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In order to do a complete and comprehensive background check for potential employees, most companies request Social Security Numbers (SSN.)
But what happens if an applicant refuses to disclose their SSN?
It’s important that your company have a policy in place regarding SSN Disclosure. Depending on whether your company is hiring employees or volunteers, your policy may differ.
For employees—there is no way around SSN Disclosure. Providing a Social Security Number is an important step in the background check process. It provides information that Name and Date of Birth simply would not. And according to the Federal Privacy Act of 1974, companies are allowed to require SSN disclosure for various reasons. There are no legal protections that allow applicants to refuse to provide their SSN.
For volunteers—it can depend on your company’s views. It is not 100% necessary to require your volunteers to disclose. However, like we stated above, Social Security Numbers give you access to information about potential volunteers that you may need. If you do not require volunteers to disclose you cannot, however, obtain certain types of reports, e.g. Social Security Number Trace Reports, some County Criminal Reports, etc. A lot of reports just simply cannot be run without SSNs.
For potential employees, it is not “illegal” to require them to disclose their SSN. And in order to protect your business and employees, it is necessary. For potential volunteers, it will depend on your company’s policy and which type of reports you want to run.
Background checks can be tricky and with so many laws and regulations it can be hard to keep track. The best response to an applicant not disclosing their SSN, is to follow your company’s policy and consult with a company lawyer. And since an applicant’s Social Security Number is not protected under current law, it can be required.
NOTE: The contents of this article are not legal advice for your particular situation. You should neither act nor rely upon anything stated in this article without first consulting your own legal counsel.
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Employers, and subsequently Human Resources personnel, are constantly seeking to recruit and hire the best applicants available. With a large applicant pool it can be difficult to differentiate one qualified applicant from another. Effective pre-employment assessments can certainly identify the skill set of each applicant to help narrow the field but there is more to be considered.
Every employer wants to build from a base of trust with each employee and verifying the information that an applicant provides is essential to a solid relationship. Beyond the trust factor is the duty of an employer to provide a safe environment for employees and ultimately the market that they serve.
Without a sufficient background check the employer runs the risk of being held negligent for any problems that the employee causes in the performance of their duties. Due diligence in the form of a pre-employment background check can identify a foreseeable risk that can mean the difference between a valuable resource or a liability for the employer.
Components of the Background Check
- Social Security Number Check and Validation: A Social Security Number is unique to each individual. The Social Security Number Check provides information about the names and addresses associated with a given Social Security Number. In addition to providing name and address information for comparison against what is provided on the application, a Social Security Number Check is used to derive addresses in order to conduct the personal history information search. Social Security Number Validation does not tie the Social Security Number to the applicant. It only provides an indication that the number may be accurate.
- Criminal Court Record History: There are two entirely separate court systems in the United States – federal courts and county courts – and a search of one system does not include a search of the other. Each system operates under its own set of rules and has its own courthouses, clerks’ offices, indexes, and judges. As such, criminal history records are contained as follows:
- Local/County Court: Also, known as a “court record search,” this search requires a direct examination of the digital records of a county courthouse to determine if the applicant has a record at that court. Most often a court record search requires physical access to obtain information or simply to obtain copies of dispositions for review.
- Statewide Criminal History Information: There are two varieties of statewide information. The first is a state repository managed by a division of state law enforcement. The second is actual court data from a statewide case management system. Even when available both types of sources have limitations and advantages. The advantages are a single point of access for an entire state with one search. If that state has many courts with statutory access fees, a single access fee may be less expensive than a search of indicated counties separately. A disadvantage, with respect to a case management system, is that not all counties may have become activated on the system at the same time and there may be inconsistencies in how the system is used from county to county. Many law enforcement repositories have been shown to lack current case updates or dispositions. Both types may suffer from delays in entering information, high access fees, or very long turnaround times for results. Additionally, it may not be clear what data is included and what is not.
The site may provide conviction records only or may provide non-conviction records as well. In response to increased use and heightened privacy concerns, many records will not be publicly available if mandated internal documentation is missing, and useful identifiers, such as a date of birth, a driver’s license number, and a Social Security number, are often redacted rendering the data useful only as an initial index search. The most accurate, current, and reliable criminal history information is found at the court of origin, not in any repository.
Nevertheless, statewide criminal history information may have a place in an employer’s background program. (Florida, for example, provides an employer a measure of protection against negligent hiring lawsuits if that employer specifically included a check of the state repository as one element of a background screen.) As with all aspects of pre-employment background screening, the decision to use statewide criminal history information should be considered in the context of an employer’s complete pre-employment background screening program and the advice of counsel.
