Checkr FAQs

If the company you're applying to has certain requirements for driving historyyou may need to request a Motor Vehicle Record or Abstract from your state agency (like a Department of Motor Vehicles) that clearly states the Issue Date. Following is the information to contact each state's agency.

Alabama Department of Public Safety

Request "Driver Abstract Request - Full History" in person at an office location, or send theRequest for Individual Driver Abstractincluded in this Document Link via postal mail. Do not request online. Click here for more instructions.

Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles

Request Full Individual Record" in person or at an office location, or send the "Request for Driving Record" included in this Document Link via postal mail. Do not request online. Click here for more instructions.

Arizona Department of Transportation

Request "Motor Vehicle Record Request" (included in this Document Link ) in person at an office location or via postal mail. The record must be certified, and either a "5 year " history or a "Driver History - Extended" needs to be requested. Do not request online. Click here for more instructions.

Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, Office of Motor Vehicle

Request an "Insurance Record" online, insurance, or via postal mail. Use this Document Link. Click here for more instructions.

California Department of Motor Vehicles

Visit a local office and request a copy of your driving history. You can also visit the California DMV website and request a copy of your driving record.

Colorado Department of Motor Vehicles

Request a non-certified driving record at a local office, or send form DR 2559 (found in this Document Link ) via postal mail. Click here for more instructions.

Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles

Request in person or via postal mail with form J-23 "Copy Records Request Form" (found in this Document Link ). Click here for more instructions.

Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles

Request "Full Record" or full history (found in this Document Link ) in person or via postal mail. Do not request a "3 year record." Click here for more instructions.

Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles

Request "Complete driver history" in person or via postal mail with "Driver License Records Request" (found in this Document Link ). Click here for more instructions.

Georgia Department of Driver Services

Request a Certified MVR in person or online at this Georgia DDS site. It must be the "Certified MVR" option.

Hawaii Division of Motor Vehicles and Licensing

Contact the company where you are applying to drive. It will help you use this Request for Driver History Record.

Idaho Division of Motor Vehicles

Request a "Full History" online using this Transportation Department site.

Illinois Office of the Secretary of State

Request in person or via postal mail using a "Driving Record Abstract Request Form" (found in this Document Link ). Click here for more instructions.

Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles

Request a "Viewable Driver Record" online at this site. Click here for more instructions.

Iowa Motor Vehicle Division

Request online or via postal mail with a "Privacy Act For Request of Motor Vehicle Records" form (found at the myMVD site ). Click here for more instructions.

Kansas Division of Vehicles

Request online, in person, or via postal mail. Request a "Full Driving Record." Use this site to request it online.

Kentucky Transportation Cabinet

Request a "5 year driving history" in person or by postal mail (using this Document Link ). Click here for more instructions.

Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles

Request an "Official Driving Record" online or in person. Click here for more instructions.

Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles

Request a "10 year record" online or in person. Click here for more instructions.

Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration

Request a "Certified Driving Record" online (using this link ) or in person. Click here for more instructions.

Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles

Request "True and Attested Driving Record" in person or online (using the Online RMV site ). Click here for more instructions.

Michigan Bureau of Driver and Vehicle Records

Request in person, by postal mail, or by telephone. Use the " Michigan Department of State-Requesting Your Own Record " form, and select "Driving Record." Click here for more instructions.

Minnesota Driver and Vehicle Services

Request in person, by email, or by telephone. Use "Record Request Form (PS2502)" (found in this Document Link ) and select "Certified Copy." Click here for more instructions.

Mississippi Department of Public Safety

Visit a local office and request "Certified Motor Vehicle Report." Click here for more instructions.

Missouri Department of Revenue

Request "Driver Records with Personal Information" (found in this Document Link ) in person, via postal mail, or via fax. Click here for more instructions.

Montana Department of Justice, Motor Vehicles Division

Request a "Driving Record" or "Release of Driving Records" online (using this link ), in person, or via postal mail. Click here for more instructions.

Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles

Request "Application for Copy of Driving Record" (found in this Document Link ) online or via postal mail. Click here for more instructions.

Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles

Request a "Full Driving History" online, in person, or via postal mail. Click here for more instructions.

New Hampshire Division of Motor Vehicles

Request a "Certified Driver Record Report" (found in this Document Link ) online, or in person at the Concord office. Click here for more instructions.

New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission

Request a "Certified Driving Abstract" online, in person, or via postal mail. Click here for more instructions.

New Mexico Motor Vehicle Division

Request a "Certified Driver Record" online (using the MVD site ), or via postal mail. Click here for more instructions.

New York Department of Motor Vehicles

Request an "Abstract of Certified Driving Records" online (using the DMV site ) or via postal mail. Click here for more instructions.

North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles

Request a "Driving Record Request" online (using the DMV site ), in person, or via postal mail. Click here for more instructions.

North Dakota Department of Transportation

Request a "Full Driving Record" online (using this request system ) or in person. Click here for more instructions.

Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles

Request a "Certified Official Driver Abstract" in person or a "Driving Record" via postal mail (using Form 1173 found at this Document Link ). Click here for more instructions.

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation

Request a "Full History" online (using this Document Link ), in person, or via postal mail. Click here for more instructions.

Rhode Island Division of Motor Vehicles

Request a "Certified Rhode Island Driving Record History" online using this link.

South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles

Request a "10 year Driver Record" online (using this SCDMV link ). An unofficial copy is available immediately, and a certified copy will be mailed to the address listed.

South Dakota Motor Vehicles Division

Request a "3 Year Record" (found in this Document Link ) in person at select offices, or via postal mail. Click here for more instructions.

Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security

Request a "MVR" online (using this link ), in person, or via postal mail. Click here for more instructions.

Texas Department of Motor Vehicles

Request a "Certified Abstract of Driving Record (Type AR)" online (using this DPS link ) or via postal mail. Click here for more instructions.

Utah Department of Public Safety

Request a "Full MVR" online (using this DPS link ), in person, or via postal mail. Click here for more instructions.

Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles

Request a "Certified copy of complete operating record" (found at this Document Link ) in person at the Montpelier office or via postal mail. Click here for more instructions.

Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles

Request online (using this DMV link ), in person, or via postal mail. Click here for more instructions.

Washington Department of Licensing

Request a "Complete Record" online (using this DoL link ), in person, or via postal mail. Click here for more instructions.

Washington DC (District of Columbia) Department of Motor Vehicles

Request a "Certified Driver Record - Full History" in person. The record must be certified. Click here for more instructions.

West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles

Request a "Driving Record Request" online (using this DMV link ), in person, or via postal mail. Click here for more instructions.

Wisconsin Department of Motor Vehicles

Request a "Driver Record Abstract" online (using this DOT link ), in person, or via postal mail. Click here for more instructions.

Wyoming Department of Transportation

Request a "5 year Driving Record" (found in this Document Link ) in person or via postal mail. Click here for more instructions.

Many recruiters and HR professionals want to receive updates on their candidates as they progress through the background check process. Checkr can provide email updates to you on candidates as they progress, letting you keep the candidate workflow efficient and follow up with candidates who may be in statuses likeConsider,Suspended, or Expired.

To set up these email updates, go to the Account Settings section, then scroll toYour Email Preferences.

invitation

You can receive the following notifications:

Report created: Receive an email every time a new background report is created. This will typically generate a large volume of email.

Report clear: Receive an email when a background report returns in a Clear status.

Report consider: Receive an email when a background report returns in a Consider status, indicating that there is something on the report for you to review.

Report suspended:Receive an email when a background report is Suspended, meaning that Checkr contacted the candidate to provide additional information, but the candidate has not responded.

Report disputed:Receive an email when a background report is Disputed, meaning a candidate has contacted Checkr to contest the accuracy of a report. Checkr will initiate a re-investigation for these candidates.

Candidate invitation expired: Receive an email when an invitation that you previously sent has expired. This means that the candidate has not completed the invitation within 7 days.

Candidate invitation sent: Receive an email every time an is sent to a candidate. This will typically generate a large volume of email.

Canada - report created, report clear, andreport consider: Background checks run in Canada have separate email notification preferences for reports in these three statuses.

ClickUpdate to save your preferences.

Email preferences are set for each individual account, so you can set the ones that youd like to receive without worrying about changing your teammates settings.

This article will help you:

Determine which checks are in your package

Understand a basic report package

Learn where to look for more info on other Checkr products

This article is intended for users withAdmin orRequester roles.

A package refers to the checks conducted once the candidate authorizes their background check. You can view your selection of packages on the Home section of the dashboard.

For more information on the products Checkr offers, see the Checks Types section in the Help Center.

Please contact Checkr Customer Support for questions about the options we offer, or to configure packages specific to your needs.

When you order a background check package on the Checkr Dashboard, you'll see which checks it includes:

Checks Types

Basic report package

Most checks begin with a "basic" report package, which includes the most common searches:

SSN Trace

Sex Offender Registry Check

Global Watchlist Records Check

National Criminal Records Check

These searches cannot be run as standalone searches, and are always run as a group.

Social Security Number (SSN) Trace

The SSN Trace is run first, and provides verification that the SSN exists, what state it was issued, what year it was issued, and all known names (AKAs) and addresses associated with the SSN.

Data returned from the SSN Trace, including previous addresses and possible aliases, is then used as a pointer to run a County Criminal Records Check, searching specific counties for records.

Process: Credit Bureau records are checked against the name, date of birth and SSN submitted by each candidate. All discrepancies are vetted by Checkrs QA team prior to initiating the remaining checks.

For more information, please see Social Security Number (SSN) Trace in the Checks Types section of the Checkr Help Center.

Sex Offender Registry Check

A nationwide search of all 50 states and the District of Columbias sex offender registry for all levels of registered sex offenders. Search includes type(s) of offense and identifiers, such as Date of Birth (DOB).

Process:A near instantaneous database search. All potential records are vetted by Checkrs professional QA team to ensure maximal accuracy.

For more information, please see Sex Offender Registry Check in the Checks Types section of the Checkr Help Center.

Global Watchlist Records Check

Searches for terrorists and individuals excluded/barred by the US government and foreign entities. Also includes a sanctions search to identify individuals who are included in government sanction databases.

Process: A near-instantaneous database search. All potential records are vetted by Checkrs professional QA team to ensure maximal accuracy.

For more information, please see Global Watchlist Records Check in the Checks Types section of the Checkr Help Center.

National Criminal Records Check

A pointer database of over 900 million records is queried instantly.

Process:A near instantaneous database search, delays only occur when a record requires additional review by the Quality Assurance team.

Note that this is different from a Federal Criminal Records Check.

For more information, please see National Criminal Records Check in the Checks Types section of the Checkr Help Center.

County Criminal Records Check

If the basic report package returns any pointers to possible data in specific counties, a County Criminal Records Check is initiated. All felony and misdemeanor records identified on the National Criminal Records Check are verified at the source county courthouse. A County Criminal Records Check is conducted in one or more of the following:

Current County Check:In the county where the candidate has most recently resided.

Unlimited County Checks:In all counties where the candidate had a registered address during the past seven years.

Process:This is a largely human search, both for Checkr and for other consumer reporting agencies. However, Checkrs proprietary software ensures more consistent quality across the efforts of many contributors. Checkr sends licensed and insured court researchers into each respective courthouse to search for records.

There are some restrictions on state-by-state reporting. Checkr will report what is legally reportable for each state.

For more information, please see County Criminal Records Check in the section of the Checkr Help Center.

This article will help you understand:

The Checkr Health Check

The process for requesting Checkr Health Check

The candidates experience

Find answers to your questions in the Checkr Health FAQs article.

Checkr Health Check

Checkr Health combines drug with occupational health checks, allowing you to evaluate your candidates physical fitness for your job requirements. Drug checks allow companies to test their candidates for a broad range of substances to reduce the costs and risks associated with the impact of drug abuse. Occupational Health Checks allow you to test for the physical requirements of a position, including vision tests, respirator fit tests, and tests for TB and other communicable diseases.

Checkr partners with eScreen to offer a wide variety of drug checks and occupational health checking services. This partnership allows Checkr Health to provide candidates access to over 6100 labs across the country, that provide a single location for both drug checks and occupational health checks.

Some states have specific laws or guidelines relating to drug and occupational health checks in relation to employment. For example, most states require a conditional offer of employment be made before requiring candidates to submit to a drug test or occupational health check. Please work with your legal counsel to ensure that you are meeting these requirements.

For more information on available checks, and to enable Health Check on your account, please contact Checkr Customer Support.

The process for requesting Checkr Health check

When a position requires a Checkr Health check:

1. Requesters issue an invitation to participate in the background check process (which includes a step to schedule their Health Checks)2. Candidates must then schedule and complete their appointment before the deadline set by customers. (The default is3 days. Work with your Checkr Customer Success representative to customize this deadline.)

3. Results are posted to the Checkr Dashboard as follows:

When an occupational health checkhas been completed, results are posted to the Checkr Dashboard and to the Candidate Portal.

When a drug test has been completed, results are returned to Checkr as Negative or Non-Negative. To view results, click Health Report on the candidates background check.

Negative indicates that the test revealed no evidence of the listed substance.

Non-Negative indicates that the test revealed evidence of one or more of the listed substance(s). (For more information on specific non-negative results, please contact Checkr Customer Support.)

4. Non-Negative results are submitted to a Medical Review Officer (MRO) for additional processing.

MROs make three attempts in 72 business hours to contact the candidate to discuss any Non-Negative results.During the interview, the MRO will question the donor to determine if there is a legitimate medical explanation for the test results.

NOTE: Any prescription information provided by the donor will then be confirmed with the originating pharmacy.

In accordance with the interview findings and relevant prescription information, the MRO will make a final determination of the result.Once the result has a verified disposition, Checkr returns the result through the Checkr Dashboard.

If the MRO is unable to reach the donor during this time, results will remain Pending for an additional 72 business hours to allow the candidate to return the call.

If the candidate does not respond, the result will be posted to the Dashboard and included in the final report as Positive-UTCD (Unable To Contact Donor).

NOTE: During the review process, the results will remain Pending in the Checkr Dashboard.

Candidate experience

Checkr Health Checks may be run as a standalone Screening.

Candidates will be asked to schedule and complete the testing process at a location of their choice..

Checkr's mobile-optimized, easy-to-use Occupational Health and Drug Check scheduling flow allows candidates to schedule one test for all required checks, access the candidate check pass (or passport), and view results within the same system.

Candidates will receive an invitation to the screening, asking them to enter their information, consent to the test, and select a screening location.

After entering their information, they will be presented and asked to acknowledge receipt of applicable forms and notifications, including Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and an Acknowledgment and Authorization for Background Check.

Next, they will schedule their test(s) before the listed date at a lab of their choosing.

Candidates must then download and print their Check Pass and report to the lab to submit to their drug and/or occupational health test.

Results are returned as Negative or Non-Negative.

Negative indicates that the test revealed no evidence of the listed substance and are posted in the Candidate Portal

Non-Negative indicates that the test revealed evidence of one or more of the listed substance(s). (For more information on specific non-negative results, please contact Checkr Candidate Experience.)

Non-Negative results are submitted to a Medical Review Officer (MRO) for additional processing.

MROs make three attempts in 72 business hours to contact the candidate to discuss any Non-Negative results.During the interview, the MRO will question the donor to determine if there is a legitimate medical explanation for the test results.

Note: Any prescription information provided by the donor will then be confirmed with the originating pharmacy.

In accordance with the interview findings and relevant prescription information, the MRO will make a final determination of the result.Once the result has a verified disposition, Checkr returns the result through the Checkr Dashboard.

If the MRO is unable to reach the donor during this time, results will remain Pending for an additional 72 business hours to allow the candidate to return the call.

If the candidate does not respond, the result will be posted to the Dashboard and included in the final report as Positive-UTCD (Unable To Contact Donor).

If you've applied for a job and are looking for more information on your background checks status or progress, please log into the Checkr Candidate Portal.

Under the FCRA,arrestsare reportable for seven years from the arrest date and can appear on a background report for seven years.

However, some states entirely prevent arrests from being reported. These states include California, Kentucky, New York, and New Mexico.

