Employment screening is a practice utilized by most employers nationwide. There are certain trends among those practices that stand out more than others. Are you contributing to the rise in these trends? Continue reading to learn more about what this year’s top 3 background screening trends are and the impact they have on both employers and employees.
Social Media Presence
Analyzing social media presence has become a growing trend among providers in the background screening industry. However, proceed with caution when hopping aboard with this trend. Although some providers offer online and social media searches in their suite of products, there is still a fine line between candidate privacy and regulations set by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
Discriminating against a candidate based on content shared privately with friends (even if it’s publicly viewable) can create a minefield of legal implications and potential liability. Despite piquing your interest, diving into an applicant’s social media could reveal particularly personal information that you may not even need to know as an employer, let alone use as the basis of a hiring decision.
Ongoing Monitoring
A second, and more justifiable, trend among employment screening is continuous monitoring. Employers need to know who they’re hiring before they hire them… but what about after? Current employees are equally capable of committing crimes as potential employees.
It’s important to stay informed about your employee’s legal (or in this case illegal) activity, which explains why continuous screening is becoming a more commonplace practice in more industries. If something changes on your employee’s criminal record, you should be aware. Especially when the charge pertains to the field, or industry, they work in.
Weighing Criminal Records
Speaking of criminal records, our final trend is a rise in hiring ex-offenders and former inmates convicted of a felony. Many factors contribute to this change, though the most significant points towards labor shortage.
Employers struggling to find workers are turning towards former criminals as an underutilized source of labor. One in three adults in the U.S. have a record of some kind. So imagine one in three adults not having a job because of that reason. More often than not, it comes down to the severity and relevance of the crime. Particularly in cases of misdemeanors or rehabilitated individuals. A criminal record shouldn’t automatically disqualify a candidate who is otherwise qualified.
This rising trend could also be attributed to the majority of HR professionals who find little difference in quality of hire between those with a criminal record, and those without.
What do you think of this year’s top 3 background screening trends? Share your feedback with us and while you’re at it, see if Alliance 2020 offers more screening options than what you’re using now!
