The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) allows employers to obtain and review civil litigation/judgment and criminal arrest information covering the prior seven years when evaluating a person for employment, promotion, reassignment or retention. It also permits the review of criminal conviction data beyond seven years.
Oftentimes, employers forgo checking an applicant’s driving record because of budget restrictions or when driving is not required as part of the job description. This is flawed thinking. A driving record inquiry should be included in all screening efforts since key evaluation information could be missed. For instance, if an employer checks a candidate’s criminal record in Michigan, Wisconsin or any other state, reporting is limited to events that occur within that particular state. All states, however, share driving record data, and if a candidate’s driving record is checked through the Michigan Secretary of State (or another state’s equivalent), the report of any civil/criminal driving related violations would be nationwide.
For a pre-employment inquiry to be thorough, Backgroundcheckswork.com recommends that clients evaluate all candidates with the Basic Nine (See http://www.backgroundcheckswork.com/the-basic-nine). One of these screenings includes a driving record. Wouldn’t you want to know if an applicant was convicted in another state of an alcohol and/or an illegal substance driving related offense? You would not uncover this relevant information if you just checked his/her state criminal history record!
Before you offer someone a job, take the necessary steps to determine if there are any potential red flags! Spend a little more on the front end, hire right and potentially save a lot on the back end!
Backgroundcheckswork.com is a subsidiary of and is fully staffed by investigators from Research North, Inc., a professional private detective service providing support to the business community and the insurance industry since 1981. The company specializes in legally compliant inquiries for small and medium sized Michigan and Wisconsin businesses wanting to evaluate individuals seeking employment, promotion, reassignment or retention as employees.
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