On theCandidates tab of the Dashboard, you will see one of the following statuses for candidates who have already begun the background check process.

exceptions article Complete

Checkr uses pointer searches to determine which counties may reveal additional records. Pointer searches, like the SSN Trace and the National Criminal Records Check, return a list of counties that Checkr then searches for criminal records. Because these searches are an operational step in the process, they do not contain actionable results. Accordingly, a status of Complete better represents the operations Checkr has conducted on pointer searches.

Previously, the National Criminal screening section of reports reflected the status of any related County Criminal screenings.

With this update to the Checkr Dashboard, the National Criminal screening now shows only a final status of Complete, and is marked in blue. No action is available in this section of the report.

Any actionable results will continue to be displayed in the County Criminal section.

Pending

The report is processing. While most reports take 2-3 days to finalize, some may take longer. The most common causes for delay are if Checkr is waiting on the candidate to provide information, or if a County Criminal Records Check is in progress.

If Checkr is waiting on information from the Candidate, Checkr required a form of documentation from the candidate to advance the report. We reach out to candidates for exceptions like these, in order to keep your background check process running smoothly.

If a County CriminalRecords Check is in progress, some County CriminalRecords Checks take significantly longer than others if we are searching for records in a county that processes search requests in a less efficient manner. Unfortunately, the County CriminalRecords Check cannot be expedited as much as wed like since Checkr operates at the mercy of the courts.

For more information, see " Why is the background check taking longer than expected? "

Clear

The report is complete and does not contain adverse information on any of the screenings.

Consider

The report is complete and contains some sort of adverse information to evaluate (criminal records, traffic infractions, or other information). Consider may also be used to indicate that a Motor Vehicle Report contains violations that do not meet your Motor Vehicle Report criteria, or the Employment and/or Educationverifications were not an exact match.

Dispute

The report is complete, and the candidate has contacted Checkr to contest its accuracy. Adjudication is blocked while a report status is Dispute.

The reinvestigation window for disputed reports is a maximum of 30 days. An email will be sent to the compliance contact on your Checkr account once the reinvestigation has been completed.

Suspended

The report cannot be completed because information is missing or cannot be verified. Checkr has contacted the candidate to submit additional documents. The report will be reinitiated once the information is confirmed.

See our for more information.

Invitation Sent

The invitation link has been sent within the past 7 days (by default), but the candidate has not yet responded, and the report has therefore not yet begun. NOTE:Default setting of 7 days can be shortened, as needed.

Invitation Expired

The invitation link was sent more than 7 days ago (by default), and the candidate did not complete it. A new invitation must be sent if you wish to continue with this candidate. NOTE: Default setting of 7 days can be shortened, as needed.

This article will help you:

Understand Adverse Action in relation to background checks

Create a compliant Adverse Action process

Complete the Adverse Action process in Checkr

Issue Pre-Adverse Action Notices

Monitor Adverse Action processes

Understand individualized assessment

Cancel an Adverse Action

Resolve undeliverable Adverse Action notices

This article is for the following user roles: admin, adjudicator

If any information contained on a candidates background check precludes them from working with your company, it is your obligation to carry out the Adverse Action process. Although responsibility and liability for the Adverse Action process ultimately lies with you as the end user, Checkr helps make it easier to maintain a compliant Adverse Action process.

For a quick overview of Adverse Actions, see our Checkr Check-In video:

This article is intended to give product guidance and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult your legal counsel for questions or employment practices around Adverse Action and adjudication.

What is Adverse Action, and why is it important?

In the context of background checks, Adverse Action is any action you take based on the information in a background check report that negatively affects someones employment. This could mean denying them employment, but can also include denying a promotion or transfer, offering employment in a lesser position, or other negative outcomes.

Because Adverse Action adversely affects consumers (by nature), it is a common area of litigation and compliance risk for you. In fact, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires that you follow certain procedures if you decline to hire, engage, or promote a candidate on the basis of information contained in a background report.

The Adverse Action workflow is critical because it allows the candidate to raise any concerns about their report, and the FCRA requires that employers/end users (which includes companies that use independent contractors) to follow this stringent process.

Some employers are tempted not to communicate with candidates whom they decline. However, if youdon'tfollow a defined and consistent Adverse Action process, youre opening yourself up to legal risk.

Whats an Adverse Action process?

To stay compliant and avoid the legal action that can come from not properly handling Adverse Actions, you must follow a process that complies with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

Remember that just because a report came back as consider, that is not a reason to disqualify a candidate. Build a consistent adjudication process to take into account the nature of the crime (e.g. petty theft vs. assault and battery), when the crime occurred (e.g. 6 months vs. 6 years), and whether the crime is relevant to the job duties that the candidate would be performing.

A compliant Adverse Action process for employment decisions will include the following:

Pre-Adverse Action Notice: Informs the candidate that you are considering not moving forward with the employment process based on information in the background report.

Waiting Period: The FCRA requires a reasonable amount of time (usually 7 calendar days, but some jurisdictions require more) before taking final action, so the candidate has an opportunity to dispute any incorrect or outdated information in the report.

Adverse Action Notice (or Post-Adverse Action Notice): Once you have waited the required amount of time including time required for the resolution of any dispute you must provide a final notice of your decision if you have decided not to move forward with the candidate.

For non-employment purposes, you're not required under the FCRA to execute this whole process. You must only provide the Adverse Action Notice.

Checkr helps you stay compliant throughout the Adverse Action process.

Set an Adverse Action email address

TheAdverse action email is the email used to send Pre- and Post- Adverse Action notices on your behalf to candidates. It's also the address that will receive undeliverable notices if an Adverse Action notice isn't deliverable to a candidate (for instance, if they have a mistyped email address on file).

As part of your account setup, you are required to select an Adverse Action email address. As anadmin user, go to Account Settings to set this up.

Here, your admin will also need to provide a Support email or Support phone for candidates to contact you with questions related to Adverse Actions.

Many Checkr clients choose to use a shared inbox for their adverse action email, so multiple people on your side can check the inbox and handle undeliverable adverse actions.

Important: Make sure that the email address you select is an email address atyour company, not aCheckr email address.

Pre-Adverse Action Notice

A Pre-Adverse Action Notice notifies the candidate that information contained on their background report may negatively affect a decision about their employment. It is intended to give the candidate an opportunity to respond to the information contained in the report, so by law it must contain a copy of the report. The notice must contain a standard document called A Summary of Your Rights Under the FCRA, and some states may require additional notices.

To begin the Adverse Action process from a background check report, log into Checkr as an admin or adjudicator, go to an individual candidates report, and click Pre-Adverse Action. This button will appear for reports with a consider status.

On the next screen, select the charge(s) that you believe disqualify the candidate from employment. You must select at least one, but you should select all the charges that are potentially disqualifying.

Before sending the email, Checkr will show you a preview of the email that will be sent to the candidate.

Checkr will include the necessary notices for the candidate as attachments, including a copy of the background report and "A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act."

All actions will be tracked in an audit log so that you can review them later. You can also download a PDF copy of the notices sent to the candidate.

When you preview the email, youll see the Adverse Action email address that will be used to send the email at the top of the preview screen.

Waiting period

During the waiting period, the candidate can reach out to Checkr directly to dispute the accuracy of their background check report. Candidates may also reach out to you to provide evidence of rehabilitation or additional information to consider. If the candidate does not dispute the report with Checkr during this time, then the post-Adverse Action Notice will be sent automatically.

By default, Checkrs waiting period is set to 7 calendar days, and Checkr's system will modify this waiting period as necessary under applicable law. For example, the city of Philadelphia requires a 10-day waiting period. Additionally, Checkr clients may increase the number of days from 7 should they wish (although 7 days is the minimum). If the candidate does not respond within that period of time, Checkr will automatically send a post-adverse notification to the candidate on your behalf (also known as an Adverse Action Notification).

The FCRA does not define a set number of days for the waiting period, but does mandate a reasonable waiting period. This waiting period allows candidates to receive the notice, review the background report, and dispute it if the information is incorrect. Most companies provide at least 5 business days or 7 calendar days to give the candidate opportunity to respond.

To see the status of all candidates in the Adverse Action process, including those in the waiting period, log into the Checkr Dashboard, go to the Adverse Action section, and set any status or date filters you want to use.

Here, you can see the status of your candidates in Adverse Action.

Individualized assessment

In 2012, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued guidelines advising employers to consider the specifics of each candidate who may be denied employment based on a background check.

Namely, you should consider:

The nature and gravity of the offense or conduct

The time that has passed since the offense, conduct and/or completion of the sentence

The nature of the job held or sought

The criteria mentioned above is also known as the 'Nature-Time-Nature' test. You are also encouraged to consider other factors like the number of offenses, employment history before and after the offense, rehabilitation efforts, and other circumstances.

The cities of New York and Los Angeles specifically require this type of individualized assessment as part of the hiring process, including that you show your work to the candidates to document your decision making. If youre hiring candidates in these locations, Checkr will add an additional, optional step so you can show your work. To learn more, see our article on individualized assessment.

Cancel an Adverse Action

During the waiting period, the candidate may reach out to you and provide compelling evidence of rehabilitation or other context that makes you reconsider your Adverse Action decision. If thats the case, click Cancel Adverse Action (its located where Engage and Pre-Adverse Action previously were).

Cancelling Adverse Action will cause the post-Adverse Action Notice not to be delivered to the candidate. After you cancel the Adverse Action, you can proceed to engage the candidate.

Resolve undeliverable Adverse Actions

Sometimes your Adverse Action Notices may be undeliverable due to a misspelled or incorrect email address provided by the candidate. Checkr will try 4 times over 24 hours to deliver the Adverse Action Notice, but if it cannot be delivered at that point, it will be considered undeliverable.

For any notices that are undeliverable, correct the candidates email address to ensure that the required notices are properly delivered.

If an Adverse Action is undeliverable, you will receive an email at your Adverse Action email contact with the following message (to change your Adverse Action email address, have your admin go to Account Settings > Adverse action email):

Resolve the error by following the link in the email, then correcting the email address in the Guided Resolution for Undeliverable Adverse Action Notice.

In the case that there is no email to correct, clickI'mmanually handling this, resolve this notice. Youll see downloadable copies of the Pre-Adverse Action Notice and the post-Adverse Action notice so that you can send them by alternate means.

The Adjudication status of these reports will be designated as manual to remind you to complete the process manually.

On the Checkr Dashboard, go to the Adverse Action section andfilter by Undeliverable to see which notices couldn't be delivered. You can then update the candidates email address to re-send communications. If you do not have a correct email address, you should resolve the Adverse Action offline.

Checkr's guidance should not be construed as legal advice, guidance, or counsel. Companies should consult their own legal counsel about their compliance responsibilities under the FCRA, Title VII, and applicable state laws. Checkr expressly disclaims any warranties or responsibility or damages associated with or arising out of information provided.

Tenant screenings reports expire one month following the date of creation. If you are applying for new housing and your personal report is expired, you will need to obtain a new personal report from the housing rental site where you applied. Please follow their application process to order a new report.

Once you obtain a new personal report, you may download it to your device from Checkrs Candidate Portal. Unfortunately, Checkr is unable to send the personal report to any landlords. You will be responsible for providing the new personal report to any potential or future landlords.

Checkr cannot initiate a new report for you. Please contact the company you applied with to request a new report.

A CONSIDER status means that your report is complete and contains some sort of adverse information for the company you applied with to evaluate (criminal records, traffic infractions, or other information).

A CONSIDER status does not mean that you have been disqualified from employment or engagement. Our support team cannot answer any questions about whether this status, or the information reflected on your report, will affect your chances of being hired or engaged by the company you applied with. Please contact the company you applied with for any information about hiring or engagement decisions.

The reporting period for both misdemeanor and felony records isat least 7 years. In somecases Checkr will report older records if they are reportable according to state and federal law, easily accessible at the court houses, or if the record is deemed highly severe.

With the Positive Adjudication Matrix, you have the ability to limit the reporting period for all, or certain types, of criminal records.

Motor Vehicle Reports return data from at least 3 years back, though some states report older violations.

Employment verifications include verification of past employment for a maximumof 7 years, whereas education verifications only targets the highest degree obtained.

Some states have their own laws limiting reportability, and others have exceptions based on the candidate's salary, or for certain industries (like transportation network companies).

Paying a ticket does not guarantee that the department of motor vehicle (DMV) will remove a violation from your motor vehicle record. When your motor vehicle record was requested from your state DMV, the violation was included on your motor vehicle report. Please contact your state DMV with any questions about violations that appear on your motor vehicle record.

Once your background check report is complete, the company that ordered your report will be notified and will review your report.

Please remember: Checkr is a consumer reporting agency. We provide background check reports for companies that request them. We do not review reports, make employment or engagement decisions, or determine company requirements regarding employment or engagement. The company you applied with will make its own determination based on its own requirements and review of your report.

Once your report is complete, please reach out to the company you applied with for updates. Our support team is not informed about hiring timelines and will not know how long the company you applied with will take to get back to you.

Please contact Checkr support to request an MVR re-run. Please note that it can take up to 3 business days for changes made by the DMV to be reflected.

Checkr is not involved in the hiring process and does not evaluate the information returned on your report. Please contact the company you applied with for information on how it uses the information returned on your report.

This article will help you:

Distinguish between Federal Criminal and National Criminal Database searches (which are often confused)

Set expectations about what each search is and isnt

Use packages that include these searches more effectively

Most background checks include some type of criminal records check, but the term criminal records can be ambiguous. One common area of confusion is the differences between Federal Criminal Checks and National Criminal Database Checks. These are different from County Criminal Checks, where most detailed records are found.

Common myths about criminal search types

Myth: Federal and National searches are the same.

Fact:Federal and National Checksare not one and the same. Checkr's National Check covers a collection of nationwide databases, while a Federal search specifically finds criminal records in Federal jurisdictions.

Myth: If you run a Federal or National search, you don't need to run county searches.

Fact:Federal, National, and State Checks don't supersede County checks. In other words, theywon'tfind everything that a county criminal check will. For many criminal records, the county courthouse is the source of truth.

Myth: The Federal search uses FBI or Department of Justice (DOJ) databases.

Fact:None of these searches are FBI or Department of Justice searches.Unless there is a statute authorizing private industries to have access, only law enforcement agencies and private industries authorized by law (child care, financial institutions, healthcare) may access FBI data. FBI and DOJ searches can only be conducted through positive identification (such as fingerprinting), and have their own pros and cons compared to name-based background checks.

National Criminal Database Check

What it is: A database search of millions of records

What it is not:

An FBI or Department of Justice search

A thorough search of Federal Criminal records

Usage:Cast a wide net for potential records and serve as a"pointer" to other criminal checks.

The term National Criminal Database is a bit of a misnomer, in that the check does not cover all of the United States, but it does query 1,800 databases covering approximately 900 million records.

The National Criminal Database Check is used in virtually every criminal background check to find additional hits. Once a hit is identified, Checkr dispatches researchers to the county where the national criminal check shows a possible record to obtain:

Additional identifiers to confirm it belongs to the individual in question

Complete and up-to-date case information (such as disposition and status)

A search of the National Criminal Database without county-level searches would be inadequate -- information found during the National Criminal Database Check is often not up-to-date or complete and is only used for pointer purposes. A county-level check would always be required to obtain complete and accurate information.

For more information, see our article on National Criminal Database Checks.

Federal Criminal Check

What it is: A search of criminal records in Federal jurisdictions

What it is not:

An FBI or Department of Justice search

A search of state or county criminal records

Usage:Find Federal crimes for a more thorough search, especially in industries where crimes such as fraud or embezzlement are job-relevant.

Federal Criminal Checks use the US Federal Governments PACER criminal record system, which covers all 94 federal jurisdictions and includes crimes against federal employees, crimes committed on federal land, crimes that cross state lines, and other specific categories.

It can be easy to confuse a federal criminal check with the national criminal database (described above) and state/county-level criminal searches. Unlike these other records, federal criminal records are only accessible through a specific federal criminal check.

For more information, see our article on Federal Criminal Checks.

State Criminal Check

What it is:A search of statewide criminal databases

What it is not:

An FBI or Department of Justice search

A thorough search of all records in every county

Usage:To find additional criminal records in the candidate's state, outside of their home county.

A State Criminal Check use statewide databases to discover criminal records. Many companies use State Checks to uncover additional records outside of the counties where the candidate has lived.

Not all counties report into state databases, and each state database functions differently. For example, New York's state database includes reports from all counties by law, but California's does not. Because the county courthouse is the source of truth for most criminal records, we recommend running this search in addition to, not instead of, a county check.

