Employment background screening has gone from being a “nice-to-have” to a “have-to-have” function for most American companies. Up to 80 percent of organizations now perform some kind of criminal background check, and the number is growing. In addition, companies that might have only performed criminal checks in the past are now adding checks of past employment, education, credit and driving histories, sex offender registries, restricted parties lists (like OFAC) and much more.
But while background screening becomes ubiquitous, organizations still tend to make many mistakes in their screening procedures and practices.