Background Checks

System

My organization must perform and pay for background checks before we hire and send employees to clients' homes for personal care and homemaking services. This significantly delays our ability to provide service to individuals to a waiting list of people in. The turn around time takes about 3 weeks. By that time we often lose the interested applicant as well as the money we have paid for the check.

Any suggestions?

And, am I correct that if an applicant states that they do not have a police record on their application and a check reveals that they do then we can then fire them without a problem?

Thanks.

deniseE

If you indicate on the application that falsification of any information is cause for termination-you're correct; however, you have to weigh the delay against the possibility of sending a convicted felon into the home of your client. AND if you advertise a certain caliber of employee and the client later finds out otherwise...that could be trouble...

Check with your state police...we use a service offered through ours and we have a much quicker turn-around than you seem to.

System

What is the fee for this service?

deniseE

I'm not sure what we pay, I know that we receive a volume discount...it was cheaper than a 3rd party service.

sonny

I'd check out some other companies. . Three weeks is way too long, as you note. We use a company out of state and I ususally can get them in 3-5 days.

System

Who do you use?

Thanks.

sonny

Eve..sent info. to your private box.

juju

We are able to do our criminal checks (state of PA) online and get immediate printable verification if the prospective employee has no record. If they do have a record, we must wait for a copy of it to be mailed to us (usually takes about 2 weeks). In the meantime, we do allow the employee to start working. I am not totally comfortable with this, but I cannot change it.

Due to our industry (residential care for MH/MR kids), there are certain crimes that can disallow prospective employees from employment. However, we have a question on our application asking whether they have been convicted of a misdemeanor or a felony. If they answer no, but their criminal check proves otherwise, we will term them for falsifying their application (whether or not the crime would have disallowed their employment).

As far as losing the interested applicants, have your applicants worked in the field before? If so, maybe they have their own copies of clearances. At the very least, they should understand that these things take time. When we offer a position, we tell the applicant that we will pay for their physical/drug screen as long as they come to work for us. Otherwise, they are told we will bill them for the cost. Maybe you could do the same with clearances for your prospective employees.

Hope this helps!

Nat

I have worked in Long Term CAre for the past 11 years. We are required by the state to do criminal background checks on all potential employees before they are hired. We usually get our state background checks within an hour, whether or not there is anything showing on it and can print it out. We also have to do fingerprinting (through the State Bureau of Investigation) on potential employees who have not lived in our state for at least five years. This usually takes 3-5 weeks to get back. What I do is do the state checks - if that is O.K. and they have to have fingerprints, I go ahead and let them start working with their continued employment being contingent on the results of the SBI check. Have only had to terminate one in 11 years after getting fingerprints back. I would check into getting a company who can give you a better turn around time. There are plenty out there. Good luck.

LeeR

we are required to do background checks by fingerprinting prior to the employee working. However, in our situation once the prints are recieved by our State Dept of Health I can work the employee pending the results coming back. We scan our prints so it really isn't a problem for us.