For more information, see our article on State Criminal Checks.

County Criminal Check

What it is:A thorough search of criminal records available at the county level, where most records occur.

What it is not:

An FBI or Department of Justice search

A search of federal criminal records or national criminal databases

Usage:Recommended for the candidate's home county (and potentially past counties of residence) to find the most thorough information on potential criminal records.

County criminal records, which make up the majority of criminal offenses, are located in county courthouses across the 3,200 counties in the US. Thus, they will not be found in a federal check. Oftentimes the existence of a county criminal record is determined by conducting a search in the aforementioned National Criminal Database Check, which is used as a pointer to county or state records.

All felony and misdemeanor criminal records, regardless of disposition (guilty, dismissed, etc.) and whose cases are tried in local jurisdictions, are housed at the county court.

A comprehensive criminal background check should include county, federal, state, and national database searches, all of which are offered as part of Checkrs checking packages.

For more information, see our article on County Criminal Checks.

This article will help you:

Understand what a SSN Trace is and why its an important part of a background report

Follow Checkr's SSN Trace process

Understand your candidate's experience

A Social Security Number (SSN) Trace searches databases(including lending institutions, utilities, schools, and credit card companies) for a name and Social Security Number. The trace returns jurisdictions in which a match is found, and reports any alternative names (aliases or AKAs) that are found as well.

To run an SSN Trace, Checkr submits the candidate's Social Security Number to a data provider, who then generates a report through a credit bureau. This report returns a list of known names and addresses for the SSN, compiled from credit and banking history for the given SSN.

SSN Traces are used as a pointer to possible criminal records. The address and alias information returned is used to determine which counties and other databases should be searched for additional public records.

The SSN Trace can provide the following information:

An idea of whether the SSN provided is a valid or invalid number (for example, whether it appears on the Social Security Administrations Death Master File).

Whether the SSN has been used by multiple candidates.

A list of previous names (which may be birth names as well as aliases).

Locations the person linked to the number has lived (based on credit cards, banking, or other information).

Although a SSN Trace can identify whether the candidates SSN appears on the Death Master File (in other words, it belongs to someone who is known to be deceased) or appears to be false (such as 555-55-5555), it does not validate that the person entering the information is who they claim to be. An SSN Trace is not an Identity Verification. For more information, please see SSN Traces vs. Identity Verification.

Candidate Experience

The SSN Trace is included in Checkrs basic report package, which includes SSN Trace, Sex Offender Registry Check, Global Watchlist Records Check, and National Criminal Records Check. The SSN Trace cannot be run as a standalone Check.

Candidates will be asked to provide Personally Identifiable Information (PII), including their full name, date of birth, social security number, email address, and phone number.

They will then be presented and asked to acknowledge receipt of applicable forms and notifications, including Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and an Acknowledgment and Authorization for Background Check.

After the candidate consents, Checkr will initiate the Trace.

If the number appears to be inaccurate (no hits, or death list hit), the candidate will be asked to re-enter their number. In some cases, candidates may be asked to provide a copy of their SSN card, or a letter from the SSA confirming that the number provided does belong to the candidate.

If you've applied for a job and are looking for more information on your background checks status or progress, please log into the Checkr Candidate Portal.

This article will help you:

Understand what happens in a National Criminal Database Records Check

Decide whether to act upon information from a National Criminal Database Records Check

Understand your candidate's experience

Checkr runs a National Criminal Database Records Check as a routine step in background checks. This search queries 1,800 databases and over 900 million records, to cast a wide net and find potential offenses. However, the records returned are often incomplete, lacking identifying information and/or the final disposition of what actually happened -- for example, whether the case was dismissed. Instead, we use the National Criminal Records Check to quickly find other records that should be searched for more detailed information. Checkr uses hits from this search to determine which county records should be searched for criminal records, including felonies, misdemeanors, and some infractions and traffic records.

The National Criminal Database contains over 900 million records from various county and state agencies covering roughly one third of the United States. Data aggregators scour these county and state agencies, continuously updating the database. This database can be best described as a pointer records check, in that it points to other potential criminal records that may exist for a candidate. Because this search often provides incomplete or inaccurate data, we recommend that you pair it with county-level searches, which are more thorough. This search is used in virtually every criminal background check package to find additional hits. Once a hit is identified, Checkr dispatches researchers to the county where the national criminal search shows a possible record to obtain:

Additional identifiers to confirm it belongs to the individual in question

Complete and up-to-date case information (e.g., disposition, status)

A National Criminal Records Check is not the same as a Federal Criminal Records Check. See our article on the differences between a national check and a federal check.

Candidate Experience

The National Criminal Records Check is included in Checkrs basic report package, which includes SSN Trace, Sex Offender Registry Check, Global Watchlist Records Check, and National Criminal Records Check. The Global Watchlist Records Check cannot be run as a standalone Screening.

Candidates will be asked to provide Personally Identifiable Information (PII), including their full name, date of birth, social security number, email address, and phone number.

They will then be presented and asked to acknowledge receipt of applicable forms and notifications, including Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and an Acknowledgment and Authorization for Background Check.

After the candidate consents, Checkr will initiate the Check.

If you've applied for a job and are looking for more information on your background checks status or progress, please log into the Checkr Candidate Portal.

CANDIDATES: Are you applying for a job or undergoing a background check? If so, please visit our Candidate FAQs to see answers to our most common questions or get help with your background check. This article is for employers who use Checkr.

Industry-wide, the average background check takes 3-5 days.

Checkr ETA provides an estimate of when your report should be complete. Actual delivery time is dependent on the circumstances of the specific counties that must be searched.

Some background checks take longer than expected. The most common reasons are:

The background check is pending a county check.In many cases,Checkr must verify records at the county court level. County Criminal Records Checks may take severalweeks if we are checking for criminal records in a county that lacks electronic resources. Some counties are understaffed and overburdened by thousands of search requests each day. Because criminal records are public information, Checkr's court researchers must wait in line with other parties requesting information. Most county checks take 2-3 days to complete, but checks of 3+ weeks do occur in a minority of cases.No further information or action is required. For more information on the county check process, please see County Criminal Records Check in the Checkr Help Center.

The candidate has not responded to our request for additional information.In certain cases, Checkr requires additional documentation such as a photo of an ID, driver's license, or SSN card to complete a background check. When these exceptions arise, Checkr emails the candidate automatically to collect more information.

If your background check report includes information that you believe is inaccurate, please:

Submit a request to log a dispute and upload any supporting documents

Contact us or call 844-824-3257 for our support team

Mail your dispute with any supporting documents to: Checkr Inc. 1 Montgomery St. Suite 2400. San Francisco, CA. 94104

Checkr will review and verify the contested information during a reinvestigation.

If the information on your report is correct and you would like to provide more context or evidence of rehabilitation, please contact the company you applied with.

If you have questions regarding the information we collect, please refer to our Privacy Policy and User Terms.

Checkr is not involved in the hiring process and does not evaluate the information returned on your report or pass on supplemental information provided by you to the company you applied with.

Please submit any supplemental information directly to the company you applied with.

When the background check is taking longer than expected, the likely culprit is a pending county check. Some courts are inundated with thousands of requests daily and lack electronic records systems.

Checkr is subjected to the same due process as any other consumer reporting agency or member of the general public. Keep in mind that courts are closed on weekends, holidays, or for inclement weather.

While we have reduced turnaround times significantly with our proprietary software, we may not receive preferential treatment when waiting for public records.

To understand what your turnaround time looks like, and which jurisdictions may be causing issues for you, Checkr's analytics tools can help. As anadmin, go to the Analytics section. There, you'll see:

Your average turnaround time, week over week

The distribution of your turnaround times

Your overall report status breakdown

This article will help you:

Understand what the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is and how it affects you

Comply with your duties under the FCRA

The FCRA is a federal law that governs how companies order and consider consumer reports, (including background or credit checks).

For the purposes of employment, the FCRA applies to both full-time employees and independent contractors.

Enforcement of the FCRA is overseen by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as well as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The law was enacted to promote the accuracy, fairness, and privacy of consumer information contained in the files of consumer reporting agencies like Checkr. To that end, it provides safeguards and rights for the consumer (the subject of the background report).

The Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA) providing the consumer report and the company that ordered the report (the End User) must adhere to certain safeguards.

While the FCRA affords rights to the consumer, it places responsibilities on the End Users of consumer reports.

Your Responsibilities as an End-User

As the End User of the information, you have the following responsibilities under the FCRA when you run background checks for any purpose, including employment or tenant screening:

Permissible Purpose:Obtain consumer reports for permissible purposes under the FCRA (e.g. employment, which includes independent contracting, insurance, etc.) anddon'tmisuse the information

Disclosure:Notify the consumer that you will be obtaining a consumer report

Adverse Action Notice:Notify the consumer when an adverse action is taken on the basis of such reports

CRA:Identify the CRA that provided the report, so that the accuracy and completeness of the report may be verified or contested by the consumer

When you use background reports specifically for employment purposes (such as screening, hiring, or promoting job applicants, employees, or independent contractors), you have increased legal requirements:

Permissible Purpose:Obtain consumer reports for permissible purposes under the FCRA (e.g. employment, which includes independent contracting, insurance, etc.) anddon'tmisuse the information

Written Disclosure:Provide written notice to the consumer that you intend to use the report for employment purposes

WrittenAuthorization:Get the consumer's written permission to run a report

Pre-Adverse Action:Provide the consumer apre-adverse action notice, a summary of rights, and acopy of their report if you intend to make an adverse decision (such as declining them for employment or promotions) based on the information in the report

Waiting Period:Give the consumer a reasonablewaiting periodto dispute the information contained within his or her consumer report before making a final adverse decision

Adverse Action Notice:Notify the consumer when an adverse action is taken

CRA:Identify the CRA that provided the report, so that the accuracy and completeness of the report may be verified or contested by the consumer

As your partner in background check screening, Checkr helps facilitate your compliance with the FCRA in a few ways:

Written Permission: If you are utilizing Checkrs hosted-flow process, Checkr will provide the candidate their summary of rights, disclosure notice, and certain state-specific disclosures as part of the authorization process. Checkr hosts these forms and, with your approval,they are incorporated into the consumers background check process. See our disclosure and authorization article for more information.

Adverse Actions: You can use Checkrs dashboard to help with your adverse action process. Specifically, Checkr can send pre-adverse action notices (as required for employment screening) will automatically follow up with the required post-adverse notice after a waiting period. See our adverse action article for more information.

That said, Checkr is ultimately assisting you with your duties -- under the law, you are still responsible for making sure that you meet your responsibilities.

Checkr's Responsibilities as a CRA

As a consumer reporting agency (CRA), Checkr has different responsibilities under the FCRA, including:

Credentialing end-users to run background checks and ensuring that they have permissible purpose

Maintaining strict procedures to ensure maximum possible accuracy of information in reports, or sending a contemporaneous notice to consumers when we report potentially adverse information

Providing consumers with information in their files upon request (also known as File Disclosure)

Re-investigating inaccuracies and disputes within 30 days

Not reporting obsolete information, such as non-convictions older than seven years

Note that these are different from your responsibilities as an end-user. For example, while CRAs are restricted on what can or cannot be reported in a background check (such as inaccurate or obsolete information), end-users are responsible for how the information is reviewed and what actions they can take.

Following the above procedures ensures that candidates are aware of their rights under the FCRA and are given the opportunity to address concerns about their background check.

Checkr's guidance should not be construed as legal advice, guidance, or counsel. Companies should consult their own legal counsel about their compliance responsibilities under the FCRA, Title VII, and applicable state laws. Checkr expressly disclaims any warranties or responsibility or damages associated with or arising out of information provided.

If a candidate believes their report is inaccurate or incomplete, they can:

Visit the Candidate Portal to log a dispute

Email or call our Candidate Support Team

Mail in their dispute with any supporting documents.

Visit the Candidate Portal to log a dispute

From the Candidate Portal, they can click the following link:

email preference

Disputes are conducted in a process called a reinvestigation. During this process, Checkr reviews and verifiesthe contested information at the source to ensure maximum possible accuracy. During the reinvestigation process, the report is set todispute status in the Checkr Dashboard and may not be adjudicated. (In other words, you can'tEngage orAdverse Action until the reinvestigation is complete.)

In compliance with the FCRA, Checkr has 30 days to complete a reinvestigation. Checkr strives to complete reinvestigations as quickly as possible.

Once a reinvestigation is concluded, the report is taken out of dispute status and Checkr sends the candidate and the end-user (the Checkr customer) an email notification that includes the updated report and relevant information about the dispute process. Any user with thefor "Notify on report disputed" will receive this notification. Once a report is out of dispute status, the report can be adjudicated by the end-user.

This article will help you:

Familiarize yourself with various state-by-state reporting requirements that affect background checks

Determine why you may not see all possible criminal records reported

Determine why you may or may not see dismissed records reported

In addition to existing federal laws that pertain to background screening, end-users of consumer reports (employers or contractees) should be aware of the reporting requirements under individual states rules.

Similar to how the FCRA restricts consumer reporting agencies (or CRAs like Checkr) from reporting non-convictions over seven years old, some states have passed their own legislation that further restricts CRAs like Checkr from reporting both conviction and non-conviction information. For this reason, you may not see information reported in an employment background check even if it is available on an unvetted source (like a mugshot database).

Checkr automates reporting in line with each states requirements using our Compliance Engine to help you avoid seeing information that is not reportable.

Which states restrict reporting on convictions?

Under the FCRA, convictions can appear on a background report regardless of when they occurred. However, some states have limited the scope of conviction reporting to seven years, including California, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, New Mexico, New York, New Hampshire, and Washington.

waiting periods for adverse action notices

Which states restrict reporting on non-convictions?

Under the FCRA, non-convictionsare reportable for seven years from the file date and can appear on a background report for seven years.

However, some states entirely prevent non-convictions from being reported. These states are California, Kentucky, New York, and New Mexico.

A "non-conviction" could include dismissed cases, not-guilty verdicts, alternative adjudications (programs that result in dismissed charges if the defendant completes certain conditions), andnolle prosequi (formal abandonment of prosecution).

While the states listed above don't allow dismissed records to be reported, Checkr will report dismissed records in the states that permit it. It's important toconsider the totality of the record being reported, charge(s), disposition (guilty, dismissed, pending) and sentencing, and give an individualized assessment.

Whydon'tI see all possible criminal records?

You may notice that not all criminal records are reportable on a background check, which might lead you to question whether the report is accurate. In fact, a record may not be reportable due to state laws.

Some states limit the scope of reporting criminal conviction records to the last 7 years. That said, how the scope is defined can vary, depending on the availability of data. For example, the 7 years can start from:

the date of disposition

the date the defendant is released from incarceration

the date parole is completed (parole from the original crime)

Public court records often do not include release information. When these later dates are unknown, scope is measured by the earlier available date.

For more information on the scope of a check, see our article on lookback periods.

Other Considerations

Below is a non-exhaustive list of other state-specific and industry-specific considerations to be aware of.

California:

Marijuana Misdemeanors:Non-Felony (Misdemeanor) convictions for marijuana possession can only be reported for 2 years from the disposition date. Furthermore, end users (employers) are also prohibited from seeking or considering this information when making employment decisions.

Transportation Networks (TNC):Regulatory exception under AB1289 allows consumer reporting agencies (Checkr) to report convictions beyond 7 years when preparing reports for TNCs. Under this regulatory reporting exception, TNCs can see convictions for CA candidates regardless of when they occurred.

Maryland:Transportation Networks (TNCs) are required to search the "entire adult history" of candidates for TNC roles.

Kentucky: Pending criminal cases are never reportable.

Salary exceptions:Some states provide salary exceptions, allowing convictions to remain reportable for candidates who expect to make over $20,000 ($25,000 in New York).

What other location-specific laws should be considered?

This article deals with common state-based reporting requirements for CRAs like Checkr, which helps explain why certain records may not appear on the background check report.

Keep in mind, however, that states and municipalities also have specific laws regarding how end users and employers use and consider criminal records during an employment pre-screening process. The laws include individualized assessment of offenses, Ban the Box, salary bans, permissible purposes for employment credit checks, disclosure and authorization, and .

