In modern times, employers need to screen job applicants to determine which applicants to call for an interview and among those, whom to hire. But, how? If you want to know in detail with certain facts, then continue to read and touch the bottom line of this blog.

For this, many employers do pre-screening background checks of job candidates. Through this, they got to know about the information that the hiring managers use to curtail the candidate pool. This process is basically done to check and determine data provided by applicants on their resumes and cover letters. The check is associated with the verification of family background, credit or criminal records, fake-identity, social security number tracing, drug testing, lie-detecting, and compensation claims history checking.

Usually, employers outsource every part of the mentioned evaluations to separate third-party groups that mainly concentrate on background screening.

To make sure about each information and facts required while making a new hire, the employee pre-screening is a great way. There are many companies, that first give an eye and run a background check of the applicant and then proceed to hire.

While conducting the hiring sessions, companies do the heavy lifting and pay their best of time and efforts to bring out the productive results in the form of skilled and suitable employees. But it would be foolish to ignore the employee pre-screening background check reports. After collecting the detailed applications, CVs, reviewing resumes and implementing the final stage of hiring, the pre-screening check needs to be considered as the prominent one.

When Should You Conduct Pre-Employment Checks?

This question doesn't carry any hard and fast rule of conducting the pre-screening checks. It depends on the companies and their hiring team that either they should do it before or after the interview of the candidates. While many companies conduct such tests before the interview schedule. Hence, it depends!

When it's about before the job offer, then it will not make any delay and take much time between the period of job offered and joining of the candidate, as the pre-screening investigations have already been done. It will also imply that you can easily and without wasting much time move to the next candidate if you find any negative aspect of the candidate in pre-screening. So there are certain profits of conducting the screening before the job offered to the applicant.

Now, if we talk about after the job offered, then this is the usual and customary route plus medians you only have one applicant to go through. But, you may have to begin the interview process from scratch with some tricks. And after their joining, you have to investigate from their previous company also about the financial or threatening record. Therefore, it is recommended to all the hiring departments to conduct the pre-screening investigation before the job offered.

Laws Governing Pre-Emptive Screening of Employees

The government has scheduled some of the strict laws and regulations, particularly for the companies and for their hiring aspects. Choosing the top and suitable resources for your company is a basic and pre-mandatory look for driving your company on a growth trail.

The foremost corporations have completed severe pre-emptive checks and investigations to verify the falsification of accounts. ‘Pre-screening background check’ may also ask the interference of expert agencies, who may be offloading with the task of handling the pre-screening background checks on applicants to be employable. Now let's analyze certain legal checks directing ‘pre-emptive screening’.

EEOC; Equal Employment Opportunity Commission directs strict laws governing the systems that employers need to obey for background checks and what data they can reach.

  • Initially, the employee needs to be informed in a written format that the pre-screening check is being attended and might affect their suitability for hiring and be the part of the company. This information must be a separate document from the employment letter.
  • The applicant must present written approval of the background check.
  • If continuous background checks are a requirement of employment, a company must state so explicitly in its addressed policies.
  • If any personal interviews are carried to know about an employee's status, lifestyle or personality, the employee has a power – and must be informed of that power – to a record of the character and scope of these interviews.

There are certain tests and investigation checks that are marked as legal by the higher authorities and must be considered by the employer. Or else, it would turn into a legal claim by the employee. These are:

  1. Online information through social media or sites, if the employee as a public account, otherwise they don't have login permission in case of private accounts.
  2. Medical records, but they are legal with certain limits and are not the part of pre-screening.
  3. Credit history checks with legal approvals. The Fair Credit Reporting Act claims that an employer must get written approval before asking an employee's credit report.
  4. Drug testing, but it is not legal all over the world except some provinces. The drug testing policies must be written in the policies concerning the government approvals.

Advantages of Pre-Screening Checks

The companies must conduct these pre-screening background checks so that they will get the following benefits and overall productivity.

Identify: A pre-screening check identifies the real identity of the applicant so that the fraud cases don't threat the companies.

Experience check: These pre-screening and background checks make the employer know about the exact years of experience and educational status of the applicant. So that no lie, and false statement hits the interview session.

Criminal and Legal History: Companies and their employers can also know and check about the criminal records and history of the candidate. It can disclose their information such as compelling records, including a company vehicle, civil lawsuits fewer than seven years old, and county, state or federal convictions.

Credit Check: A potential employee's overdraft or credit-claimed history may be involved in a pre-screening check. This will get assured the employer about the financial and credit history of the applicant. So that the company won't get affected in the future.

Wrapping Up

The background checks or pre-screening checks are simpler and easy attempts that have made to get a robust team of suitable employees for the company's development and rapid growth. You never know, when the crises happen and what is they are caused by your own employees? Therefore, to overcome such threats, the pre-screening checks are indeed important. If you are looking for such tools, then visit at EmployeePast. We are there to provide you with best employment screening services. Don't wait and give your company a robust and strong team of employees.