for permission about: 

• Education records – several schools and colleges either reveal these records to the student or the employer with signed proof of the candidate’s approval. 
• Military records – as an employer, you require written consent to know about the applicant’s rank, salary, duty assignments, and awards. 
• Disability records – To access the medical records, the potential employee requires the candidate’s permission to access the medical records. The Americans with Disabilities Act’s goal is to ensure that the employer’s hiring decision is influenced by the candidate’s ability to perform specific tasks. 

Final Words

For applicant, they should be well aware of the rules the employer must adhere to while conducting a background check. For an employer, being aware of the state and federal laws ensures that they do not run into legal troubles in the future.  

The purpose of doing a background check is to gather useful information about an entity to assess whether they are trustworthy, reliable, and credible. Indeed, a person’s past actions don’t predict their future ones.

FAQ

What is a red flag on a background check?

Certain red flags before hiring someone includes:

1. Multiple intervals of unemployment
2. Criminal records
3. Failed drug examinations
4. Poor references from previous employers
5. Credit history

However, it is important to clarify the reasons behind any of these situations. 

Is BGV done after joining?

The background verification process should be ideally done after offering the letter and before the onboarding.

What are the different levels of background Verification?

Level 1: It is the most basic level of verification. It is an essential check with a less restrictive screening process. 

Level 2: This is more of a state and national level screening. The purpose is to check the criminal records of the employee.

Lever 3: It is the most common level of screening- reference check, employment history, education, and criminal history.

Level 4: This is the highest level of background verification which includes national bankruptcy, federal criminal search, and media search.

These levels of background verification define how far background verifications go. An organization can either pick their own level or complete all the four steps together.

How much time does a background verification process take?

When it comes to how long a BGV process takes, it depends on a company’s internal process. On an average, it takes around two weeks for companies to complete the entire process.

Doing background verification yourself is complicated and time-consuming. Try our employee background verification platform, Springverify – where employee verifications happen seamlessly and with minimal effort required from both the company and employee.

Originally published October 10, 2019 6:43 PM, updated May 13 2021

The post Six Most Common Background Verifications For New Hires [2026 Updated] appeared first on SpringVerify Blog.

All these identity systems have faced security flaws, identity thefts, and data breaches. The very fact that these systems house personal data with potential for misuse makes for a real debate. The Forbes article by Jayshree Pandya talks about the implications and the risks involved with having such sensitive data at hand for private entities to use.

Aadhaar is the biggest repository of human biometric data ever compiled in the history. Over a Billion people from India have their biometric and personal information in the database, with around 99% of adults already enrolled. There are apparent concerns of misuse of the data by the government and private institutions, including profiling, tracking of different accounts, and politically influencing individuals. The identity system has been linked with multiple governments and private accounts, including bank accounts, phone numbers, government-subsidized ration, and more.

Following the heated debates in 2018 and the subsequent review of the identity system by the government, the Indian Judiciary made it unlawful to use Aadhaar cards as the identity of any individual. However, the Indian Cabinet has passed an act yesterday, which allows the use of Aadhaar as an identity document, subject to authentication.

The use of Aadhaar as an identity document is slated to become robust and secure with the Indian government taking heed of all the concerns around the system. It would be used by state governments to issue subsidies as well.

Aadhaar Masking

The Indian government, in their latest iteration to the laws regulating Aadhaar use, have allowed for its use as a personal identifier. However, the use of the personal identification number on the Aadhaar is still limited. No private entity, other than the government-approved ones, can use the Aadhaar number or store it for any purpose.

The government is even looking into options for issuing temporary random numbers masking the actual identity number of the individual for usage.

Private entities can access the necessary information, except the biometric and iris scans, to validate an individual. Once validated, the entities can then save the Aadhaar in their records only after masking the first 8 digits of the personal identifier. This is called Aadhaar masking.

Anyone can log in to their Aadhaar account and download digital masked Aadhaar cards. The card with the first 8 digits masked is by law an identifier for any individual owner. It could be used to identify, to open bank accounts, and to showcase your residence.

What does it mean for businesses and individuals going forward?

These are exciting times to be alive. The need for digital identities is a pressing one going forward. The level of fraud and identity thefts have made it a necessary shift.

Businesses will be able to get better information about the person they are talking to, providing service to, or selling a product to. The cases of fraud and impersonation will fall as the system and technology behind the databases evolve. Aadhaar is here to stay.

Yet there is a need to make the system better and to have security layers in place. The government is working towards it, and we Indians will be some of the first people in the world to have superior identity systems in place.

For individuals, it would be an asset that would help them access different services both government and private. It will reduce the moving parts for any subsidies and services from the government and in the future be the best identifier of you being an Indian.

About SpringRole

SpringRole is enabling everyone’s #VerifiedProfessionalProfile on the Blockchain. It is a decentralized attestation-based professional network platform powered by the blockchain.

SpringRole is the platform where people can view, share, and get attestations on their professional profile, thereby creating a verified resume that they can share and use. The organizations themselves verify a user’s educational qualifications and work experience, which is written directly to the blockchain. To assess a user’s skill set, SpringRole has a system of weighted endorsements that let users objectively look at people’s profiles and evaluate their skill level.

About SpringVerify

SpringVerify is the modern take on the age-old problem of employee verification being costly, tedious, and out of reach of small businesses. We are trying to build a platform where the employee verification process happens seamlessly and with minimal effort required from both the company and the employee.

We believe that employee verification is a must for any business. It is a critical process in ensuring that every employee working with you is faithful and could be trusted. CareerBuilder survey shows that a company stands to lose on average $17000 on a wrong hire.

We have built the platform with blockchain and believe that it will change virtually everything it comes in contact with. Blockchain helps us in building a decentralized system which keeps all our data secure and immutable.

That was all about Aadhaar Masking, there are plenty of documents you can use for verification purposes. If you’re searching for more details around it, here’s what can help you:

• How Vaccination Verification Is A Game-Changer For Your Company?
• How can Pan Card be misused? And ways to prevent them
• Importance of Identity Check and How It Works
• A Unified Driving Licence format in India: why was it important?
• Easy Steps to get your Aadhaar XML Paperless e-KYC Done
• Passport Verification Using MRZ – SpringVerify India Blog

The post Aadhaar masking: Here’s what you need to know about appeared first on SpringVerify Blog.