Checkr uses in-product compliance features to assist with many of these, but you should also consult with your legal counsel on the specifics of the localities where you hire candidates.

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA),convictionscan appear on background check reports regardless of when they occurred. However, some states have limited the scope of conviction reporting to seven years, including California, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, New York, New Hampshire, and Washington.

Under the FCRA,non-convictionsare reportable for seven years from the file date and can appear on a background report for seven years.

However, some states entirely prevent non-convictions from being reported. These states include California, Kentucky, New York, and New Mexico.

A "non-conviction" could include dismissed cases, not-guilty verdicts, alternative or deferred adjudications (programs that result in dismissed charges if the defendant completes certain conditions), andnolle prosequi(formal abandonment of prosecution).

Other state- and industry-specific considerations to be aware of include:

California:

Marijuana Misdemeanors:Non-felony (misdemeanor) convictions for marijuana possession can only be reported for two years from the disposition date.

Transportation Networks(TNC) or Rideshare Companies:Background checks for TNCs/rideshare companies can reportconvictionsbeyond seven years, regardless of when they occurred.

Maryland:Background checks for TNCs/rideshare companies must look back through the "entire adult history" of candidates, includingconvictionsolder than seven years.

Kentucky:Pending criminal cases are never reportable.

This article will help you:

Understand how an Employment Credit Check differs from a common Credit Report

Understand the credentialing process for an Employment Credit Check

Make sure that your Credit Checks are compliant and job-relevant

An Employment Credit Check differs from regular credit checks and reports in that an Employment Credit Check is designed to give businesses the information they need to help them make hiring decisions. Information on the report may include public information, such as tax liens, accounts in collections, and bankruptcies. Employment Credit Checks will also show account information, including how much is owed, and high/low credit and payment history on each account.

Employment Credit Checks are legal under the FCRA. There are several rules set in place by the FCRA when conducting a credit check and there are some state restrictions as well.

Credit reports may be conducted on potential employees who will have financial or fiduciary responsibility for the company. Employers must state their permissible purpose when running credit reports, and several states have very specific requirements which must be met to establish the right to conduct credit reports. Employment credit reports will not impact or reveal credit scores and account numbers.

Consumer Reporting Agencies (CRA) like Checkr provide employment Credit Checks, which differ from credit checks for other purposes such as an annual credit reports, obtaining loans, or assessing credit scores. Differences include:

Employment Credit Checks do not contain a scoring system, such as a FICO score

Employment Credit Checks do not display individual account numbers of loans or revolving credit cards

Employment Credit Checks do not affect a person's credit score (neither a hard nor soft hit), as they are not seen as an inquiry by a financial institution to establish an account

Credentialing for Employment Credit Checks

Before Checkr clients can order Credit Checks for employment purposes, they must go through an onsite inspection performed by a third party. As part of this process:

The third party will inspect the offices of the customer where credit reports will be ordered and reviewed.

The customer must state their intended business purpose for conducting credit reports.

Compliance Considerations

To comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act and similar state laws, an employment credit report must have job-relevance: the role should have fiduciary responsibility. An easy way to test whether a Credit Check is compliant is to ask, Will this person handle or manage customer/company funds? If not, a Credit Check should not be ordered.

Several states have specific permissible reasons that employers must choose when ordering credit reports. See our article on state-specific permissibility forpartial list of those states, but you should consult with your legal counsel to determine whether Credit Checks are permissible based on the job role and state.

When assessing a background report, treat the results of a Credit Check with extreme care. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) requires employers not to automatically take adverse action on credit reports. This requirement stems from research showing that automatic denial of candidates based on Credit Checks and criminal records has a disparate impact: in other words, it disproportionately affects protected groups by denying them employment.

For these reasons, Checkr does not provide an automated Adverse Action flow through the Checkr Dashboard.

Candidate Experience

Employment Credit Checks may be run as a standalone Check.

Candidates will be asked to provide their name, address, date of birth, and Social Security Number.

They will then be presented and asked to acknowledge receipt of applicable forms and notifications, including Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and an Acknowledgment and Authorization for Background Check.

After the candidate consents, Checkr will initiate the Credit Check process.

If you've applied for a job and are looking for more information on your background checks status or progress, please log into the Checkr Candidate Portal.

Whenever a potential criminal record is found in a database, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires the consumer reporting agency (such as Checkr) to do one of the following:

Notify the candidate that potentially adverse information has been found, at the same time that we notify the end-user of the report, or

Maintain strict procedures to ensure that the information we maintain is complete and up-to-date

Because the notice is sent to the end-user and candidate at the same time, it's commonly known as a "contemporaneous notice."

The 613 notice reads as follows:

The purpose of this email is to notify you that Checkr, Inc., a consumer reporting agency, is reporting criminal or other public record information that may be adverse about you to [Company].

This notice is not an indication of [Company]'s decision regarding your application status.

Your background check is still being processed. A Checkr representative can address any questions or concerns you have regarding the contents of your report as soon as it is complete.

The Candidates page provides access to all candidate information included in your Checkr account, and allows you to manually add new candidates and initiate new background checks, as needed. Use this page to:

Search for candidates by keyword, status, or background check program

Issue invitations to single or multiple candidates

Order a background check manually

Review individual reports

Search for Candidates

Use the Candidates page to search for and manage your candidates. The default view includes all candidates at any stage in the background check process in your companys Checkr account.

Click Date to sort candidates by the date their background check was initiated. Click a returned candidate to view their report.

Click Export to CSV to download a CSV file of generated reports for the selected date range. When complete, a link to download the file will be sent to the email address listed for your account.

Reports

The Candidates page also allows you to create a manual order, or invite more candidates by email.

Search for Continuous Check Candidates

Use the Checkr Dashboard to search for Candidates enrolled in Continuous Check.

From the Candidates page, click show advanced filters.

Select Packages: Continuous Check.

Invite candidates by email

Use the Invite Candidates option to generate invitations to individual or multiple candidates for selected Packages.

Click Invite Candidates.

Select a Geo (if enabled), a Package, and a Program (if enabled), then enter up to 25 email addresses to which the invitation will be sent.

Checkr will initiate the invitation workflow, issuing an invitation to participate in the selected Package to the email addresses listed. By default, Checkr will resend the invitation every day for seven calendar days until the candidate either completes the background check authorization or unsubscribes from the invitation. Contact Checkr Customer Support to change the number of days invitations will be sent.

Note: When you invite a candidate, their name will appear in the Candidates page with Invitation Sent as their status. Once the candidate has accepted the invitation and completed the background check, you may click into and view their Report from this page.

Manually order reports

The Candidates page also allows you to manually enter candidate information necessary to run a background check. Use this option to generate a background check without requiring the candidate to enter their information through Checkrs Candidate Portal.

Note: Manual orders require your certification that proper authorization has been obtained from your candidate(s) and are therefore not enabled by default. Contact Checkr Customer Support to enable manual orders.

To order a background check manually:

From the Candidates page, click +Manual Order.

In the window that opens, select a Package, Geo, and Program (if enabled), enter the candidate's information, and clickContinue.

In the panel that opens, select the checkbox to confirm that you have collected the candidate's authorization to run the background check, and click Submit to initiate the report.

Authorization Certification Required: By law, it is your responsibility to collect a candidates consent to run a background check. Checkr requires clients submitting candidate information manually to certify that they have complied with applicable consumer reporting laws and regulations governing the timing of requesting a background check. Manual orders will not be accepted unless you check the box underneath the certification language. For more information on collecting proper consent, see Disclosure and authorization: gaining consent to run background checks in the Checkr Help Center.

Review reports

Use the Candidates page to click down into a specific report. Report views are available as soon as a report has been created. Youll be able to review the PII entered, any exceptions presented to the candidate, and selected background check information (including package and date created). Candidates with no reports will show a status of no reportand candidates with multiple reports will show a drawer that opens to all of their reports.

For more information, see .

If you have uploaded documents to the Candidate Portal, please allow up to 3 business days for review.

After you file a dispute, Checkr will review and verify the contested information during a reinvestigation. In compliance with the FCRA, Checkr has 30 days to complete a reinvestigation. Checkr strives to complete reinvestigations as quickly as possible.

Once the reinvestigation is complete, Checkr will notify you by email of the results. If the reinvestigation results in changes to your background check report, it will be updated and you will be sent a copy of the updated report. The company you applied with will also receive notification that the dispute is complete, and it can log on and review any changes before making a hiring or engagement decision.

This article will help you understand:

Answers to Checkr Health FAQs

How long does it take?

What if a candidate misses the deadline?

What if a candidate needs to change the location for their appointment?

What are negative and non-negative drug test results?

What if the candidate has questions or disputes?

A drug screen came back canceled. Why would that happen and will the customer be charged?

What are the different types of drug tests?

What is the standard panel of drugs tested for during pre-employment screening?

What is a dilute specimen?

What does a negative dilute result mean?

What are adulterants? Can labs screen them?

Whats the difference between DOT and Non-Regulated drug tests?

What is an SAMHSA Certified Lab?

How does legal marijuana affect drug testing in the workplace?

How much time can be added to a screening pass? How many times can it be updated? Can it be extended once the screening pass has expired?

Im curious if you have clinics available in XYZ Zip Codes for certain tests. Can you provide this information?

What do MRO Notes Mean?

What are common MRO Notes?

A Positive drug test was changed to a Negative drug test after the result was already posted in the Checkr Dashboard. Why would this happen?

I received an invoice for a drug screen that did not come from Checkr? What should I do?

What does a "substituted" result mean and why is it treated as a non-negative result?

Find description and details in the Checkr Health article.

Checkr Health FAQs

How long does it take?

Results are usually available within 2-3 business days after the screening is complete. Results sent to a Medical Review Officer may take an additional 72+ hours to complete, while the MRO conducts their interview.

What if a candidate needs to change the location for their appointment?

Candidates can now change the location of their scheduled drug / health screen directly in the Candidate Portal :

http://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/workplace/certified-lab-list-july-2015.pdf

What if a candidate misses the deadline?

Clients can now send an updated screening pass to a candidate that missed their screening window (pass expired). By clicking the send updated screening pass button:

1) A new screening pass will be emailed to the candidate

2) The report will be pushed out of suspended status and into pending status.

3) The same clinic previously used will be applied to the new passport.

4) The expiration date of the screening pass will be updated according to the account / package setting.

If a candidate had NOT scheduled (chosen a clinic) the customer can still resend the screening invitation. By clicking the re-send screening invitation button:

1) the report will un-suspend

2) the candidate will be emailed a link to schedule their drug test

3) the expiration date of the screening pass will be updated according to the account / package setting.

What are negative and non-negative drug test results?

Negative indicates that the test revealed no evidence of the listed substance.

Non-Negative indicates that the test revealed evidence of one or more of the listed substance(s). Non-Negative results are submitted to a Medical Review Officer (MRO) for additional processing.

What if the candidate has questions or disputes?

Candidates may contest the Medical Review Officer's findings by contacting the lab they visited to provide their sample.

NOTE: Checkr cannot help candidates dispute their drug test results.

A drug screen came back canceled. Why would that happen and will the customer be charged?

A drug screen may be canceled by the vendor for many reasons.

If the screen was canceled due to an error on our side (the specimen was lost in transit, spilt, etc) there will be no charge for the screen. The candidate will need to go back to the clinic and take a new test. We recommend that you create a new screen and screening pass for the candidate.

Here is an example of a canceled screen that was due to a human error at the collection site and a mix up of the Specimen ID number. This drug test would not be billed to the customer:

If the screen was canceled due to something that looks like an adulterated specimen, or error on the candidates part. For example, the temperature of the specimen at the collection site was not within legal range, etc. These tests will result in a charge and a Consider status on the report. If youd like to give the candidate a second chance to retake their drug test, you can do so by ordering a new report.

Here is an example of a canceled screen that was due to something abnormal with the specimen. This drug test would be billed to the customer:

What are the different types of drug tests?

Urine is the most common specimen for drug screening. Each drug test consists of a panel of various drugs to be tested at certain thresholds. Businesses rely on laboratory-based urine testing for its cost-effectiveness, capacity to screen for a variety of different illicit drugs and ability to withstand most legal challenges. Other specimens include saliva, hair and blood draws. Checkr partners with Alere eScreen to offer a comprehensive and customizable selection of drug tests to suit each companys needs.

What is the standard panel of drugs tested for during pre-employment screening?

The most commonly ordered 5 panel drugs include: Amphetamines, Cannabinoids (THC), Cocaine, Opiates and Phencyclidine (PCP). You can also review Checkrs most common panels (PDF attached) for a broader list of test types.

What is a dilute specimen?

A specimen that contains too much water as a result of the donor drinking too much water or adding water to their sample

A specimen with creatinine (natural byproduct of physical activity) and specific gravity (density) values that are considered abnormally low for human urine

A dilute specimen can bear results of either Positive-Dilute or Negative-Dilute

What does a negative dilute result mean?

See attached documentation: Neg-Dilute Information.pdf.

What are adulterants? Can labs screen them?

Adulterants are substances added to a specimen to produce a false negative that donors can consume through over the counter products. An adulterated specimen may contain a substance that is not normally found in human urine. Labs can screen for adulterants, but may encounter difficulty with identifying the drugs the donor was trying to conceal.

Whats the difference between DOT and Non-Regulated drug tests?

DOT (Regulated):

Regulated by the Federal Government

Strict Guidelines (DOT Rule, CFR Part 40 describes required procedures for conducting workplace drug and alcohol testing)

Urine specimen only cannot be altered

DOT lab test (Standard 5 panel expanded for MDMA and 6-AM) cannot be altered

Alcohol testing may be required

Under the DOT, each agency must conduct random drug screening on all employees working in a safety sensitive position. Checkr does not offer random drug screening solutions natively in our app today, but has network partners you may leverage.

Non-Regulated:

Not regulated by any government agency

Client has freedom to customize their drug screening program for any type of screen that suits your policy.

Variety of specimens (urine, hair, saliva, blood)

Client able to select their panel

What is an SAMHSA Certified Lab?

SAMHSA is the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. They are an agency of The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) that regulates and inspects federally accredited drug-testing laboratories. A SAMHSA Certified Lab is any United States laboratory certified by DHHS under the National Laboratory Certification Program that meets the minimum standards of Subpart C of the HHS Mandatory Guidelines for Federal Workplace Drug Testing Programs; or, in the case of foreign laboratories, a laboratory approved for participation by DOT under this part. Checkrs partner Alere eScreen leverages SAMHSA certified labs for all testing. A list of SAMHSA certified labs can be found here:

How does legal marijuana affect drug testing in the workplace?

It is up to the customer to decide whether or not to test for marijuana in states where it has been legalized. Checkr, via our Alere eScreen partnership, will provide an MRO note where a marijuana test is positive and the candidate noted that they have a valid prescription. It is the customers responsibility to make a determination on qualification, hiring, or termination of a candidate based on positive / negative test results and local law. Today there is no central US repository for legal marijuana prescriptions and CRAs can not access the local state databases. Customers should consult with their legal counsel to determine specific needs and obligations

How much time can be added to a screening pass? How many times can it be updated? Can it be extended once the screening pass has expired?

As long as the screening is not already expired, we do not restrict clients on how much time can be added or how many times the window is extended. The client can continue updating it in perpetuity to a new date in the future, so long as its an active pass (not expired). Once the pass has expired, the Add More Time button will disappear and the client should use tools to renew screening pass or resend invitation. Clients should use this button in conjunction with their internal hiring policies and expectations for completing a drug/health test.

Im curious if you have clinics available in XYZ Zip Codes for certain tests. Can you provide this information?

If the customer (or candidate) are searching a zip code and no locations are returned, that likely means that there are no clinics available in 60 mile radius that perform the required test. There might be clinics closer by that are not enabled for the customer account settings. For example Out Of Network clinics are more expensive, and require customer agreement be in place to leverage these locations. If you need to inquire further about available clinics in a particular zip code you may reach out to [email protected] and we can run a zip code search to help your candidate.

What do MRO Notes Mean?

MRO Notes are an optional field that the MRO (Medical Review Officer) will input according to the results of the drug screen. The example above shows an MRO note where the screen result was canceled due to a broken seal. Another example may be a note where MRO denotes a prescription was provided for Medical Marijuana where a donor tested positive.

What are common MRO Notes?

