Abstract
Background checking (BC) is a process of verifying job-related information provided by job applicants. The use of recommended BC methods and practices was investigated through a survey of companies. On average, employers used five BC methods and 15 BC practices. Companies tend to perform the same BC across all types of positions. Forty-seven percent of companies outsourced BC. Several factors influenced BC such as the size of the company, outsourcing, who is responsible for BC, perceived effectiveness and the amount of time spent on BC. Practices to handle criminal convictions, arrests and inconsistencies during BC are identified. The implications of these findings for future research and practice are discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.References
15 U.S.C. §1681 2012
Ajzen, I. (1991). Theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 179–211.
Albemarle Paper Company, et al. v. Moody, et al. (1975). 95 S.Ct. 2362.
Bannister, M., Jilka, M., & Ulrich, D. (2014). Striking gold, not dynamite when using social media in employment screening. Hofstra Labor and Employment Law Journal, 32, 1–29.
Bentley, E. (2013). The pitfalls of using social media screening for job applicants. ABA Journal of Labor and Employment Law, 29, 1–13.
Bernerth, J. B., Taylor, S. G., Walker, H. J., & Whitman, D. S. (2012). An empirical investigation of dispositional antecedents and performance-related outcomes of credit scores. Journal of Applied Psychology, 97, 469–478.
Bryan, L. K., & Palmer, J. K. (2012). Do job applicant credit histories predict performance appraisal ratings or termination decisions? The Psychologist-Manager Journal, 15, 106–127.
Butler, T. (2000). The FCRA and workplace investigations. Labor Lawyer, 15, 391–413.
Carlsen v. Wackenhut Corp (1994). 73 Wn. App. 247; 868 P.2d 882 (Wash App. 1994).
Davison, H. K., Bing, M. N., Kluemper, D. H., & Roth, P. L. (2016). Social media as a personnel selection and hiring resource: Reservations and recommendations. In R. Landers & G. Schmidt (Eds.), Social media in employee selection and recruitment: theory, practice, and current challenges (pp. 15–42). Switzerland: Springer.
EEOC (2012). Consideration of arrest and conviction records in employment decisions under title VII of the civil rights act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq.
EEOC Written Testimony of Renee Jackson (2014). Retrieved from.
El v. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (2007). 179,479 F.3d 232 (3d Cir. 2007).
Ficht, L. S., & Levashina, J. (2011). When lying, cheating and stealing isn’t necessarily illegal: the need to adopt a commercial fraud standard in employment law cases. Southern Law Journal, 21, 289–307.
Gallagher, K. (2006). Rethinking the fair credit reporting act: when requesting credit reports for employment purposes goes too far. Iowa Law Review, 91, 1593–1621.
Green v. Missouri Pacific Railroad Company (1975). 549 F.2d 1158, 1160 (8th Cir. 1977).
Griggs v. Duke Power Co. (1971). 401 U.S. 424.
Hebert v. Aulerich (2008). 59,876-7-I. (Wash. App. 2008).
Hickox, S. A., & Roehling, M. V. (2013). Negative credentials: fair and effective consideration of criminal records. American Business Law Journal, 50, 201–279 http://www.nelp.org/publication/ban-the-box-fair-chance-hiring-state-and-local-guide/. https://www1.eeoc.gov//eeoc/meetings/3-12-14/jackson.cfm?renderforprint=1.
Kelchner v. Sycamore Manor Health Center (2005). U.S. App. LEXIS 3697, (3d Cir).
Klass, B. S., McClendon, J., & Gainey, T. W. (1999). HR outsourcing and its impact: the role of transaction costs. Personnel Psychology, 52, 113–136.
Klass, B. S., McClendon, J., & Gainey, T. W. (2001). Outsourcing HR: the impact of organizational characteristics. Human Resource Management, 40, 125–138.
Le, M., Nguyen, T. B., & Kleiner, B. H. (2003). Don’t be sued for negligent hiring. Nonprofit World, 21, 14–15.
Levashina, J., & Campion, M. (2009). Expected practices in background checking. Employee Responsibilities & Rights Journal, 21, 231–249.
Levashina, J., Morgeson, F. P., & Campion, M. A. (2012). Tell me some more: exploring how verbal ability and item verifiability influence responses to biodata questions in a high-stakes selection context. Personnel Psychology, 65, 359–383.
Little, B. L., & Sipes, D. (2000). Betwixt and between: the dilemma of employee references. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 12, 1–7.
