Why conduct pre-employment and contractor screening? 

Background screening helps employers exercise due diligence in the hiring process.
Employers are increasingly being held responsible for the acts of their employees and agents. Pre-screening reduces the uncertainty that a potential employee or contractor has a problematic record that could pose a significant risk to the employer and its customers.  The bottom line is that pre-employment background investigations allow employers to hire with confidence.

In addition, employers have discovered the following benefits of pre-screening:

• Encourages honesty from candidates.  A potential employee is more apt to be truthful in the hiring process if he/she knows there will be a formal verification process.
• Acts as a deterrent to individuals who know they will not meet the employer's stated qualifications, thereby optimizing the time HR devotes to the recruitment selection process.
• Provides "peace of mind" to employees, customers and stakeholders. Employees, customers and stakeholders feel safer knowing that prospective hires and volunteers are screened. This is especially true for organizations that operate 24 hours a day and/or provide services to children, the elderly, and other “at-risk” individuals.
• By conducting a reasonable background check commensurate with the position, an organization significantly reduces the risk of liability for negligent hiring while protecting its employees, customers, and assets.

Why outsource?

Conducting pre-employment background investigations is task oriented and requires specialized knowledge and resources.  There are over 3,000 court jurisdictions in the U.S. alone.  An organization would have to make a significant capital expenditure to build a system and process to quickly collect, analyze, disseminate, and house this information.  This function would also need to be appropriately staffed to comply with the legal complexities surrounding background investigations.  By outsourcing this function, employers are able to focus on their strategic HR initiatives and leave the tasks of reference checking, public record retrieval, and legal compliance to professionals.

What are the legal ramifications?

All of our procedures are fully compliant with the Fair Credit Reporting Act and applicable state laws. We also consult with our clients at no additional charge to assist them with legal compliance issues.  Fidelitec provides clients with the required legal compliance forms and proper procedures, including, but not limited to:

• Applicant Notification and Authorization
  
• Employer Release
  
• Applicants Rights
  
• Adverse Action

If you are a new Fidelitec client, the process will consist of three overall steps: (1) an initial consultation to determine your needs, (2) conducting background investigations at your request, and (3) post-investigation services as appropriate. These steps are described below.

Initial Consultation

There is some information we need to receive from you prior to conducting background investigations for your organization. This initial consultation takes about 10 minutes (although we are happy to spend longer with you when needed) and is typically completed in a phone conversation with an HR professional. Here are the steps Fidelitec completes with new clients in the initial consultation.

1. Determine the needs of your organization

We can recommend screening criteria that would be appropriate based on the types of positions you will be filling. You may wish to establish a package system for the different levels of recruitment. For example, plant employees will be screened under “Package X,” sales employees under “Package Y,” and management positions under “Package Z.”

2. Review your application materials

If you would like, Fidelitec will review your application materials to ensure the necessary candidate information is being captured, and ensure that noticing requirements comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). We will customize all the necessary forms your organization may need to comply with the FCRA.

3. Select a method for submitting and receiving background investigations

To submit new candidates, many clients opt to access our screening system directly via the Internet, while others prefer to fax application materials to Fidelitec.  You may also choose to receive completed reports by fax or email.

Secure online access to our screening system allows every Fidelitec client to review the progress of each investigation in detail.

Conducting Background Investigations

The Fidelitec approach to background investigations is thorough and value-added. The basic step-by-step procedure is as follows.

1. The organization submits a candidate for investigation directly by secure Internet access or by fax.

2. Fidelitec creates an Identity Profile of the candidate. This crucial step verifies the following so that accurate court research may be conducted:

• A valid social security number for the candidate
  
• A correct name for the candidate, along with any aliases that may have been used, such as a maiden name
  
• All addresses associated with the candidate, to determine which county courts and federal districts need to be searched

3. Based on the information returned in the Identity Profile, Fidelitec searches the appropriate court jurisdictions for records. Please note that Fidelitec conducts primary court research, meaning that we query the courts directly; we do not use any third-party databases or record aggregators for court research. This helps ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information we collect as well as identifying matters that are pending or unadjudicated.

4. If any “hits” are found during our court research, the order is automatically “Red Flagged” to quickly draw the client’s attention to a possible problem.

5. Depending on the other criteria selected by the client, Fidelitec will make reference calls, verify employment and education, obtain a driving record(s) and credit reports, and/or verify professional licensure.

6. Once all the different elements of a candidate investigation are complete, a report is produced in PDF format and automatically sent to the client’s designated email address(es). The report is also stored on Fidelitec’s server, where it will remain indefinitely for future call-up by the client.

7. As a Fidelitec client, you will be able to the monitor the progress and results of each investigation via secure Internet access.

Post-Investigation Services

1. Fidelitec’s professional staff, including a Certified Fraud Examiner, reviews every completed candidate investigation. We do not believe in merely providing our clients with unedited data. Instead, we analyze and interpret the facts, assimilating the information into results that the organization can actually act upon. Our professional staff is always available to answer any questions about a candidate report.

Our system is housed on a secure server and requires 128-bit encryption to gain access.  Each individual user has a separate username and "strongly typed" password, meaning that a combination of letters, symbols, and numbers is required.

Once an investigation is complete, the report is stored on the server indefinitely and cannot be altered.  Employers will always have access to their investigations, even years after the fact.  The server is backed-up every hour in the event of a disaster.

How long does a background investigation take?

The length of time it takes to complete a background investigation depends upon the service elements that are selected. The average time to complete a background investigation is 24 - 48 hours.  No matter how extensive a background investigation may be, Fidelitec's commitment is that we will complete a background investigation in no more than 3 business days.  Our speedy process enables employers to get the information they need prior to making offers of employment. 

Fidelitec does not charge any set-up fees or require any minimum usage. All consultation and training is free, regardless of the number of end-users for an employer.  There are no hidden costs in our fee structure and therefore, no surprises.

The cost of a particular background investigation depends on the type of the position the applicant is seeking.  For example, an employment candidate for an entry-level position is typically not screened in the same way as a senior executive.  However, as a general rule of thumb, the cost of an investigation is typically far less than a candidate's first day of compensation.

To obtain more detailed information on our fee structure and turnaround times, please contact us.

How can we get started?