You can view a full list of MRO note possibilities attached in MRO Notes - Sheet1.pdf.

A Positive drug test was changed to a Negative drug test after the result was already posted in the Checkr Dashboard. Why would this happen?

From a legal standpoint we are required to accept information if a candidate provide a medical explanation for a positive result. There is no time frame as to when Checkr/eScreen can not accept a prescription. If it is more than a couple weeks eScreen would contact the Client to let them know the circumstances. If it a long period of time, for example several months, eScreen would contact the Client to see how they wanted to proceed. Some companies are concerned that it puts them in an awkward position if they receive a negative (clear) test update after a positive (consider) result was posted. Clients must take action on candidate hiring based on the information, (positive result) that they have at the time. If a result is updated at a later date to a negative the Client should discuss options for hiring with their legal team.

I received an invoice for a drug screen that did not come from Checkr? What should I do?

While this is not expected it may happen from time to time that a clinic bills a client directly in error. Many times, that client also has a local relationship with the clinic from a previous life, and they inherit their billing protocol from that. The customer should send Customer Success ([email protected]) the invoice that they received. Customer success will notify you to ignore the invoice and simply use the Checkr invoice as the source of truth. Checkr will follow up with eScreen to inform them of the mistake.

What does a "substituted" result mean and why is it treated as a non-negative result?

A substituted result means that the lab has found the sample to not be consistent with human urine.

The Account Settings page allows admins to manage their Checkr account, and individual users to manage their account settings. The Account Settings page allows you to:

Define email addresses for notifications

Set notification preferences

Add new users to the account

Add and edit user permissions

Review invoices

Add and edit payment information

Add and manage API keys and account webhooks

Review partner integration settings

Settings

Use theAccountSettings > Settings tab to edit account settings for your organization, and select email notification preferences at the user level.

Note: Each user will see different options on all Settings tabs, based on their Checkr user permissions.

Define email addresses for notifications

As part of the background check process, Checkr issues multiple email notifications to candidates. If your organization has not enabled Geos for the account, use Settings > Account Settings to define these email addresses.

Note: These email addresses must link to your company, and may link to a shared email account, allowing multiple people within your company to monitor and respond to these requests and replies.

Enter an address for the following fields:

Support email: Enter the address that will be provided to candidates to contact you to supply evidence of rehabilitation or other context during the Adverse Action process.

Billing email: Enter the address that will be used by Checkr to contact you about invoices and other billing communication.

Adverse action email: Enter the address to be used to send pre- and post- Adverse Action notices on your behalf to candidates. This address will therefore receive the undeliverable notices produced if an Adverse Action notice isn't deliverable to a candidate (if their email account has expired, or if the email address on file is inaccurate).

Technical Contact: If your company uses the Checkr APIs for integration, enter your main point of contact for technical communications. Checkr will use this email address to contact you if there are any important issues or updates to the Checkr APIs.

Compliance Contact: Enter the main point of contact to communicate with Checkr about compliance issues or updates. Checkr will use this email address to inform you of updates to candidate disputes, or if changes have been made to background check reports.

Adverse Action fallback

If yourAdverse Action email address is invalid, Checkr will attempt to notify you using the following sequence of email addresses defined in the Settings > Account Settings tab.

Account users email that initiated the Adverse Action to begin with.

Accounts Adverse Action email.

Accounts Support email.

Accounts Billing email.

Accounts Technical Contact email.

If no email address exists at the account level, the email notifying your company that the Adverse Action email is undeliverable will be sent to the listed email address for ALL users on the Checkr account with admin permission level or above.

Set notification preferences

Use the Email Preferences section to select the content and frequency of automated email notifications for the logged in user. This section of the page is available to all users within your Checkr account.

Note: If your company has enabled Geos for the account, these settings will be ignored. Users must subscribe to individual Geos, after which they will receive all email notifications for that Geo.

The following notifications are available:

Report created: Receive an email each time a new background report is created.

Report clear: Receive an email when a report completes with a Clear status.

Report consider: Receive an email when a report completes with a Consider status, indicating that there is something on the report for you to review.

Report suspended: Receive an email when a report is Suspended, meaning that Checkr contacted the candidate to provide additional information, but the candidate has not yet responded.

Report disputed: Receive an email when a report is Disputed, meaning a candidate has contacted Checkr to contest the accuracy of a report. Checkr will initiate a re-investigation for these candidates. At least one user must be subscribed at all times to receive these notices.

Candidate invitation expired: Receive an email when an invitation has expired because the candidate did not complete the process within 7 days (or the client specified period).

Candidate invitation sent: Receive an email every time an invitation is sent to a candidate.

Users

Use Account Settings > Users to view, edit, manage, or delete existing users, or to invite new users to your Checkr account.

Note: Best practices suggest that you maintain at least two admin accounts for your organization. If there is only one admin account, and if that person leaves your company unexpectedly, no one will be able to access the Checkr Dashboard and manage your account.

If there is no admin on the account, contact Checkr Customer Support to create an admin user account.

Invite new users

To add a user, enter their email address, then click +Invite. Checkr will send an invitation to the user to confirm the new account creation, and set up a password.

After the invitation is confirmed, add a user Role and Geo.

Note: Checkr cannot add users to your account. Please be certain to create more than one Admin user for the account, to protect against unexpected changes within your company.

Assign roles to users

Use the Roles pulldown menu to assign roles to your users, and grant them permissions within the Checkr Dashboard.

Individual users may have multiple Roles (such as adjudicator AND requester).

Available user roles

User: Can view reports. Assign this role to staff who provide candidates with updates on their background check.

Requester: Can access, send, and monitor invitations to initiate background checks, and can view reports. Assign this role to recruiters who initiate background checks.

Adjudicator: Can adjudicate reports, engage candidates, send Pre-Adverse Action notices to candidates, and view reports. Assign this role to adjudication staff.

Admin: Has full access to all functionality within the Checkr Dashboard. Limit this role to core members of your team.

Note: For security purposes, Checkr cannot adjust user permissions. Please contact the admin on your team to edit or add user roles for an account. By default, the first user to an account will always be an admin.

Assign Geos to users

Use Geos to manage access to candidate information for your team by geographic location.

For example, if your primary hiring locations are New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, you may want to group both your candidates and your recruiters by location for the different positions. Create Geos which reflect these three cities, then assign them to both the users managing the hiring process, and the Programs used to issue invitations to prospective candidates.

Click Edit Geos to manage the Geos assigned to a specific user. Then choose the geolocations to which that user will be subscribed. Once subscribed to a specific geolocation, users will be able to access and manage candidates only in those Geos.

Delete users

To delete existing users from your account, simply click the red trash button next to their name. Checkr will issue a confirmation, then delete the user from your account.

Reset user passwords

Use Account Settings > Users to reset user passwords for those who have forgotten their password, or who have locked their account with too many failed attempts.

Users may reset their own passwords in their Account Settings tab.

If a user (or admin) forgets their password, an admin on the account can reset their password using Account Settings > Users. Admins may also use Account Settings > Users to unlock user accounts by sending the user a password reset email if they have made too many failed attempts to log in.

Invoices

Use the Account Settings > Invoices tab to view a list of Checkr-issued invoices for your organization. Each row will display the date of the invoice, the number of reports included in the invoice, the amount owed, and the invoice status (pending or paid).

Note: This access is available only to admins, and is in addition to the email invoice issued to the address listed in Settings > Account Settings > Billing Email.

Click csv to download a csv copy of the invoice, or click pdf to open an itemized copy.

For more information on the charges listed, and the timing of invoices, see Billing and Invoices: Frequently Asked Questions in the Checkr Help Center, or Additional Pricing Information on the Checkr corporate site.

Payment

Account Settings > Payment allows you to add or edit payment information, which may be either a bank account or credit card.

Add bank account information

To allow Checkr to process invoices through a linked banking account (Automated Clearing House account), enter the following information:

Account Holders Name

Routing Number

Account Number

After your account information has been saved, you will receive a set of micro-deposits to your bank account within 2-4 business days. Enter both deposit amounts in the Payments tab of the Account Settings page to verify your bank account. If your bank account is not verified with these deposits, Checkr cannot process payment.

Add credit card information

To allow Checkr to process invoices through a linked credit card account, enter the following information:

Credit Card Holders Name

Card Number

CVC

Expiration

Developer settings

The Developer Settings page provides access to your accounts API keys and Webhooks. API keys are used to enable API access to the Checkr service for customized interfaces. Webhooks provide account level Webhooks to which any Checkr-generated events will be posted.

API and Webhook logs are displayed in the Logs section of the Checkr Dashboard.

For more information on Webhooks, see the Checkr API Guide.

API Keys

The API Keys pane lists all active API keys for the account.

Click Show key to see the selected key in plain text.

Click Expire key to set an expiration date for the selected key.

Click Create new key to create new Live Secrets, Test Secrets, Live Publishable Tokens, or Test Publishable Tokens.

By default, clients are provided test API keys when their account is created. You will not gain access to production keys until Checkr credentials your account for production API access. Once your account is credentialed, go to Account Settings > Developer Settings to create and manage your API keys.

Use Test Secrets and Tokens while testing your integration. Test API calls are free, and will return fake data. When youre ready, work with Checkr Customer Support to generate production Secrets and Tokens, and go live with your integration.

Account Webhooks

Use account webhooks to receive updates on objects created with the API. You must create webhook endpoints and add them in the Checkr dashboard to get status updates. You may create both test and live endpoints, and multiple endpoints within both the test and live environments.

The Account Webhooks section lists existing webhooks, and allows you to create new webhooks.

Enter a URL. HTTP, HTTPS and AWS SNS schemes are supported.

HTTP canbe added only for Test environment webhooks.

HTTP and HTTPS endpoints must be publicly accessible.

AWS SNS endpoint must follow the format: `sns://<key_id>:<access_key>@<region>/<topic_owner>/<topic_name>`

Select an environment:Live or Test.

Choose to include the full related object, if desired.

Click Add to create the new Webhooks.

To acknowledge receipt of a webhook, your endpoint should return a 2xx HTTP status code. Any other information returned in the response headers or response body is ignored.

If a webhook is not successfully received for any reason, Checkr will continue trying to send it every minute for 10 minutes, then every hour for 24 hours.

Monitor webhook logs in the Logspage, under the Webhook Logstab.

Note: These are account-level webhooks and are not meant to be used for existing partner or OAuth integrations. Please contact Checkr Customer Supportto update webhook URLs for a Partner integration.

Once webhooks are created, subscribe to the updates you wish to receive.

Integrations

Use the Integrations page to view and manage your OAuth Partner integrations.

Any Partner integrations you have enabled for your account will appear on this tab. Click into individual Partners for more information on the integration, or click Turn Off to disable the integration for your Account.

This article will help you:

Understand what a Global Watchlist Records Check is and why its an important part of a background report

Understand your candidate's experience

A Global Watchlist Records Check identifies whether a candidate is listed on any domestic and/or international watchlists. This search includes several international, government and regulatory databases that identify individuals who are either prohibited from certain industries, such as healthcare and finance, or are on criminal lists.

Sources include:

Office Of Inspector General

European Union Consolidated List

Drug Enforcement Agency Fugitives

Government Sanction Databases

US Terrorist List, and more

The Global Watchlist Records Check can identify known terrorists, money launderers, and drug traffickers from several federal databases which are not covered under Checkrs State, Federal, and County Criminal Records Checks. Conversely, the State, Federal, and County Criminal Records Checks rarely return results from the sources searched in the Global Watchlist Records Check.

The frequency with which these federal databases are updated depends on how often each individual source updates their records. For example, a state healthcare sanctions database might update every 30 days, whereas an international criminal database might update every 6 months.

To run a Global Watchlist Records Check, the candidates name is sent to a vendor and checked against several databases. The name given either yields results (with the corresponding details of the sanction/record), or the check clears if no results are returned.

Candidate Experience

The Global Watchlist Records Check is included in Checkrs basic report package, which includes SSN Trace, Sex Offender Registry Check, Global Watchlist Records Check, and National Criminal Records Check. The Global Watchlist Records Check cannot be run as a standalone Check.

Candidates will be asked to provide Personally Identifiable Information (PII), including their full name, date of birth, social security number, email address, and phone number.

They will then be presented and asked to acknowledge receipt of applicable forms and notifications, including Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and an Acknowledgment and Authorization for Background Check.

After the candidate consents, Checkr will initiate the Check.

If you've applied for a job and are looking for more information on your background checks status or progress, please log into the Checkr Candidate Portal.

This article will help you:

Differentiate between SSN Traces (a common step in background checks) and ID verification

Decide which level of identity verification is necessary for your business

High-volume, online onboarding differs from traditional hiring

Companies who hire independent contractors at scale, like on-demand, marketplace, or online staffing businesses, must embrace high-volume hiring processes. These processes differ from traditional face-to-face hiring processes, where a candidate walks in for an interview, brings a resume, and often submits personal or professional references.

In a traditional hiring model, identity verification is built into the process--someone on the employer side sees the candidate and has the opportunity to catch false information during the interview and reference checks. Furthermore, with full-time employees, you can verify their identities when they submit their information for an I-9 (employment eligibility verification) form.

For businesses that hire independent contractors at scale, most of these stepsdon'toccur. While some businesses have in-person onboarding centers, many dont, meaning that they will never actually see the candidate in person. Absent traditional verification procedures, these businesses rely on other mechanisms to ensure an individuals submitted information is valid.

What personal information is checked during a background check?

In most cases, the Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA) performing the background check also never sees the candidate in person. Employers generally pass on their candidates information to the CRA as a last step after most of the hiring process is completed. The CRA receives personally identifiable information (PII) like the candidates name, date of birth, and Social Security Number (SSN), to find previous addresses, aliases, DMV records, and possible criminal records.

Because the candidate has provided a SSN, the CRA can run a trace to identify known names and addresses associated with that SSN. The SSN Trace also identifies which state the SSN was issued in, and approximately which year. The CRA can also detect whether the SSN appears on the Social Security Administrations Death Master File (in other words, whether that number belongs to a deceased person) or whether the candidate is using a SSN that is known to be false based on the structure of the number itself.

Is a Social Security Number trace the same as ID Verification?

A SSN trace is not the same thing as ID verification. The SSN trace is designed to check whether submitted information (like the candidates name and age) matches commercially available database information associated with the particular SSN. The SSN Trace is not designed to determine whether the person entering that information is who they claim to be.

If John Doe enters the legitimate information belonging to Steve Smith (e.g., both Steves name and SSN), the SSN Trace will not alert either the CRA or the employer that John Doe was actually the one entering the information.

To alleviate this issue, some companies use additional Identity Verification (IDV) or Knowledge-Based Authentication (KBA) services as part of their onboarding process.

IDV or identity proofing is used for purposes ranging from opening a bank account, to age verification, to onboarding for high-volume hiring companies. KBA provides an additional level of verification by asking candidates to answer certain questions that hopefully only they would know the answers to. These questions are often based on their credit history, such as what street they lived on or which bank they have a line of credit with. However, because these questions are often based on credit history, KBAswon'twork for every type of candidate, such as younger or first-time workers who lack a sufficient credit history.

That said, no matter what technology you use, youre still relying on technology to prove that a person is who they say they are, and technology can be susceptible both to fraud and to imperfect information -- for example, in the case that a person changed their name, got married, or simply made a typo when entering information, you may still end up in a situation where the information entered does not precisely match other available records.

Although Checkr is not an ID Verification service, we flag areas where we find data discrepancies or where the candidates SSN appears on the Death Master File and reaching out to the candidate for more accurate information.

Are you a candidate who is applying for a job or undergoing a background check? If so, please visit our Candidate FAQs to see answers to our most common questions or get help from our Candidate Support team. Or get your own free background check from Better Future.

Use Checkr ETA, which provides an estimate of the time it will take for the County Criminal Checks included on the individual report to complete, to help your adjudicators, recruiters, and candidatesbetter plan for when their reports will complete.

The industry average turnaround time for most background checks is between 3-5 business days, but can take longer than expected depending on the depth of the search, geographical location of your candidates, or county courthouse operations.

Most background check packages include several types of checks, from near-instant database searches, to more time-consuming federal level searches. In most cases, the County Criminal Checks are the limiting factor in terms of turnaround time.

Background check packages can include many types of checks, from instant database searches to Federal-level checks that require close to a month.