Mael, F. A. (1991). A conceptual rationale for the domain and attributes of biodata items. Personnel Psychology, 44, 763–792.
Maurer, R. (2015). Morale, productivity suffer from bad hire. The Society for Human Resource Management. Retrieved from http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/staffingmanagement/articles/pages/morale-productivity-bad-hires.aspx.
NCSL (2016a). State Social Media Privacy Laws. Retrieved from http://www.ncsl.org/research/telecommunications-and-information-technology/state-laws-prohibiting-access-to-social-media-usernames-and-passwords.aspx.
NCSL (2016b). The At-Will Presumption and Exceptions to the Rule. Retrieved from http://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/at-will-employment-overview.aspx.
NELP (2014, May). Statewide Ban the Box Reducing Unfair Barriers to Employment of People with Criminal Records. Retrieved from http://nelp.3cdn.net/7a4a37fd1b0127eb0e_erm6vu7c0.pdf.
NELP, Rodriguez, M., Avery, B. (2017). Ban the Box: U.S. Cities, Counties, and States Adopt Fair-Chance Policies to Advance Employment Opportunities for People with Past Convictions Retrieved from http://www.nelp.org/content/uploads/Ban-the-Box-Fair-Chance-State-and-Local-Guide.pdf.
NELP, Rodriguez, M., Christman, A. (2015). Fair Chance Ban the Box Toolkit. Retrieved from http://www.nelp.org/content/uploads/NELP-Fair-Chance-Ban-the-Box-Toolkit.pdf. Accessed February 7 2017.
Nieman v. Grange Mut. Ins. Co. (2013). U.S. Dist. LEXIS 47685 (C.D. Ill. Apr 2, 2013).
Oppler, E., Lyons, B., Ricks, D., & Oppler, S. (2008). The relationship between financial history and counterproductive work behavior. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 16, 416–420.
Roulin, N., & Levashina, J. (2016). Impression management and social media profiles. In R. Landers & G. Schmidt (Eds.), Social media in employee selection and recruitment: theory, practice, and current challenges (pp. 223–248). Switzerland: Springer.
Ryan, A. M., & Lasek, M. (1991). Negligent hiring and defamation: areas of liability related to preemployment inquiries. Personnel Psychology, 44, 293–319.
Segal, J. (2014). Social media use in hiring: assessing the risks. Society for Human Resource Management, 59.
Shattuck, C. A. (1989). The tort of negligent hiring and the use of selection devices: the employee’s right of privacy and the employer’s need to know. Industrial Relations Law Journal, 11(1), 2–17.
Society for Human Resource Management (2004). Human resource outsourcing survey report. Retrieved from http://www.shrm.org/publications/hrmagazine/editorialcontent/documents/human%20resources%20outsourcing%20survey%20report.pdf.
Society for Human Resource Management (2012). Background checking—the use of criminal background checks in hiring decisions. Retrieved from http://www.shrm.org/research/surveyfindings/articles/pages/criminalbackgroundcheck.aspx.
Society for Human Resource Management (2016). Conducting background investigations and reference checks. Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/toolkits/pages/conductingbackgroundinvestigations.aspx.
State of Texas v. EEOC (2013). 2013cv00255.
State of Texas v. EEOC (2016). No. 14-10949 (June 27, 2016).
Sweet v. LinkedIN Corp (2015). 2015WL 1,744,254 (N.D. Cal. 2015).
Tallahassee Furniture Company v. Harrison (1991). 583 So. 2d 744 (Fla. App. 1991). The need to adopt a commercial misrepresentation standard in employment cases.
Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (1978). 29 C.F.R. Part 1607 et seq. 43 Fed. Reg. (August 25, 1978).
United States v. Spokeo, Inc. (2012). No. CV 12-05001 (C.D. Cal. June 12, 2012).
Walsh, D. J. (2013). Employment law for human resource practice. Boston: Cengage Learning.
Welsh Manufacturing v. Pinkerton’s Inc. (1984). 474 A. 2d 436 (R. I. 1984).
Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc. (2015). 135 S.Ct. 1338.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Funding
No funding was obtained for this study.
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethical Approval
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Informed Consent
No informed consent was required, Kent State University IRB has approved this research as Level I/Exempt research (#09–159: “Background checking survey”).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Levashina, J., Peck, J.A. & Ficht, L. Don’t Select until You Check: Expected Background Checking Practices. Employ Respons Rights J 29, 127–148 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10672-017-9294-4
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10672-017-9294-4