Background Check & Public Record Search Utility Software

Net Detective

How Do You Do a Background Check?

With Net Detective you can:

  • Locate e-mails, unlisted phone numbers, addresses.
  • Find debtors and locate hidden assets.
  • Check Driving and Criminal Records.
  • Locate old classmates, missing family members, or a long lost love.
  • Investigate your family history, birth, death and social security records.
  • Verify your own credit reports so you can correct wrong information.
  • Track anyone's Internet activity, see the sites they visit.
  • Explore secret web sites that conventional search engines have never found.
  • Discover little-known ways to make untraceable phone calls.
  • Check adoption records; locate missing children or relatives.
  • Locate transcripts and Court Orders from all 50 states.
  • Cloak your email so your true address can't be discovered.
  • Discover how to check your phones for wiretaps.

How Do You Do a Background Check?

Testimonial:

"As a private investigator with over 22 years experience, I was very surprised to discover what a great asset Net Detective is for our business.  We can now locate hard to find information in minutes that used to take hours or even days."
- Robert J. Carlson, St. Paul, MN.

Background Check & Public Record Search Utility Software

Net Detective

How Do You Do a Background Check?

 

How Do You Do a Background Check?

After you've collected information about applicants and done several interviews, you're ready to check the background of your most promising candidate.

Because so many people misrepresent their background and credentials, it is important to do at least a little checking to see if what the applicant says about his or her background is true. A lot of employers don't do any checking, and they often regret that decision. The applicant may be unqualified for the job, or may have some personality trait or past experience that causes problems for you later.

Moreover, if your applicant will have contact with other employees or with customers, an important reason to do that checking is to avoid negligent hiring claims. If you have an employee who turns violent and harms either a customer or another employee, you could be slapped with a lawsuit if reference checking would have kept you from hiring that person.

If you have employees who have or will have significant contact with the public, customers, patients, or children, you'll want to be particularly careful about doing a thorough background check, including a check of criminal records to the extent permitted by law.

Guidelines for Reference Checking

Use the following checklist to help you check references:

  • Tell each applicant that no employment offer will be made until satisfactory reference checks are made.
  • Call or write to each reference given. If you are not going to check references, do not ask for them.
  • If you don't get a response to a written request to a local employer, call them. The conversation may reap more information than a letter would anyway, although you should be aware that many employers are reluctant to disclose much about a former employee because they are afraid of being sued, too.
  • If you request references in writing, include a signed release by the job applicant permitting the information you want to be given out.
  • Document all information that you receive.
  • Also document unsuccessful tries at gathering information, to protect yourself from negligent hiring claims.
  • If the former supervisor won't tell you anything, record the fact that he or she refused to give any information about why you shouldn't hire the applicant.
  • If you can't get the requested information from references, ask the job applicant for more information or to clear the way for you with the references he or she gave.
  • Don't make a job offer until you've completed your reference checking.

Checking Employment References

Former employers are in the best position to tell you about an applicant's work history. Make sure the information you get agrees with what the applicant gave you. Employers' references can give you some or all of the following information:

  • employment dates
  • job titles
  • rates of pay
  • nature of the tasks performed
  • work habits — including conscientiousness, sense of responsibility, and ability to work with others
  • whether they would hire the individual again, knowing what they know about him or her

Sometimes, the employer won't tell you anything more than "name, rank, and serial number" information for fear that the employee may sue them. If you run into that, remind the employer that most states consider the information "qualifiedly privileged." That means that the information is protected, and the employer who shares it is protected unless the information is given:

  • with known falsity
  • in bad faith
  • with reckless disregard for the truth

Sometimes you can get more information from coworkers or supervisors, but often they too are instructed not to discuss why the employee left or if the employee would be rehired. A number of states require former employers to provide a job reference letter or some information about people who worked for them.

No matter what, document whatever information you do get and note who gave it to you. Also note the information they would not give you.

How can you check references? By:

  • Calling: this is the preferred method because it tends to be faster, less time-consuming, and more revealing.
  • Writing: this tends to be used more when applicants have out-of-area references and when calling doesn't work. It does provide stronger documentation to prove you did you homework, though, and permits you to send the ex-employer the written release you've obtained from the applicant.

Checking Personal References

Most employers don't check personal references, even when they ask for them. There is a common perception that personal references are usually friends of the applicant, and that they will not convey any negative information, in the event that it exists, because they are friends.

If you do ask for and check personal references, keep these pointers in mind:

  • Consider it a red flag if the applicant has lived in the area for a considerable period of time but cannot list any local references.
  • Like employment references, personal references are more likely to say things on the phone than they are to put them in writing. So call rather than write, if possible.
  • Have an information release signed by the applicant and ready in case the reference requests it.
  • Ask only job-related questions. Don't ask irrelevant questions that could be the basis of a discrimination claim, and don't ask questions that could support an invasion of privacy claim.

Checking Education Records

Educational credentials are frequently misrepresented on resumes and job applications, because many employers don't check educational references. It's important to do it, though, to make sure that the applicant has the qualifications and background you want.

Common problems are the applicants' saying that they have a degree that they don't have, saying that they graduated from a particular school when they may have only attended it for a short time, or saying that they have a degree in one field when they really have a degree in another field.

