Because once is not enough: Ongoing criminal monitoring

Background checks as part of the applicant/new hire process has been the norm for decades to ensure that the workplace is safe.  To accomplish this, the background screening industry is constantly evolving and expanding. One of the top screening trends for 2019 is continuous monitoring. This will keep employers in the know of any criminal acts that have been committed from when an employee was hired.

In an effort to KEEP the workplace safe long-term and to protect their brand, employers have begun instituting continuous monitoring. In essence, this is a kind of risk management tool to protect against fraud, violence, employee theft and embezzlement. The continuous screening process, or in other words, the re-screening process will perform background checks annually or semi-annually, according to the employer’s specifications.

Taking the lead with instituting a continuous screening program, was Uber. Closely following their lead, in April 2019, Lyft rolled out continuous background checks for their drivers. The transportation industry has reported the greatest number of rolling background checks. They are followed next by utility companies, healthcare and government agencies, food services and the construction industry. Since these industries place extra emphasis on customer or patient care, they have adopted continuous criminal history checks to ensure safety and mitigate risk.

Just like any background screening program, employers who conduct rolling background checks must take heed to ensure that they are following the relevant federal and state laws. These laws, under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), include procuring authorization and disclosure from employees before conducting the checks unless there is a reason for a specific investigation based on a suspicion or misconduct. While the authorizations forms are generally evergreen and only require an employee to give a one-time consent, an employee can revoke his/her consent at any point. Aside from the FCRA, employers are required under the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Guidance (EEOC) to take the nature and gravity of each offense into account before taking any further action. Furthermore, employers must follow the appropriate adverse action processes should he/she consider not retaining or promoting an individual based on the results of a background check.

Since effective screening does not stop after an applicant is hired, ApplicantSafe’s ongoing criminal and MVR monitoring provides assurance that those who were safe to hire to begin with have stayed that way.