Employment Background Checks

Employment Background Checks

Background checks have become part of the hiring process in the modern era. More than 90% of employers conduct background checks on new employees, including calling the referees provided by the candidate in their resume, using a screening company, and reviewing a candidate’s professional background (Peleza Team, 2021). By September 2022, it was estimated that 90% of all the companies listed in the Fortune 500 list run a background check on job applicants before deciding whether to hire them(Person, 2022). Although job candidates understand that background checks are essential to vetting their eligibility for a job, most candidates do not understand the boundaries an employee should keep when conducting a background check. Some employees take advantage of this and invade a candidate’s privacy without consent, leading to emotional issues among candidates whose sensitive personal information is exposed. Therefore, the effectiveness of employee background checks during the hiring process is limited by an imbalance in the understanding of the limits of a background check between employers and job candidates.

The social contract between employees and employers gives employees the right to run a background check on any job applicant. Employees promise employers that they will perform well and meet their expectations, while employers promise employees that they will compensate them for completing assigned tasks. Therefore, a background check facilitates trust between the employee and the employer by validating an applicant’s information to determine their suitability for a job. Unfortunately, many job applicants do not understand the established standards or principles that create limits to the information that the employer can access when conducting a background check. Therefore, rogue employers who do not maintain ethical standards when conducting a background check invade most job applicants’ privacy. According to Binns & Kempf (2020), the rules about conducting a background check should be part of the social contract between a job applicant and an employer, but the easy availability of an applicant’s personal information on the internet raises concerns on social guidelines regulating a candidate’s privacy and the relevant information sources that employers should use. This creates a risk of an employer having too much power over an employee’s privacy, leading to violating social contact rules.

Employers are responsible for respecting job applicants’ privacy when accessing their school and military, financial, medical, and criminal records. Employers can access specific school and military records with a job applicant’s consent. School records are confidential and should not be released without the owner’s consent, and military service records can only be released under specific circumstances. The only military records an employer can access are salary, rank, name, awards, and assignments with the job applicant’s consent. Although employers may be allowed to access an applicant’s financial records, they are prohibited from discriminating against an applicant because they have a history of bankruptcy. Federal and State Laws influence access to criminal records information. Some laws do not allow employers to ask applicants about past convictions or arrests if they are irrelevant to the vacant positions. In contrast, others allow employers to conduct a detailed review of an applicant’s criminal history. Medical records are confidential, and any medical issue that could impact an applicant’s performance should be disclosed to the employer with the applicant’s consent. Understanding these limits can help job applicants protect their privacy when applying for a job and hold employers accountable when they violate their privacy.

References

Binns, C. A., & Kempf, R. J. (2020). Background checks: The theories behind the process. Security Journal, 34(4), 776–801. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41284-020-00260-4

Peleza Team. (2021, May 30). Why it is prudent to conduct refresher checks. Peleza International. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://peleza.com/why-it-is-prudent-to-conduct-refresher-checks

Person. (2022, September 28). The importance of employee background checks for big companies. Online reference checking software. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://www.veremark.com/blog/the-importance-of-employee-background-checks-for-big-companies

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Employment Background Checks

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