- Federal Court (District, Nationwide): This is a search for a record of a federal offense in one or more of 94 U.S. federal district courts. Federal offenses include crimes committed on federal property (government office, national park, etc.) and violations of the US Federal Criminal Statutes. It is imperative the user obtain additional identifiers on the result prior to making any decision. Additional identifiers are found on a Judgment and Conviction page. If the federal offense did not result in a conviction, there will be no identifiers, and the result should not be used.
- Propriety databases: These databases are offered and run by specific Consumer Reporting Agencies and contain negative history information about subjects. Data may include State Sex Offender registries, corrections records and assorted criminal records. The sites may not have complete identifiers and caution should be taken to verify the match with the applicant. In addition, although these services are marketed as “National Criminal Files” they are not comprehensive in any state and should not be used as a standalone for criminal research.
Criminal History and identity verification should be considered as basic elements of your background check. The level of research should be determined by the risk associated with the given position. To avoid complications with equal employment opportunity, the same level of background check should be applied to all candidates for the same position.
Additionally, if the position requires handling cash, or goods that are easily convertible to cash, a Credit Report is advisable.
Similarly, if the position requires driving a company car, or the applicant’s own car on company business, a state Motor Vehicle Report is recommended.
There are still more options for creating a thorough pre-employment screening. Some of those include: A Prior Employment Verification, an Education / Degree Verification, a Professional License Certification, a Character Reference and a Drug Screening.
At SELECTiON.COM® we offer a la carte pricing on more than 25 different reports and bundled packages created by client specifically meeting the needs for the industry or the position being filled.
Contact us today to see how SELECTiON.COM® can take your employment background check process to the next level.
NOTE: The contents of this article are not legal advice for your particular situation. You should neither act nor rely upon anything stated in this article without first consulting your own legal counsel.
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The University of Cincinnati game vs. the Miami Hurricanes is sure to be an unforgettable night. The Bearcats will open the American Athletic Conference play on Thursday October 1st, at their newly renovated Nippert Stadium. The game starts at 7:30 p.m., and as part of the opening ceremony, Team Fastrax™ will be performing their famous pyrotechnic skydive along with their American Flag jump. The night pyro is their most requested show and often causes UFO sightings in the surrounding areas. For the full story click here.
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The Importance of Background Checks
Criminal Background Checks and Pre-Employment Drug Screenings are two essential components of any hiring process. This blog entry shows why these background checks are so important and how Selection.com adds value to our clients every day.
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Research on Employee Theft
As reported in a recent study by Hayes International, employee theft is a major problem in business today. In 2010, 69,373 employees were arrested for workplace theft. In those cases, over $44 MILLION was recovered. One in 33 employees was apprehended for theft from their employer in 2010. Dishonest employees steal 5.9 times MORE often than shoplifters!!!
Consider that these figures do not include:
- Stolen time by employees (time paid for no work)
- Stolen time of employers (time spent monitoring and responding to employee theft)
- Stolen reputation of the company name or brand name
- Stolen morale of other honest employees
If the AVERAGE shows that 1 in 33 employees is guilty of theft, how can YOU beat those odds?
The answer is criminal background checks and pre-employment drug screening.
How Selection.com can help
At Selection.com, we have been providing employment background checks for HR professionals for over 20 years. We serve thousands of clients and perform millions of background searches every year.
To make it easy for clients to manage different types of background checks on candidates, employees, volunteers, etc., we’ve built a free web-based system called Fastrax Select. This system provides a single point of control, integrates with your HR software and does not have setup fees or monthly access fees.
Read the testimonials from our clients, or read our client case-studies to see how we save time and money while delivering the most accurate and comprehensive background checks possible.
To talk to one of our New Account managers, contact us today.
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The Employment Policy Foundation estimates the hidden costs of turnover.
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Every employer experiences turnover. But some turnovers can be prevented by weeding out risky hires. For example, when an employer has to terminate an employee for theft, criminal behavior or other activities that harm the corporation, those hires can be reduced by doing criminal background checks. But let’s look at what the hidden cost of turnover is.
These numbers were reported in Graphic Arts Monthly (Feb. 2, 2005).
When factoring in:
- Separation costs
- Interview time
- Paperwork
- Relocation
- Unemployment
- Training
- Vacancy Costs
- Lost productivity
- Advertising
|
But NOT including:
- Theft
- Replacement costs
- Litigation
- Decreased moral
- Tarnished reputation
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the AVERAGE cost of separations is estimated at…$15,000 per employee!!
When you factor that cost for multiple employees, it increases dramatically.
- For 7 employees, the annualized cost is of turnover, or separation is $100,000.
- For 15 employees, the annualized cost is over $200,000.
- For 100 employees or more, the annual costs reach $1.5 MILLION!!
At Selection.com, we’ve been reducing risky hires for 20 years.
We do millions of criminal background searches and pre-employment drug screenings per year.
We’re ready to help YOU!