Most database screenings (SSN Trace, Sex Offender Registry Check, Global Watchlist Records Check, and National Criminal Records Check) arecompleted within a few seconds.

More comprehensive searches generally take longer, especially when county courthouses are involved.

County criminal checks are generally the limiting factor in terms of turnaround time, and may take anywhere from 2-3 days to more than two weeks.

This article will help you:

Understand the Employment Verification process

Decide when to include Employment Verifications in your background check package

Configure your Employment Verification options

Understand your candidate's experience

This article is intended for the following user roles: admin, adjudicator, user

Employment Verification typically checks up to three past employers in the past seven years.

Verification Process

Verifying past employment history validates a persons work experience. It can also be useful in identifying gaps in the candidates employment history. Checkr makes three attempts to verify the information a candidate provides about their employment history:

First Attempt: We check established databases that maintain employment records on millions of Americans.

Second Attempt: A researcher will contact the employer directly, using the information provided by the candidate.

Third Attempt:Finally, Checkr will try to contact the listed company by reaching out to someone within the company other than the contact provided.

Notes are made on each of these three attempts, which you can view in real time by looking at the candidates report.

If previous employers cannot be verified, Checkr will generate an exception, and request that the candidate upload a W2, a letter from their former HR department on company letterhead, or an old pay stub to the Candidate Portal.

Checkr Candidate Portal.

Any significant discrepancies in start date, end dates, and position (titles) will lead to a Consider status for employment verification. You'll see a "warning" icon () appear next to the information that contains a discrepancy.

Available Employment Verification Options

The following Employment Verification setting options are available. The default setting is noted below and is automatically enabled on your account unless otherwise stated. Please contactCheckr Customer Support if youd like to change these settings.

Preferred position matching for collecting candidates last three or current employers: Very Strict, Strict (default), or Lenient. This controls how strictly we match the positions we found to the ones that the candidate entered.

Match start and end date within: 1 (default), 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 months.

Collect contract type from candidate: Yes (default), or No.

International employment verification enabled (default) or disabled. These verifications will take longer and additional fees apply.

Many jurisdictions have banned employers from inquiring about a candidate's salary history. Checkr helps you comply with these laws by not asking for salary information when the candidate has entered a zip code from a major state or city that bans salary history information. However, because this regulatory landscape changes frequently, our default option is not to collect salary information from candidates.

Candidate Experience

Employment Verifications may be run as a standalone Check.

Candidates will be asked to provide their employment history, including job title, manager, and location, for a client-defined number of years and previous employers.

They will then be presented and asked to acknowledge receipt of applicable forms and notifications, including Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and an Acknowledgment and Authorization for Background Check.

After the candidate consents, Checkr will initiate the verification process.

If previous employers cannot be verified, candidates may also be asked to provide a W2, a letter from their former HR department on company letterhead, or an old pay stub.

If you've applied for a job and are looking for more information on your background checks status or progress, please log into the

This article will help you:

Interpret the different sections of a background check report

Review clear and consider records

Engage with candidates after reviewing the report, or begin an Adverse Action process

Re-run or order new reports

This article is for the following user roles: admin, requester, adjudicator, user

Background Check Report layout

Background reports comprise different screenings, from Motor Vehicle Reports to criminal records checks to sex offender registries. Checkr's background reports follow a simple, linear, color-coded format to make reviewing and assessing reports more efficient. The report is divided into the following sections:

Candidate information: Basic information about the candidate.

Report information: Information about the report that was run, such as the dare created and how long it took to complete. You can download the report or consent forms as a PDF.

Actions: This is where you manage the candidate workflow, make decisions about how to proceed, and see a log of actions performed (we'll come back to this below).

Exceptions, Aliases, and Addresses: Additional details about the report, including exceptions that prevent the candidate from being verified.

Screenings and Statuses: The report will display all screenings that have been processed for a given report and will apply color-coded formatting based on the results of that specific screening. This lets you quickly see which screening(s) are triggering a consider status.

This is an example of the report format:

set up subscriptions

Check for "complete" results

Checkr uses pointer searches to determine which counties may reveal additional records. Pointer searches, like the SSN Trace and the National Criminal Records Check, return a list of counties that Checkr then searches for criminal records.

Because these checks are an operational step in the process, they do not contain actionable results. Accordingly, a status of Complete better represents the operations Checkr has conducted on pointer searches and requires no further attention.

Review clear and consider records

Checkr makes it easy to interpret reports using a clear or consider status in each completed report. Those reports marked as clear do not contain any potentially adverse information about the person.

Completed reports marked consider have potentially adverse information that needs to be reviewed closely. Checkr specifically calls out the component(s) that are in consider status so that you can make individualized assessments on each consider report.

To avoid unduly declining candidates, consider the job-relevance of each consider report. This type of individualized assessment will also help you comply with guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, as well as state and federal guidelines.

Click a consider record to see more information that will help you make an informed decision about how to proceed. For instance, you will see the charge type, offense date, disposition, and sentencing information.

Take action on consider reports

For reports in consider status, youll need to make a decision about whether you want to move forward with the candidate, or whether you intend not to move forward. Based on the information in the report, go to the Actions section and do one of two things:

Engage: This means that you have reviewed the information that was marked consider and proceeded to move forward with the candidate.

Pre Adverse Action: This means that you have reviewed the information that was marked consider and decided that you intend not to move forward with the candidate based on that information. If you choose this option, you will begin an Adverse Action process.

If you decide to engage, make sure to click the Engage button! This allows other members of your team to see that the report was considered and you still engaged with the candidate, which will prevent confusion. It also helps Checkr provide better analytics for you.

Order new reports or schedule re-runs

To order a new report for an existing candidate, click Order new report.

For some candidates, you may wish to re-run reports on a regular basis. If this is the case, for your candidate. Check with your counsel to verify whether your state allows re-running of reports without additional disclosures or authorization.

Use Checkr Dashboards built in Analytics to review and evaluate your background check process. In this section, your background check data is divided into the following tabs:

Overview

Adverse Action

Positive Adjudication

Candidate Experience

Geography

Analytics Tools

These tabs include charts that break down your specific background check information, including volume, turnaround time, top Candidate charges, adjudication breakdown, and exception types. This information can be used to fine tune your Positive Adjudication Matrix to increase efficiency within your teams.

Analytics charts can be shared by clicking the sprocket icon at the far right of the tab to download as PDFs or CSVs.

Note: Ensure that your team consistently clicks the Engage button when finalizing the status of a candidate. If Engage is not selected, the data used to generate these charts will be inaccurate.

Filters

Each tab provides filters which allow you to customize your charts.

Click on Filters and use the pulldown menus for each filter to select how the filter will be applied (using options such as is equal to, is blank, contains, or doesnt end with). Then click in the field and enter freeform text or choose from the available pulldown options, entering as many values as required. Click Run to regenerate the chart.

Note: If multiple instances of a single filter are used, the Dashboard will return data that matches both filters.

Available filters vary by chart, and may include:

Date: The date on which the Report was ordered.

Date (completed): The date on which the Report was completed.

Geo: The Geo used in the Report.

Package: The Package used in the Report.

Program: The Program used in the Report.

Screening Type: The Screening Type used in the Report.

Account Name: The Account Name used in the Report.

Details

A detailed view of the data can be viewed by clicking on a datapoint within the chart. This will open the Details page, which displays a table of raw data used to generate Reports. Click on Download Results to export the table to the following formats:

CSV

TXT (tab-separated values)

XLSX Excel Spreadsheet (Excel 2007 or later)

JSON

HTML

Markdown

Overview

The Overview tab provides the following charts:

Reports Ordered: The number of reports ordered during the selected time period.

Reports Ordered By Day: The number of Reports ordered during the selected time period.

Days Average Turnaround: The average turnaround time for the Reports ordered. Turnaround time for a Report is calculated from Report creation (candidate clicks Submit from an invitation link, client submits a manual order, or client initiates a Report using the Checkr API) to Report complete (Report returns with status Clear, Consider, Suspended, or Completed (for credit Reports only)).

Turnaround Time By Week: The average turnaround time for the Reports ordered. Turnaround time for a Report is calculated from Report creation (candidate clicks Submit from an invitation link, client submits a manual order, or client initiates a Report using the Checkr API) to Report complete (Report returns with status Clear, Consider, Suspended, or Completed (for credit Reports only)).

Distribution of Report Turnaround Time In Days: The percentage of completed Reports by turnaround time.

Ordered Report Status Breakdown: The total number of Reports for the selected period, broken out by status.

Overview charts can be filtered by Date, Geo, Package, Program, Screening Type, and Account Name.

These charts help you understand your background check process in terms of volume and turnaround time. An increase in turnaround time or unusual peaks and valleys in Report volume may indicate issues with your background check process.

If you notice unusual spikes or trends in these Reports, drill down into the factors that might cause them. Are there variations by hiring department? By candidate pool? Or by geolocation?

Adverse Action

The Adverse Action tab offers the following charts:

Adjudication Breakdown: The percentage of Reports returned Clear: Engaged or No Action, or Consider: No Action, Engaged, or Adverse Action, in relation to the total number of Reports adjudicated for the selected time frame.

Adjudication Breakdown Over Time: The number of Reports processed for the selected time period, broken out by adjudication result.

Top Criminal Charge Categories for Adverse Actions: The number of criminal charges, broken out by category, selected, and not selected for Adverse Action.

Top Failed MVR Rules for Adverse Actions: The number of MVR rules failed, broken out by selected and not selected for adverse actions.

Adversable Screenings Leading to Adjudication Decisions (Non-Criminal/Non-MVR): The number of Screenings returned as Consider, broken out by action taken (no action, engaged, or Adverse Action).

Adverse Action by Candidate Profile: The percentage of Candidates with an Adverse Action by charge type and conviction status.

Fair Chance Opportunities: The adverse rate by charge type and conviction status.

These charts can be filtered by Date, Geos, Package, and Program.

Use these charts to determine which charges are most frequent for your candidate pool and which most often result in Adverse Actions. This information can then be used to determine if your Adjudication Matrix should be adjusted to better streamline the adjudication process. It can also be used to determine if your team is evaluating candidates fairly and consistently across different geolocations.

For instance, you can click Engaged in the Adverse Action by Candidate Profile chart to view the profile of Candidates with a Consider status who you decided to hire. This information will allow you to fine tune your adjudication criteria and improve engagement with your talent pool. If you find that certain offense types consistently yield Engaged candidates, use the Positive Adjudication Matrix (PAM) to filter them out from returned Reports and thereby reduce the number of Reports requiring manual review. For example, if marijuana possession is rarely used as a reason to process an Adverse Action, change your PAM settings to de-emphasize this charge.

The result is a better candidate experience, improved hiring rates, and alignment with Checkrs Fair Chance mission.

Positive Adjudication

The Positive Adjudication tab provides the following charts:

Charges Caught By Matrix: The total number of charges hidden by the Positive Adjudication Matrix.

Charges Caught By Matrix Over Time: The number of County, State, and National Criminal charges filtered out of Reports by your Adjudication Matrix over time.

Charge Categories Caught By Matrix: The number of County, State, and National Criminal charges filtered by your Adjudication Matrix, sorted by category.

Reports Saved From Consider: The total number of Reports saved from Consider status.

Reports Saved From Consider Over Time: The number of Reports returned Clear, rather than Consider, due to your Adjudication Matrix settings.

These charts can be filtered by Date, Geo, Package, and Program.

Use these charts to determine which are your most common charge categories and how many Reports were marked Clear rather than Consider as a result of your Positive Adjudication Matrix settings.

This information can help you determine how your Positive Adjudication Matrix affects the number and type of charges that require your teams review. Charges filtered by the Matrix do not change the Report status to Consider and are not passed on to your team for review.

For example, you might decide that a charge of fishing without a license is irrelevant for a delivery person position. Change the settings in your Adjudication Matrix to filter these charges out of consideration for that positions background check package. Once filtered, Reports returned for the position that include a charge of fishing without a license will be marked Status: Clear and will not require your teams review.

Candidate Experience

The Candidate Experience tab provides a range of charts designed to visualize candidate experience metrics. All charts in this section may be filtered by Date, Geo, Package, and Program.

General Exception Information

These charts aggregate the most common exceptions presented to your candidates, helping you to troubleshoot the application process and messaging. Use these Reports to help determine if:

The number of exceptions presented to candidates is on the rise.

A single exception is most frequently sent to the majority of candidates.

Suspended Reports are commonly the result of a specific exception.

A high volume of exceptions might be resolved by changing the messaging in your candidate workflow. For example, you might suggest that candidates more carefully review their applications for typos or that they use the Checkr Candidate Portal to ensure that they have submitted the information necessary to resolve any exceptions in their process.

Total Exceptions: The total number of exceptions.

Top Exception Type Breakdown: The top five exception types, broken out by their percentage of the whole.

Exception Types Over Time: The number of top five exception types by week.

Exception Types Segmented By Status: The top five exception types for the selected time frame, broken out by current status: Pending, Resolved, or Suspended.

SSN Trace Exception

Use these charts to predict anomalies and risks in onboarding for your candidates, especially by geography. These additional insights help deliver increased productivity and operational efficiency.

The Checkr Dashboard provides the following SSN- and geo-related charts:

SSN Traces Exception reports: The total number of SSN Traces, SSN Exceptions, and SSN Exception Resolutions. line graphs and bar charts breaking down SSN Trace exception returns.

Total SSN Traces By Day: The changes in volume of SSN traces over time.

SSN Exception Types By Day: The changes in volume of SSN exceptions over time.

SSN Resolutions By Day: The changes in volume of SSN resolutions over time.

SSN Resolutions By Type: The number of resolutions by type per day.

Exceptions By Geo: Top 5:The number of exceptions by Geo and by type per day.

Exceptions By Geo (Full Results): The number of exceptions by Geo.

Thin File Exception Rate By Geo Over Time: The number of exceptions by type and by Geo for the following exception types: thin file, data mismatch, Death Master File hit, and invalid issuance year.

Data Mismatch Exception Rate by Geo Over Time: The rate at which candidate data resulted in a mismatch exception by Geo over time.

Death Master File Hit Exception Rate By Geo Over Time: The rate at which candidate SSNs matched SSNs in the death master file.

Invalid Insurance Year Exception Rate By Geo Over Time: The rate at which candidate data resulted in an invalid insurance year exception by Geo over time

Motor Vehicle Records

Use these charts to fine tune your custom Motor Vehicle Record (MVR) rules to optimize your hiring funnel.

The Checkr Dashboard provides the following MVR-related charts:

Motor Vehicle Reports: The total number of MVR Reports Ordered, MVR Reports Marked Consider, and MVR Reports Engaged.

MVR Reports Cleared By Day: Graphs the number of Reports automatically marked Clear according to your custom rules per day.

Consider Reports By Day: Graphs the number of Reports marked Consider by your custom rules per day.

Consider Rate Over Time: Graphs the number of Reports marked Consider over time.

Engage Rate Over Time: Graphs the number of candidates Engaged after having a Report returned as Consider, over time.

MVR Reports By Geo: Top 5: Charts the number of MVR Reports ordered, and marked Clear, Consider, and Engage by your account's Geos.

MVR Reports By Geo (Full Results): Charts the number of MVR Reports ordered, and marked Clear, Consider, and Engage by your account's Geos.

Motor Vehicle Record reports: Provide line and bar charts which display the effects of your custom MVR rules, allowing you to fine tune these rules to optimize your hiring funnel.

Geography

The Geography tab offers the following charts:

Criminal Search Average Turnaround Time In Days by State: A US map showing the average time needed to complete a criminal search by state.

Criminal Search Average Turnaround Time In Days by County: A US map showing the average time needed to complete a criminal search by county.

Criminal Search Average Turnaround Time and Volume by County: The average time needed to complete a criminal search by county.

These charts can be filtered by Date, Geo, Package, Program, and State.

Use these charts to better understand the time required to complete criminal background checks by state or county. Mouse over a state or county to display turnaround times specific to the selected geographic area.

Use this information to better set expectations with candidates when estimating how long their background check may take. Note that county searches often take longer than other Screenings and may create unexpected delays for an individual candidates background check to complete.

Ifyou'vebeen invited to participate in a drug screening by the company you applied with, please contact the company directly if you have any questions about the drug screening, or why a drug screening has been requested. Checkr simply processes the drug screening requested by the company.

