What Shows up on a Background Check?

As a core component of the pre-employment screening process, background checks help employers assess their candidates’ qualifications and mitigate risk. A thorough background check report provides key details on candidates’ credentials, employment history, and other job-related competencies to facilitate informed decision-making and enable employers to hire with confidence.

While organizations may recognize the importance of conducting background checks to build workforce trust, they may be unclear about what shows up on the final report. In practice, the scope of a background check can vary by industry, risk tolerance, and the nature of the position, though most pre-employment background checks cover a few key aspects of candidates’ history and credentials.

Types of background checks explained

There is no universal background check that covers every single facet of a candidate’s qualifications and activities. For thorough background screening, employers should select a range of searches that cover relevant information for the position being screened.

Criminal history checks

The U.S. does not have a national repository of criminal records. Criminal history checks can be conducted at the federal, state, or county level, with each type of check providing a different scope of information.

County-level criminal history check results provide a candidate’s felony and misdemeanor convictions and pending cases in the counties where they have resided, based on their address history. Some states maintain a repository of criminal records, in which case employers may conduct a statewide search to find convictions and pending cases from all counties within the state. Federal searches, on the other hand, provide additional insight into crimes prosecuted in the federal district courts, such as kidnapping and international drug trafficking. Employers hiring for positions that involve working with vulnerable populations may also conduct a sex offender registry search.

Criminal background checks are country-specific. For information about criminal convictions in other countries, employers would need to conduct searches in each country where their candidates have worked or lived. The contents of the final report will vary based on local privacy laws and regulations.

Employment verifications

Employment verifications are used to assess candidates’ professional experience and qualifications. Typically, this involves contacting the past and current employers listed on a candidate’s resume or disclosed on their consent form to confirm specific employment details, including the job title, dates of employment, reasons for leaving, and eligibility for rehire. When the verification is completed through a third-party background screening provider, discrepancies are identified and flagged for employer review. Employment verifications are required for Department of Transportation (DOT)-regulated positions, though employers routinely conduct them as part of the hiring process in other contexts.

Education and credential verifications

Education verifications generally involve confirming candidates’ programs of study, dates of study, and whether they obtained a degree or diploma. In contrast, credential verifications confirm that candidates’ professional certifications are valid and that they are in good standing with the issuing body.

Like employment verifications, education and credential verifications help employers determine whether a candidate is qualified for the position. In regulated fields, such as healthcare and finance, employers may be required to verify their candidates’ credentials before hiring.

Reference checks

Reference checks are completed by contacting people who know the candidate, usually past supervisors or managers, to ask them questions about the candidate’s character and work proficiency. Reference checks are investigative consumer reports and have different legal requirements than the rest of the consumer report. The contents of the final report will vary depending on the questions asked, with reference screening providers typically providing multiple customizable options for employers to choose from.

While employment, education, and credential verifications typically focus on objective, factual information, reference checks provide subjective insights into candidates’ attendance and performance to provide a different  picture.

Motor Vehicle Records (MVR) searches

• Employers may conduct MVR searches when hiring for positions that involve transporting goods, driving a company vehicle, or representing the company on the road. MVR reports include the following information:
• Date of the driver’s license issue and expiration
• Current license status
• Restrictions
• Suspensions and revocations
• Violations and citations, including details
• License type

An MVR search helps employers assess whether their candidates meet DOT regulations and company requirements for safe driving.

Credit checks

Employment credit checks provide employers with a limited version of candidates’ consumer credit reports. They are typically ordered as part of the due diligence process for positions that involve financial responsibilities or oversight, as well as in regulated industries, such as insurance and finance.

The credit history check results may include the following information:

• Name and addresses
• Past and current employers
• Credit accounts, balances and payment history
• Credit inquiries
• Past and current bankruptcies

Financial history details do not include salary information. Employment credit reports are prohibited in some places and therefore are not available in all states and countries.

Variables that impact the contents of the screening report

A background check will not necessarily reveal all available information about a candidate’s history. The information included in the final report depends on multiple factors, including federal consumer reporting regulations, state laws, and user errors.

Protected characteristics

Some characteristics are protected under the laws enforced by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), including race, sex, national origin, disability status, age, religion, color, and ancestry. Since protected characteristics cannot be used to make an employment determination, it is best practice to exclude them from the screening process.

