Companies hiring new employees or volunteers or reviewing existing employees and individuals may choose to perform a background check on someone for a variety of reasons that pertain to company protection. Many companies or individuals are more specifically concerned with a felony background check. A felony background check concentrates on the criminal record of an individual and allows the inquisitor to know of any felonies that the subject of the check may have been convicted of, such as serious crimes like murder, rape or grand theft. It is commonly thought that if someone has a felony conviction that they may be a repeat offender endangering anyone around them.
Although individuals may perform a felony background check on someone, such as a landlord checking out a tenant, felony background checks are primarily run by employers. Some employers are even required by law to perform a felony background check. It is most common for a check to be required on employees working with children and elderly or disabled persons. Employers are checking criminal records for child abuse and child abduction. It has also become popular in recent years to look for felonies that have to do with suspected terrorist activities.
When felony background checks are not required by law, employers may choose to conduct one for their own interests. Once a company hires an employee, they may be liable for the employee’s actions. When a company makes a poor hiring choice, it may be costly in numerous ways. Not only may a poor decision cause issue financially by requiring a payout in a lawsuit or losing funds to fraudulent activities, but a company may also receive damage to their reputation.
For individuals or employers looking to conduct a felony background check on someone, they have a variety of options. Private investigators are most commonly used for individuals or small businesses wishing to perform a felony background on someone. For medium to large size companies that need to perform multiple felony background checks, there are companies that specialize in employment screening.
Alternatively, anyone who wishes to perform a felony background check on someone may do so through an online data broker. Employers need to be cautious in conducting felony background checks on the internet. Information offered to the public by web-based information brokers is not accurate or updated. In the United States, it is against federal law to report or make hiring decisions on inaccuracies.