Is the Economy Slowing Your Background Checks Down?

Aug. 14, 2012 - PRLog -- Bottom line, there has been an increase in turnaround times and costs of background checks in most areas. This sounds like a double negative and can easily be turned against your pre-employment screening firm. But is it their fault?
Research says no. Why? With the recent economic downturn, courts across the country have either cut back on staff or instituted little known court fees for conducting research for civil and criminal files. Quite often, both are true.
Counties are strapped with the chore of trying to find ways to save and earn income to support their departments. Many have cut staffing hours for the local courthouses, including some that are open just one or two days a week. Some courts are charging a tax of up to $35.00 per name to be searched. Many of these courts don’t have a public access terminal or online access so researchers are forced to use the clerk at the desk to research their request by hand. This takes time and money.
Pre-employment screening firms across the country are doing their best to counter this problem but ultimately, it appears it is out of their hands. The courts pass policies and procedures and the researchers and screening firms have no choice in the matter. Ultimately, this affects the end user of the consumer report by costing more and taking a bit longer to get the results.
Other screening firms, including online date only firms, are fighting this by selling a database solution to their clients. Some see this as a dangerous way to offset the problem because of the lack of completeness that inherently comes with a database search. Often, these searches are not updated by the courts or the courts simply don’t report into them at all. This leads a wide open hole in any pre-employment screening program.
When it comes to such a litigious matter like pre-employment background checks, it’s important to insulate yourself as much as possible, while still keeping in mind your bottom line. Often times, if you have a professional screening firm working for you, a simple phone call will help. They can help you balance your needs versus the cost and time it takes to complete an industry compliant and acceptable background check.
The bottom line is with the changing times of the economy, background checks that are done right, will change slightly as well. We all hope this is temporary and as the economy grows, the industry will get back to normal. But, for now, simply communicating with your firm will often times help you get through this tough time.
For questions about how to streamline your pre-employment screening solutions or anything else industry related, please contact Dusty Lefdal at Employers Investigative Services via toll free phone at 866-350-5638 or email dlefdal@eischecks.com. Feel free to visit www.eischecks.com for more info.