Do all businesses do background checks?
Nowadays, almost every company will run a background check on people before hiring them. The number one reason they do so is for safety. The National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS) performed a survey on this topic and we’ve broken down the highlights. The research included why or why not companies conduct background checks, below are some interesting items we found in the study.
Hiring managers do background checks to avoid nasty surprises. They can verify what is on the job candidate’s application and see if they have any convictions for illegal activity. Depending on what type of company it is, background checks may include criminal history screenings, drug tests, credit history, driving records, and so on. Hiring managers may check with government agencies and use a private company that specializes in screening job applicants.
The study had 1,528 HR professionals as participants. It included companies in every state. The study found that 96 percent of employers will use at least one type of background screening. 93 percent will look at an applicant’s national criminal record. 97 percent do a county or statewide criminal background check. Credit is looked at by 87 percent of businesses and 80 percent looks at a sex offender registry database.
Just 4 percent of the people in the study said they didn’t do any employment background checks. 29 percent cited the cost as to why they don’t do background checks. 27 percent couldn’t say why they didn’t conduct them. Of this 4 percent, 37 percent said that they use other methods to screen job applicants.
The number one reason companies do background checks is to make sure their workplace is safe. This was cited as the reason for these checks by 89 percent of the respondents. Other reasons why they were conducted included 52 percent saying it was to get better hires. 45 percent wanted to protect their business’ reputations. 44 percent cited the fact that they did so to comply with laws and/or regulations.