Information that can be included in an employment background check includes driving records, details of past employments, criminal records, military records, educational records, character references, and drug test records. However, background check companies that provide information to employers have to abide by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) which regulates the type and amount of information that an external agency can provide to an employer. Bankruptcies that are more than 10 years old as well as civil suits and records of arrest more than seven years old cannot be reported. FCRA regulations vary with the state and agencies that carry out a pre-employment background check need to ensure that they comply with the state regulations.
Employment background checks can be conducted by companies in-house or can be outsourced to third parties that may include private investigators, H.R firms that screen applicants, and data brokers who are established online. Outsourcing an employment background check has its advantages but if a third-party is conducting a background check, consent from the applicant is required and under FCRA regulations the applicant should be provided with a copy of the investigations. If the employment background check is conducted in-house, the employer is not bound to obtain the applicant’s consent or apprise him in detail of the reason for rejecting his application.