Is My Privacy At Stake With Employment Background Check Information?

When the time comes to apply for fresh career opportunities, candidates are a little confused of employment background check procedures. They are not aware of what all will be public in the course of a reference check for their job position. New graduates or middle-aged executives who have not come across such background verifications before think that such a check will invade their privacy and the whole world will know some things about them that they would never want to share.

 

It will help such people to know what can be possibly comprised in an employment background check information report. For instance: driving records, social security number, bankruptcy, property details, past employers, vehicle registration, educational record, character references, military records, court records, credit records, state licensing records, criminal records, medical and drug test records and sex offender listing.

However, it is heartening to know that some of these things cannot be included in an employment background information report without proper permission and authority of the record-holder, thanks to the provisions in the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). This legislation applies to consumer reporting agencies running a reference check on someone and not on employer companies who do their background checks internally.

 

According to the FCRA, a consumer report cannot include the following:

• Bankruptcy after ten years.
• Civil suits, civil judgments and any arrest data, from the entry date, after 7 years.
• Liens for paid tax after 7 years.
• Those accounts placed for collection after seven years.
• Any negative fact about the person after 7 years with the exception of criminal convictions.

 

Apart from this, some states might have stricter laws governing the info contained in a background report. For instance, medical records are not to be made public unless the position requires a good physique. Even if a person has had some history of an illness, he cannot be rejected for the job on this ground.

 

As a candidate, you can also challenge the employment background check information contained in the report. Any employer has to submit his inability to recruit you for the job in writing. He must also attach a copy of the background screening report along with for reference. If you feel that the report has mistakes, you can ask for a clarification for sure. It is always better for employers to rely on professional background report services available online and avoid complications.