There are so many questions involved with implementing a background screening program in your organization – But some of the questions that rise to the top are, “when and how often are organizations background screening?”

  1. When are you doing your screening? Are you doing it after a contingent offer is made, after an interview is conducted or before an interview is conducted? – I think when background screening was first done; very few people employed background screening before an interview. We saw in the early years of background screening a lot of people implementing background screening criteria or practices immediately after an interview.
  2. Over the past four to five years, we’ve seen the statistics move where 62 percent of our client-base is conducting their screening after some form of contingent offer is made. Now, some of that has to do with the type of screening that you’re doing; if you’re doing drug testing for example, if you’re doing fingerprints, if you’re doing any sort of medical testing,  if you’re doing any sort of testing that has to do with workers’ comp results. That has historically almost always been post-contingent offer.
  3. The real shift in those statistics has happened with companies that are primarily doing some sort of identity screening and criminal background screen. The EEOC’s movement in this area and the strong stance that they’ve been taking over the past year has caused a lot of companies to move that practice of background screening to the post-contingent offer. I think that’s bearing out in the employment numbers that you’re looking at here.
  4. Obviously, in the tenant screening arena, those same concerns do not currently apply. Clearly, the EEOC concerns have not risen in the volunteer context, so this same moved to post-contingent offer, we have not seen in the volunteer screening context.
  5. How often are we repeating our screening? Clearly, the vast majority of our client-base in the employment sector is completing their screening or is conducting their screening annually. I will say that in the volunteer screening space, we are seeing that number more like every two years. However, we see a new approach arising called “continuous monitoring” – this occurrence is an impending radical change for the future of background screening.
  6. We have been an advocate with our client-base, not just simply because we want to make more money as a service provider, but rather because we see what kind of things can arise in the course of a calendar year with a volunteer pool. We’re still seeing some of the larger denominations debate and discuss movement from overarching standards that say, “Every three years down to every one year”, and we have been advocates in the employment screening sector for improved quality.
  7. Tenant screeners typically are screening on the front end. We do not see annual screening as frequently in that space. Although, I think that that is beginning to change as awareness is being driven up on the employment side and in the employment screening arena.

“When” and “how often” are two great questions in regards to background screening – and we are pleased to shed some light on this controversial and convoluted topic! If you have any more questions or simply want more information please make use of our free resources: https://peoplefacts.com/webinars/.