Employers who conduct their own background checks can inadvertently obtain information about protected characteristics, potentially leading to perceived bias if they make an adverse employment decision. Conducting background checks through a third-party screening provider helps reduce the potential for real or perceived discrimination, since the provider can screen out irrelevant details from the final report.

Time limits

In the U.S., the contents of background check reports, which are considered “consumer reports,” are governed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). To protect candidate privacy, the FCRA prescribes specific time limits beyond which some personal information can no longer be disclosed on a background check, including:

• Bankruptcies after 10 years
• Credit checks after seven years
• Civil suits, civil judgments, and records of arrest after seven years or until the governing statute of limitations has expired, whichever comes last

The FCRA and other federal legislation do not set a specific time limit for disclosing criminal convictions. To promote fair hiring practices, individual states have passed expungement laws that automatically seal records or allow individuals who have been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor to apply to have their records sealed after the required period of time has elapsed. Lookback periods can vary from one state to another, although most go back seven to 10 years. There is no comparable expungement system for federal offences, which typically remain on an individual’s background checks throughout their lifetime.

What does this mean in practice? Employers should expect that the background check results reflect recent activity, not lifetime records. For instance, an eight-year-old conviction that can lawfully be disclosed in one state may not appear during searches conducted in another state.

Incomplete and inaccurate information

Privacy regulations are not the only factor that can influence the results of a background check. If the information supplied by a candidate is incomplete or inaccurate, this can prevent the disclosure of potentially relevant details about their past and present activities.

Common sources of errors and missing information include:

• Missing aliases and former names. Some candidates may have a criminal record under a maiden name, nickname, or other former name or alias. If these names are not disclosed during data collection, any convictions associated with them will not be discovered during the background check.
• Typos and reading errors. Simple mistakes, like misspelling a name or reversing the month and day of birth, can prevent records from being discovered. Illegible handwriting can make the data collected through paper consent forms difficult or impossible to decipher. Reliance on manual processes increases the chances of data entry errors.
• Candidates may deliberately omit relevant information. For example, a candidate whose relationship with a former employer ended on bad terms may omit that employer from their employment history.
• Identity fraud. Identity fraud is on the rise, enabled by new technologies. Fraudulent candidates can appropriate another individual’s identity and credentials, create synthetic identities that combine real and fabricated personal data, or go through the screening and interviewing process on behalf of a different person.

Preparing for the background check: Setting expectations and taking action

While some information may be excluded from background screening for compliance reasons, employers can take steps to broaden the data included in the final screening report.

Streamlining the candidate experience

Errors and omissions are more likely when the screening process is opaque or convoluted. By communicating transparently about what they expect, organizations can help demystify the background check process for candidates. When it comes to background screening, employers should look for a modern and intuitive platform that guides candidates through the data collection and consent requirements, with clear instructions at every step. Stressing the importance of providing as many relevant details as possible can help reduce missing information and improve the quality of the final report.

Alias names and Social Security Number (SSN) verifications

Since U.S. criminal history searches are based on names and address history, including an SSN verification to uncover additional aliases and addresses can broaden the scope of the criminal records search, potentially uncovering more criminal convictions.

Identity verification

Verifying candidates’ identities before the background check helps reduce the risk of identity fraud. By improving the accuracy of the personal data used to complete background searches, identity verification helps increase the likelihood of finding relevant records. Since manual identity verification is time-consuming, many organizations rely on digital identity solutions to confirm that their candidates are who they say they are. Beyond improving reporting quality, an identity-first approach can also speed up the screening process by pre-populating verified data into the consent forms, reducing the risk of entry errors.

With all that being said, what can employers do if they realize the final report is incomplete due to missing information, such as an overlooked name or an unexplained employment gap? In that situation, another background check may have to be conducted with the missing information, in case it uncovers additional relevant details. Employers may want to speak with the candidate to request clarifications and clear up any potential misunderstandings, for example, if the candidate is under the impression they will automatically be rejected if they have a criminal record.

Robust employment background checks provide organizations with crucial insights that support informed hiring decisions, mitigate risk, and build workforce and customer trust. Employers should work with their legal counsel to design a background screening program that aligns with job requirements, industry best practices, and internal policies.

First Advantage helps organizations across all industries create tailored screening programs that build trust throughout the entire employee lifecycle. Contact us to learn more.