Most colleges or universities will verify a job applicant's degree or dates of attendance, and many will do it over the phone. In many cases, you can also obtain a transcript if you follow the school's guidelines for releasing records.

If you've never heard of the institution, you might also want to check to see:

  • what type of institution it is
  • which degrees it awards
  • if it is accredited

Checking Credit Reports

If an applicant is going to be handling large sums of money or exercising financial discretion at your business, you may want to run a credit check. Unless you're worried about the applicant stealing money or expensive equipment, a credit check probably won't be necessary. There are a lot of federal restrictions on credit reports, so doing them can be more trouble than it's worth.

What's in a credit report? A credit report will include the following information about the applicant:

  • address
  • Social Security number
  • bankruptcies
  • tax liens
  • judgments
  • child support obligations
  • loans
  • the names of other employers who have checked the applicant's credit

What's not in a credit report? Credit reports do not provide information on:

  • previous income
  • college background
  • bank accounts
  • personal investments
  • criminal history
  • medical history

There are a number of things to consider if you decide to run a credit check.

  • You will have to pay the credit agency for the credit report. The fee can range anywhere from $25 to $50 or more for one report.
  • Federal law on credit reports : there is federal legislation that governs the use and disclosure of credit information. You must follow the law if you're going to run a credit check.
  • State laws on credit checks : A number of states currently have laws on the books that require employers to provide notice and/or copies of credit checks whenever they're used for employment-related decisions.
  • Antidiscrimination laws also apply : you can also get in trouble with antidiscrimination laws if you can't show a business reason for the credit check if screening on that basis has a disproportionate impact on minorities.

Checking Driving Records

If your job opening requires any driving of a vehicle on company business, the applicant's driving record should be checked. By checking with the motor vehicles department, you'll not only get information about the applicant's driving record, but you can use it as a chance to verify the applicant's identity.

Where do you get driving records? Driving record information is available from a state's Department of Motor Vehicles. Generally, they keep records of:

  • all traffic violations
  • driving-related offenses
  • identifying information contained on the license

What information do I need to provide? Usually, the DMV will ask for:

  • full name
  • date of birth
  • address
  • license number

Be aware that sometimes the DMV will charge you for checking these records. The cost can range anywhere from $2.00 to $10.00 or more per record. Your DMV may require that you complete a certain form for the request. Before you send a request for a record, call your DMV to find out what is required.

How can I use driving records? While it may not matter that an applicant had a speeding ticket, a driving record check can reveal other more serious offenses. If an applicant's license is suspended or expired, how can that applicant legally perform a job that requires driving?

Checking Criminal Records

You'll need to protect your business from liability by doing criminal checks on applicants who will:

  • be bonded because of access to money or valuables
  • carry a weapon
  • drive a company vehicle
  • have access to drugs or explosives
  • have access to master keys
  • have a great deal of contact with the public, patients, or children
  • be filling a position that requires a criminal record check under state law

Checking criminal records is a sensitive issue.

  • There are legal restrictions under federal law and under many state laws as well.
  • Checking conviction records is generally permitted.
  • Checking arrest records is generally not permitted, except for special circumstances.
  • Our case study illustrates the reasoning courts may follow when evaluating whether a denial of employment based on criminal records was proper.

Documenting the Reference Check

In case of a lawsuit, or even just to protect yourself in case an employee you hire later proves unsatisfactory, you should document every step of your reference check in order to show that you acted reasonably in hiring the applicant based on the information that you had.

For employers of 15 or more, employment application and reference check records must be kept for at least one year, even for the applicants you don't hire.

In order to avoid questions regarding your hiring methods, it is a good idea to create the following documents as you perform a reference check:

  • a list of all references checked
  • the name of the person who actually contacted the references
  • how you contacted the references, namely, by telephone or by letter
  • notes on all telephone conversations made
  • name and job title of every person you spoke with
  • a copy of the return letter
  • copies of actual records received, e.g., credit bureau checks, driving records, etc.
  • the fact that you made every reasonable effort to contact the reference listed but could not do so
  • the fact that you did contact the reference given but could not get sufficient information from the source.

Keep the records, once you have gone to the trouble of documenting your actions, as indicated below:

  • So long as the employee works for your company, include the reference checks as part of the hiring papers and keep these records in the employee's personnel file.
  • Treat an ex-employee's reference records and reports as merely part of that ex-employee's personnel file. No one has time to go back and weed out the file. A common rule of thumb is to keep an ex-employee's personnel file for seven years.
  • Do not throw out records of your reference checks on unsuccessful applicants. They are considered part of the employment records "having to do with hiring" that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission requires you to keep for at least one year after the date of the employment decision (if you have 15 or more employees).
  • Once a discrimination charge has been brought or any court action has been pursued, keep the records until the matter has been resolved.
  • Remove any especially sensitive records from the file. If the reference records include credit reports or criminal record reports, you may want to put them in a separate file with the employee's medical records (which also by law must remain confidential). This would prevent supervisors from seeing the information when reviewing a personnel file.
  • If you take reference reports out of a personnel file, leave a note in the file indicating where they are.

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