Youll be asked to schedule an appointment at a location convenient to you within 3 days of receipt of the invitation.

Oneyou'vescheduled your appointment, youll receive a donor pass that will be available in the Candidate Portal and also emailed to you. Please download the donor pass to present at the lab where the tests will be performed.

Results for drug screenings will be negative or non-negative.

Negative means the drug screen returned clear

Non-negative means you tested positive for one of the drugs on the panel

If your results are non-negative, a Medical Review Officer (MRO) will review your report.

The MRO will call you to ask if you have a current prescription. They will try to call you 3 times in 24 hours.

If the MRO speaks with you, and youre able to provide a current prescription, your results will be listed as negative.

This article will help you:

Invite new users to your account

Delete users from your account

Onlyadmins can add, delete, or edit users.

Invite new users

To invite new users to your account, log into the Checkr Dashboard as anadmin, then go to Account Settings >Users.

To add a user, enter their email in the field underInvite a user to your account. This will send an invitation to the new user.

Account Settings >Users

We recommend that you have more than one user on your account so that you have a backup contact to access reports.

After you add a new user, set their user role (and Geo if relevant). To learn more, see " How do I manage user permissions? "

Delete users

To delete existing users from your account,log into the Checkr Dashboard as anadmin, then go to.

Next to each user is a red trash button which will delete the user and prevent them from accessing the account.

Adding users when your admin has left the company

In the event that roles transition and the admin leaves your company, make sure that you have at least one remaining admin to manage the account with proper privileges.

If you don't have an admin on your account and need to become the new one, please contactCheckr Customer Support.

We will validate your name and email and send a confirmation to the contract signer and/or billing/technical contact and other existing admins (even if their emails no longer exist).

This article will help you:

Order background checks

Track candidates on the Checkr Dashboard

Review background reports

Hire/place or decline candidates

If you're acandidate looking for more information, please visit our Candidate Portal.

If you're a developer looking to build on Checkr's API, please visit our API Docs.

Welcome to Checkr!

We're happy to partner with you to make your background check process more efficient, reduce your compliance risk, and improve your candidates' experience. As you get started with Checkr, you'll probably be doing one of a few things: running a report, managing candidate statuses, or adjudicating/reviewing reports.

This guide will walk you through the basics of using Checkr, and we'll link to other articles that take you more in-depth. But first, check out this quick video for an overview.

1. Order your first background check

Users with admin or requester roles (usually recruiters at your business) can invite candidates to a background check.

If youdon't see any links to invite candidates in your account, you likely haven't set up payment yet. As anadmin, go to Account Settings > Payment to enter it.

To send invitation links in bulk via email (recommended), go to the Candidates section, and click Invite Candidates.

Getting Started Guide for Admins

To send an individual invitation link, go to the Home section to see a list of invitation links that you can simply copy and paste.

The link takes the candidate to a page hosted by Checkr. We'll collect the candidate's PII (personally identifiable information) and provide Disclosure and Authorization documents, including state-specific documents.

To learn more about running checks, see our article "How do I request a background check?"

2. Track candidates and reports on the Checkr Dashboard

Once you order the background check, the candidate takes the next steps in the process:

Enter their PII (see " What information are candidates required to provide for their background check? ")

Read the disclosure(s) and authorize that they consent to have a background report run

Submit additional information if an exception occurs. An exception is when Checkr can't proceed with the background check until we receive additional documentation. For more information, see " How can candidates submit documents for additional verification? "

All user roles can track candidates and reports as they process.

Report Status

As candidates move through the process, you will see different statuses in the Candidates section that indicate where they are in the process, including the outcome of the background check. The most common statuses that you'll see are:

Pending: The report is processing and will typically be finalized in 2-3 days, but could take longer if we need documentation from the candidate or if a particular check is taking longer than expected (search delays are often due to court processing, over which Checkr has no control)

Clear: The report is complete and does not contain adverse information on any of the screenings

Consider: The report is complete and contains some sort of adverse information to evaluate. This doesn't necessarily mean a "fail." See the section below on assessing background reports for more information.

For more about report statuses, see " What does the status of the report indicate? "

Get email updates on candidates

To set up email updates, go to the Account Settings section. Under Your Email Preferences, youll see your options. For example, you can be notified when a report reaches Clear or Consider status, or when a report is Suspended or Expired (indicating that the candidate failed to respond or provide the requested information) to keep your process moving more efficiently.

Email preferences are set for each individual account, so you can set the ones that youd like to receive without worrying about changing your teammates settings.

To learn more, see How do I manage my email notification preferences?

3. Review a background report

All user roles can review background reports, but only users with admin or adjudicator roles can take action based on a report.

Checkr's background reports follow a simple, linear, color-coded format to make reviewing and assessing reports more efficient.

Try filtering the dashboard to reports in consider status,then click go to report.

The report will display all screenings that have been processed for a given report. It will also apply color-coded formatting based on the results of that specific screening so you can quickly see which screening(s) are triggering a consider status.

Based on the information in the report, go to the Actions section and do one of two things:

Engage: This means that you have reviewed the information that was marked consider and intend to hire or place the candidate

Pre Adverse Action: This means that you have reviewed the information that was marked consider and decided that you intend not to hire or place the candidate, based on that information

If you decide to engage, make sure to click the Engage button so that your team members will not be confused about the candidates status, and so Checkrs analytics will work correctly!

4. Manage Adverse Actions

Only users with admin or adjudicator roles can manage the Adverse Action process.

When you intend not to move forward with a candidate based on the information contained in a background check, that is called an Adverse Action. This is one of your requirements under the FCRA.

Avoid disqualifying candidates just because they have a record inConsider status. Take into account:

the nature of the crime (e.g. petty theft vs. assault and battery),

when the crime occurred (e.g. 6 months vs. 6 years), and

whether the crime is relevant to the job duties that the candidate would be performing.

As part of a proper Adverse Action process, you must provide:

aPre-Adverse Action Notice,

a reasonable waiting period, and

a finalAdverse Action Notice if you still intend to move forward at the end of the waiting period.

Checkr helps you stay compliant throughout the Adverse Action process. To learn more about this process, see our article on Adverse Action.

Admin information and advanced features

For Admin users, who are able to change account settings within Checkr, the most common things you'll do are:

Add and manage users

Configure more powerful, advanced features like programs, geos, and the Positive Adjudication Matrix

Review and interpret Checkr's analytics

For an introduction to those topics, see our .

If you have questions, need tips, or want to get access to advanced features, please get in touch with the Checkr Customer Support team.

The Engage feature is a way to track the candidates you have decided to move forward with after their report is complete. When you engage the candidate, no communication will be sent to them. Engaged is added to the status of the report.

Reports are the heart of the Checkr user experience. Use the Reports page to:

Review individual reports

Engage your Candidate

Initiate Adverse Action

Cancel Adverse Action

Order new reports for the Candidate

Enable Subscriptions for the Candidate

Enroll a Candidate in Continuous Check

Add a tag to the Report

Download a PDF copy of the Report

Review actions taken during the course of the Reports generation.

Review Reports

Checkr generates easy to read, legally compliant background reports. Log into your dashboard to review your candidates reports.

Background reports may include different screenings, from Motor Vehicle Reports to criminal records checks to sex offender registries. Checkr's background reports follow a simple, linear, color-coded format to make reviewing and assessing reports more efficient.

Use the Candidates page to click down into a report and review the personally identifiable information (PII) entered, any exceptions presented to the candidate, and the status and findings of the report.

To view a report, click Go to report for the selected candidate.

Reports are divided into the following sections:

Candidate information: Basic information about the candidate.

Report information: Information about the report that was run, as well as an option to add a tag to the report or download a copy as a PDF. (If the Candidate went through the Checkr hosted flow, a copy of the authorization and disclosure forms may also be selected from the Download PDF button.)

Actions: Lists completed actions in this candidates Adverse Action process, if any, and provides buttons to allow you to Engage the candidate, begin the Pre-Adverse Action process, or Cancel Adverse Action (if the Post Adverse Action email has not yet been sent).

Exceptions, Aliases, and Addresses: Additional details about the report, including exceptions that prevent the candidate from being verified.

Screenings and Statuses: Lists all screenings that have been processed for a given report and uses color-coded formatting to indicate individual screening results. Click the status icon to open a window with supporting detail for a screenings results.

Status

Reports list the status of each package individually, and include a summary status both at the top of the page, and in the Report Summary section.

Pending: The Report is processing. The length of time to finalize is dependent on the Screenings run, but is usually within 2-3 days. Manual County Criminal Records Checks may take significantly longer to complete. For more information, see " Why is the background check taking longer than expected? "

Clear: The Report is complete and either does not contain adverse information on any of the screenings, or includes information that was filtered out by your MVR rules or Positive Adjudication Matrix settings.

Consider: The Report is complete and contains some adverse information to evaluate. This information may include criminal records, Motor Vehicle Reports that violate one or more insurance considerations, and/or a mismatch in the Employment/Education verification.

Dispute: The Report is complete, and the candidate has contacted Checkr to contest its accuracy. Adjudication cannot proceed while a report status is Dispute, and adverse adjudications made prior to the dispute must be re-initiated if the candidate still does not qualify upon the conclusion of the dispute. You will be notified by email upon the conclusion of a reinvestigation, which may take a maximum of 30 days.

Suspended:The Report is incomplete or information in the Report cannot be verified, and 7 days have passed since Checkr requested additional information and received no response from the candidate.Once the requested information is provided, the report is reinitiated and its status updated to Pending. For more information on why reports may be suspended, see Exceptions: Missing information from candidates.Note: The Consider status takes precedence over Suspended, in that some incomplete reports will be listed as Consider if there is information within them that merits the Consider status. For example: If the MVR is suspended, but the county check is Consider, the overall report status will be Consider.

The Invitation information section lists Report status for candidates who have not yet responded to the invitation to run a background check:

Invitation sent: The invitation link has been sent within the past 7 days, but the candidate has not yet responded. (During this time, the Invitation may be cancelled by clicking Cancel Invitation in the Candidate Details page.)

Expired: The invitation link was sent more than 7 days ago, and the candidate did not respond.

Exceptions

Exceptions occur when a candidates name, date of birth, SSN and/or driver license number cannot be verified using the information originally submitted. When an exception occurs, Checkr automatically sends the candidate an email notification that includes an upload link for providing documents securely. If the candidate does not respond with sufficient documents within seven days, the report moves to Suspended status, and will not move forward until additional action is taken.

To resolve exceptions, candidates must provide the requested information. Checkr will review uploaded documents within 24 hours. Once all exceptions are resolved, the report begins processing again. This is indicated by a green check and the exception alert being greyed out. If a document is rejected, the reason will be displayed.

For more information, see Exceptions: Addressing data discrepancies in reports in the Checkr Help Center.

If a Candidate does not receive the Checkr automated email to correct the exception, you may upload documents on their behalf, retrieve the link from their report and send it to them, or refer them to the Candidate Portal to submit their information.

Engage a Candidate

Onceyou'vereviewed the report and decided to continue with the hiring process, click Engage in the Actions section of the Report. The Engage feature allows you to see the number of Reports generated that resulted in a hire, those that resulted in an Adverse Action process and are pending review, and historic adjudication decisions.

The Engage feature is used only for reporting purposes. No notification is sent to the Candidate, and no information included in the Report is changed.

Adverse Action

When something is reported on a Report which may be contrary to your companys hiring practices, click Pre-Adverse Action in the Actions section of the Report. This will initiate the Adverse Action process, which will follow Checkrs best practices, as customized by your Account settings.

Note: Both the Adverse Action and Support email or phone number must be configured for your Account before initiating any Adverse Actions. For more information, see Define email addresses for notifications in the Settings > Account Settings documentation.

Initiate Adverse Action

Initiate Pre-Adverse Action:

On the Report, under Actions, click Pre-Adverse Action.

Select the charges that prevent you from moving forward with the Candidate. Select all that apply, and at least one must be selected.

Confirm the number of days after which the Post-Adverse Action notification will be sent, and click Preview email.

Review the Pre-Adverse Action email that will be sent, and click Send Pre-Adverse Action notice.

A window will open, asking for confirmation of the action. Click OK to send the notice, and then click Done on the confirmation pane that opens.

The default Checkr Adverse Action process includes the following steps:

Pre-Adverse Action email is sent to the Candidate.

Waiting period begins (7 days by default).

The Candidate may respond with a dispute, putting the process in Disputed status and the Adverse Action process is automatically cancelled.

If the Candidate provides compelling information to you, the employer, the Adverse Action process may be halted by clicking Cancel Adverse Action.

If you decide to move forward with the Candidate, click Engage.

If the Candidate does not respond, the Post-Adverse Action email is sent, and the process is completed.

Note: When Checkr detects that a Candidate lives (current zip) or works (assigned Geo) in Los Angeles City or New York City, we automatically provide clients with our individualized assessment Adverse Action flow. We do this to help our end-users meet their Adverse Action responsibilities in those cities where "showing your work" is required. The tool allows companies to: (1) show their work in a free form text field (alters the copy of the pre/post notices); (2) upload the city-issued assessment forms for LAC/NYC (we link to them); or (3) skip the individualized flow altogether. We currently allow the skip functionality because this "show your work" requirement has some exceptions written into the law (for example: the number of employees).

For more information, see Individualized assessment: how you consider adverse information in the Checkr Help Center.

Cancel Adverse Action

If a Candidate provides compelling evidence that makes you reevaluate the information returned in the report, click Cancel Adverse Action to end the process. The Cancel button will appear in the Actions pane where the Engage and Pre-Adverse Action buttons were located before the Adverse Action was initiated.

Cancelling Adverse Action will cancel the Post Adverse Action email and allow you to proceed to Engage the Candidate.

For more information, see The Adverse Action process: deciding not to move forward with a candidate in the Checkr Help Center.

Order a second Report

Checkr allows you to order a new report for an existing Candidate. Byclicking on theOrder new reportlink at the top right of the report. A window will open whereyou can review the candidate information entered, select a package, and request a new report for the Candidate.

New reports will be generated using only the Candidate information entered for the original report and cannot include packages that require additional information. For example, if the first report did not require the Candidates driver license information, you may not select a Motor Vehicle Report package for the new report.

Note: To protect against accidental report duplication, and the resultant charge incurred, Checkr does not allow more than three reports to be requested for a single candidate within a 24-hour period. For more information, see Can I request multiple reports for a candidate? in the Checkr Help Center.

To run the same report for a candidate at set intervals, use Checkr Subscriptions.

Add a Subscription

Subscriptions allow you to run recurring reports on a Candidate.

To run Subscriptions, you must first obtain evergreen consent from the Candidate. This is a one-time consent informing the candidate that you will run background checks on an ongoing basis. Many companies include this in their initial authorization form, but others use a new disclosure each time. Check with your counsel for state-by-state guidance.

Once evergreen consent has been obtained, click Subscriptions under Candidate informationand define the Subscription.

Select the checkbox to certify that you have received evergreen consent from the Candidate and then click Add Subscription.

Use the pulldown menu to select a Package

Enter the Monthly interval at which the Subscription will be run. To run a Package annually, enter 12.

Enter a date for the First occurrence of the Subscription, which is the date when the first Report will be initiated.

The Next occurrence field will automatically populate, based on the Monthly interval entered. Check your work, and click Save.

Subscriptions are run as batch jobs every 24 hours. Your Subscriptions are guaranteed to be run within 24 hours of your selected run date.

Once Subscriptions are enabled, track Candidates with active subscriptions from the Candidates page in the Dashboard. From the Searchsection, click on show advanced filters and select Monitor Type: Subscription.

Note: Subscriptions must be managed individually. You cannot mass subscribe or unsubscribe candidates from a given subscription using the Dashboard. However, you can do this using the Checkr API.

Enroll a Candidate in Continuous Check

Continuous Check runs a monthly check for pointers to new records, which may result in a report. Unlike a Subscription, which generates a full report at a defined cadence, Continuous Check only generates a full report if new reportable information is found. For more information, see Continuous Check: The new standard of safety.

After you have engaged a candidate and obtained evergreen consent from them, use the Checkr Dashboard to enroll them in Continuous Check.

