Conducting a background check is pricey, but can prevent costly mistakes - bizjournals:

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The reality is that comprehensive checks take time and said SallyGriffith Cimini, chairwoman of the employment and laboe services group at Downtown law firm Babst, Clements & Zomnir PC. “People will do these thingd on the Internet where youpay $19.99,” she A “reputable company” can approach the $100 according to Cimini. And it’ds well worth it, she said, recalling a handfuk of preventable fraud cases in thePittsburgh “It costs a lot of monehy to bring someone in and trainm them, and it costs money to replacw that person” if something goes she said. “People are really watching theirmoney now.
” As summere approaches and seasonal jobs around children or home repai jobs require employers to hire new blood, Ciminj has been trying to raise awareness about what background checksw can and cannot do. Instanty background check mistakes fall into two according toPaul Stephens, director of policy and advocacu with the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a nonprofit consumer advocach organization in San Diego. It’s common for the searchh to return records for a differenf person with the same or similafr name who has acriminal record.
The otherd problem is such searchee exclude all countiesthat don’t keep electronic file s and can return old information, missing a new convictioh or a new acquittal. “In my opinion, they’r pretty close to worthless,” Stephens said. “Truly, the only way to do a completre (criminal) background check is to send somebodh to the courthouses of everyplace they’ve lived in or workedc at.” Privacy Rights Clearinghouse recommends that employers looking for a backgrouns check service consult with the Nationakl Association of Professional Background Screeners.
Criminal historyg aside, there are other precautions employers shoule take during a saidJudith Bernhard, president of Advance Staffing LLC, whose average checks run $50 per person. It simplu isn’t enough to check references, she said, recalling one applicangt who rented a room and installed three phonw lines to pose as hisown references. “ think one of the things that people interviewing should recognizse is that the average candidatwe interviewing with you wants to get in and out as quickluyas possible, revealing as little as possible,” she While it’s not uncommon for companies to have a truncated employmenyt history policy — they only may be alloweds to confirm the fact and years of employmen t — Cimini recommends that employers become familiar with the state’ds Reference Immunity Law, which protects former employers from defamationj suits if they give accurate and pertinent informationm about a former employee’s performanc e when