Note: If you are new to Continuous Check, work with your Checkr Customer Success Manager to enroll multiple candidates simultaneously.

From the Candidates page, click on the candidate you wish to enroll.

From their page, click Continuous Check: Enable.

Click the checkbox to certify that evergreen consent has been obtained.

Note: It is your legal obligation to manage your list of candidates enrolled in Continuous Check. You must obtain the required consent before enrolling them, and you must remove them from the service when they begin an Adverse Action process or are removed from your platform.

Work with your legal counsel to ensure that your Continuous Check process remains compliant with all applicable laws and regulations.

Unenroll a candidate from Continuous Check

When a Candidate is no longer part of your workforce, it is your responsibility to manually unenroll them from Continuous Check. However, if you begin an Adverse Action process for the Candidate using the Checkr dashboard, they will be automatically unenrolled.

Work with your legal counsel to establish a working protocol for managing your unenrollment process.

Manage Reports

Checkr also allows you to add Tags to a report, download a shareable PDF, and review the actions taken during Report generation.

Add Tags

Adding Tags allows you to more easily search for Reports within the Checkr Dashboard. Once Tags have been added to a report, a Tag filter will appear on the Candidates page.

Download PDF

The Dashboard allows you to download Report PDFs at any stage in the process. Use this to send your Candidates a copy of their report, or share a Report with others within your company.

Review History

The Reports page provides a history of actions taken during the generation of a Report, from initiation, through Engaging with the Candidate, or through any steps taken during the Adverse Action process.

This article will help you answer the following questions:

Payment Processing and Setup

How do I clarify that we have a CC on file, so you wedon'thave to send a check?

How do I interpret the different fees on our invoice?

Am I auto charged?

Can I update my payment?

Whats default if CC and ACH is setup?

How does the bank account verification process work?

Fees and Billing

How do we change our billing contact email?

When will we be billed?

What is a pass thru fee?

Where do I find the list of pass thru fees?

Why is the package fee on my invoice higher than we expected?

What is Net-30?

Am I charged for expired invitations?

Am I charged for missed drug tests?

Invoices

How do I access our invoices?

Whens the due date for the invoice?

Why is the package fee on my invoice higher than we expected?

What month is this invoice for?

Why is my invoice pending?

Other

Who can I contact about my invoice?

Payment Processing and Setup

How does the bank account verification process work?

This process verifies that you are the account owner. Payment information can be updated at any time by an Admin on your Checkr account. Bank account verification is managed through the Checkr Dashboard. Administrators can setup the payment information with these instructions.

How do I clarify that we have a CC on file, so you wedon'thave to send a check?

You can access the current account payment settings from Account Settings > Payment in the Checkr Dashboard.

Am I auto charged?

If your monthly invoice is less than $2,500, then you must set up auto pay rather than paying by Check.

Can I update my payment?

Payment information can be updated through the Checkr Dashboard. Administrators can setup the payment information with these instructions.

Whats default if CC and ACH is setup?

On the 28th day of each month a copy of your invoice is sent to your accounts billing contact email address and the CC on file will be charged. This invoice includes charges related to background checks that completed in the previous month. You can view invoices by going to Account Settings > Invoices as an admin. Please contact Checkr Customer Support if you see any discrepancies on your invoice.

Fees and Billing

When will we be billed?

Your account will be billed for the previous months invoice on the 28th of each month.

For example, you would be charged for your January invoice on February 28th.

Once your account has been charged, the invoice status in the Checkr dashboard will be updated to Paid.

Invoices are sent out at the beginning of each month, and your payment method on file will be charged the invoice fee at the end of the month. Your invoice includes charges and fees for usage during the previous month.

NOTE: Clients with low-volume report invoices will be required to maintain billing information on file with Checkr. Please work with your billing department to ensure that these invoices are paid only once, and are paid using the credit card or direct deposit method on file rather than by check.

What is Net-30?

Net-30 is a specific type of trade credit where the payment is due, in full, 30 days after the item/service is purchased. In the case of Checkr if your account is set to auto pay, your account will be billed for the previous months invoice on the last business day of the month..

For example, you would be charged for your May 2019 invoice (June 30th 2019 falls on Sunday, the last business day of the month is June 28th) as such, you will be charged on June 28th, 2019 for May 2019s invoice.

How do I interpret the different fees on our invoice?

Package Fees: These are the fees assessed by Checkr to compile and deliver the consumer report your company has ordered.

Pass-Thru Fees - Commonly, you will see "pass-through" fees that were required to complete the candidate reports. These fees are passed through by Checkr to your company with no additional surcharge or processing fee.

Below is a short list of pass-thru types and see the Pass-thru fee article for more details and for a full list of pass-through fees, see Checkr's pricing page.

DMV Fees: DMVs across the US require payment to access driving record data; the specific fee will vary from one state to the next.

NOTE: If an MVR Check must be re-run due to an exception, both checks will be billed on your invoice.

County Fees: Roughly 10% of counties across the US require payment in order to access their criminal record data.

State Fees: In states like New York, many counties pool their criminal records in one system of record, so the county fee in these cases are billed as a State Fee. Additionally, if your company conducts State Criminal Records Checks, some states charge a separate fee for accessing criminal data at the state level.

Verification Fees: These fees apply only if your company is conducting employment or education verifications. These fees are assessed by industry verification databases to automatically verify either employment or education history.

What is a pass thru fee?

In addition to the cost of the background check, your reports may be subject to various third-party access fees, including county and state court access fees, DMV access fees, and employment/education verification fees. See the Pass-thru fee article for more details and for a full list of pass-through fees, see Checkr's pricing page.NOTE: Checkr does not mark up any fees; instead we send them in your invoice at cost.

Where do I find the list of pass thru fees?

See the Pass-thru fee article for more details and for a full list of pass-through fees, see Checkr's pricing page.

Why is the package fee on my invoice higher than we expected?

Most likely, you ran a basic criminal package and the fee was incurred when a county check was initiated from a pointer in the National Criminal Records Checks. This is called the County-level Verification Fee.

How do we change our billing contact email?

Any admin on your Checkr account can update the billing contact under Account Settings at any time. [email protected]

Am I charged for missed drug tests?

No

Am I charged for expired invitations?

No

Invoices

How do I access our invoices?

Each month a copy of your invoice is sent to your accounts billing contact email address. This invoice includes charges related to background checks that completed in the previous month.In addition to the monthly email, admins can access both current and previous invoices on the Invoices tab of the Account Settings section. Here youll find both a summary PDF as well as a detailed CSV for each invoice, both of which you can download and review.

Whens the due date for the invoice?

Invoices are sent out at the beginning of each month, and your payment method on file will be charged the invoice fee at the end of the month. Your invoice includes charges and fees for usage during the previous month.

What month is this invoice for?

Your invoice includes charges and fees for usage during the previous month.For example, you would be charged for your January invoice on February 28th.

Why is my invoice pending?

Its probably because we may not have yet updated the status. If you have paid this invoice let us know!

Other

Who can I contact about my invoice?

Contact Checkr Customer Support:

This article will help you:

Outline the different steps of the background check process

Determine which steps you (the employer) take and which steps the candidate takes

Are you a candidate who is applying for a job or undergoing a background check? If so, please visit our Candidate FAQs to see answers to our most common questions or get help from our Candidate Support team.

CHECKR CLIENTS:

See our Checkr Check-In video for an overview of the criminal background check process in five minutes:

The background check process, in a nutshell

Conducting background checks is a complex process, but we can simplify it to a few steps.

At a high level, this is what happens:

Adverse Action

You request a background check.

The candidate receives an email requesting that they authorize the check and provide their information.

The candidate enters their personally identifying information (PII) securelyand signs a disclosure, consent and authorization form electronically.

The report typically takes 3-5 business days to be processed.

After the screenings finish, the report is completed and will be found in the Candidates section of the Dashboard.

You review the report and determine the candidate's eligibility based on their completed report. Based on that information, you decide whether to engage the candidate or initiate an .

If you use Checkr's hosted flow, Checkr will securely host the disclosures and other relevant forms.

Checkr screens both private and public databases to check for records that match the full name, date of birth, and sometimes address history of the candidate. This process is not as instantaneous as one may think, and often requires a manual check of public government records.

How do background checks help your business?

Background checks benefit both the consumer (the subject of the background report) and end user (an employer or contractee) in a variety of legal and practical ways.

Contract positions entail a level of risk between the customer and contractor. By requiring your sub contractors to undergo a background check before interfacing with the public, you can establish a community of trust and transparency.

Employers maintain the quality of their workforce. The background check process encourages honesty and communication with the employer, while employees maintain peace of mind amongst their colleagues.

Mitigate negligent hiring and wrongful termination lawsuits. The cost of employee litigation can cripple company capital and resources, and conducting a formal process to screen your employees will help you navigate legal requirements.

This article will help you:

Compare name-based background checks with biometric/fingerprinting approaches

Understand the limitations of each type of check

The term background check can refer to either name-based checks (which are used by the majority of background check companies) and biometric or fingerprint checks (which are used primarily by law enforcement).

Fingerprinting or biometricchecks such as "Live Scan" are required by law for certain industries, and it is also used in law enforcement, but the approach has drawbacks that many employersaren'taware of.

Name-based checks

The majority of pre-employment background checks are conducted using a name-based approach.

When background check companies conduct a name-based checks, they use a candidates personally identifiable information (PII) to search for criminal history and other information. PII includes not just the candidates name, but also information like:

Date of Birth (DOB)

Social Security Number (SSN)

Drivers License Number

The candidates PII allows the background check company to look broadly for information using national and local sources. If the check turns up records that match the candidates PII, that information will be used as a pointer to specific county, state or federal jurisdictions. The background check company then conducts a search, at the source, in these jurisdictions.

As a result of this process, name-based searches can return information from national and local databases, as well as federal and county courts, in a matter of days.

Fingerprinting and biometric checks

Certain law enforcement groups, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), use fingerprinting or other biometric data as a way to find suspects criminal histories. FBI database screenings are only available to employers who have legal authority. In other words, access is authorized by statute, and not all parties can be granted access.

The FBI fingerprinting database, like many other criminal record databases, collects criminal record information from state and local law enforcement sources. Checks return an FBI Identification Record, which contains information tied to arrests, federal employment, naturalization, or military service -- in other words, times when an individual would have been fingerprinted.

However, because the information in the database is meant for law enforcement and not for employers, it is often missing information such as the final disposition of a record.

In other words, it may reveal an arrest record, but not show that the arrest later led to a dismissal. This type of information is missing in roughly 50% of cases, according to the U.S. Attorney Generals report ( https://www.gao.gov/assets/670/668505.pdf page 19).

According to the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS), fingerprint-based background checks are a useful tool when conducting background screening, but theydon'tprovide a comprehensive history and should not be solely relied upon for obtaining complete and up-to-date information.

Comparing name-based and fingerprinting approaches

While both name-based and fingerprint-based approaches both have pros and cons, it is widely accepted among background check experts that name-based checks are the preferred method for conducting background checks for employment-related or tenant screening purposes. The primary exception is for industries or locations that require fingerprint searches by law -- and even then, they should be used to supplement, not replace, name-based searches.

Consider the following when comparing fingerprinting to name-based checks.

Comprehensiveness

Although there is a commonly held belief that fingerprinting is the most comprehensive way to identify criminal records, the FBI database (like any individual source) does not always contain complete information. A fingerprint check only reflects information received by the FBI from states and municipalities. When you use the FBI database, youll find information collected when a suspect was arrested and fingerprinted, which doesnt apply to 100% of the information in a background check.

In 2015, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found significant gaps in the FBI database as many state and local jurisdictions fail to report arrest records or dispositions to the FBI.

Among the GAOs recommendations:

To improve disposition reporting that would help states update and complete criminal history records, the Director of the FBI should task the FBI Advisory Policy Board to establish a plan with timeframes and milestones for achieving its Disposition Task Force's stated goals.

To better equip states to meet the regulatory requirement to notify individuals of their rights to challenge and update information in their criminal history records, and to ensure that audit findings are resolved, the Director of the FBI, in coordination with the Compact Council, should determine why states do not comply with the requirement to notify candidates and use this information to revise its state educational programs accordingly.

According to a report from the U.S. Attorney General, The FBIs system is not a complete national database of all criminal history records in the United States and that it was not intended to be used for pre-employment background checks. Furthermore, Users may not want to rely exclusively on an FBI and state repository checks and may also want to check other record sources, such as commercial databases and local courthouses, to obtain more complete and up-to-date information.

Accuracy

Consumer Reporting Agencies (CRAs) like Checkr are required by federal law to conduct checks with maximum possible accuracy. This means that we must ensure that the records returned are as complete and up-to-date as possible.

According to research by the Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA), FBI database information can take as long as 24 days to report, and court disposition information can take over a month. This means that information in the FBI database may not be as up-to-date as information from a CRA.

Additionally, when you evaluate criminal records, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission advises you to avoid disparate impact, where a seemingly neutral policy actually has an outsized effect on minority populations. Remember that many FBI arrest recordsdon'tinclude final dispositions; in some jurisdictions with active police presence, relying on incomplete arrest data can potentially lead you to consider records that were dismissed, or thataren'trelevant to the job position. Making decisions based on incomplete information can unnecessarily disqualify candidates and create legal risk for your business.

Unlike pre-employment background checks, FBI records are not affected by consumer protection laws like the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). They often lack personally identifiable information (PII), such as full name and date of birth. If this PII is missing, it becomes difficult to ensure maximum possible accuracy of records, increasing the risk of litigation.

Turnaround time

For pre-employment background screenings, turnaround time is essential. As you support your candidates placement and onboarding schedules, you generallydon'twant to wait any longer than possible for sources to return information.

Another overlooked difference between name-based and fingerprint background checks is access to fingerprinting facilities. Because name-based background checks do not require the physical submission of biometric data, they introduce much less friction into the onboarding process. Individuals living in small towns and rural areas may find it difficult and time consuming to access a fingerprinting facility.

The average name-based background check takes three to five days to complete, while FBI fingerprinting results typically take longer -- in some cases, even weeks.

In summary, while fingerprinting may be used as a component of background checks in certain regulated industries, they should neither be used as the only source of information, nor regarded as a comprehensive source of records. Name-based checks return more comprehensive data than fingerprints, are completed faster, and ensure maximum possible accuracy of records.

Use the Adverse Actions page to search for Candidates involved in the Adverse Action process. This may include Candidates who are at any stage in the process, including those who have received a Pre-Adverse Action notice, filed a dispute, or received a Post-Adverse Action notice.

Once found, click into the Report to manage the Adverse Action process.

Search for Candidates

To search for Candidates, enter a Keyword, select a Status, or enter a time frame during which the Adverse Action was in process (from Pre-Adverse Action to cancellation or Post-Adverse Action notification). Any combination of filters may be applied for the search.

Note: All listed Reports will include the date on which the Pre-Adverse action (and Post-Adverse Action, when applicable) notifications were sent or are scheduled to be sent.

Available Status filters include:

Pending: The Pre-Adverse Action notice has been sent on an MVR check, and the Post-Adverse Action notice is awaiting your approval. Once the required waiting period has passed, the pending Post-Adverse notification may be sent by clicking Send post-notice.

Note: This status is for MVR checks only. All other checks will list Candidates awaiting Post-Adverse Action notices as Scheduled, not Pending.

Scheduled: The Pre-Adverse Action notice has been sent, and the Post-Adverse Action notice is scheduled based on the required waiting period. Unless the Report is disputed or the Adverse Action is cancelled, the Post-Adverse notification will be sent automatically on the scheduled date.

Complete: The Post-Adverse Action notice has been sent, or the Adverse Action has been cancelled, completing the Adverse Action process.

Dispute: The Candidate has filed a dispute, initiating a reinvestigation by the Checkr team. If filed during the Adverse Action process, the dispute will automatically cancel any scheduled Adverse Action notification and suspend your ability to take action during the 30 day reinvestigation window.

Canceled: The Adverse Action process has been cancelled, either by you or Checkr.

Undeliverable: The Pre-Adverse Action email was undeliverable. Reports with this status require your manual intervention.

All: Returns a list of all Candidates involved in the Adverse Action process, even those for whom the process is complete.

Consent is given to the company requesting your background check, NOT Checkr. If you have any questions or concerns about consent, please reach out to the company you applied with.