Guides on choosing, evaluating, and working with background screening providers, from the All Screeners team.
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The checks that make sense for an office hire aren't the checks that make sense for a driver, a nurse, or someone who'll have access to your company bank account. Here's how to match the screening to the actual risk of the job instead of running the same expensive package on everyone.
PricingA single MVR pull usually runs somewhere between 8 and 25 dollars, with the state DMV fee doing most of the driving. If you've got a fleet, the real budget question is continuous monitoring, not the one-time price.
ComplianceA step-by-step order of operations for a company that's never run background checks before: write the policy, pick a provider, build your forms, train your team, and set up adverse action before you need it.
Industry VerticalDispensary and cultivation hires usually go through two separate background checks, a state cannabis licensing check and a normal employment check, and they're not the same process. Here's how the two layers fit together and why you need to confirm the current rules with your own state.
Choosing a ProviderSOC 2 is a real, independent audit of a vendor's security controls, not a marketing buzzword. Here's what the report actually proves, what it doesn't, and the specific questions to ask before you hand a background check company your candidates' Social Security numbers.
ComplianceA background check policy on paper doesn't stop a manager from skipping a step to move fast, or making a legal judgment call that should have gone through your process. Here's how to actually get it followed: a short checklist, one clear person to call, and spot checks that catch problems before a lawyer does.
Choosing a ProviderSwitching background check vendors doesn't have to stall your hiring. Time the cutover right, keep your old records, test the new setup before it goes live, and give your current vendor real notice.
Choosing a ProviderNo, not always. ATS integration saves real time once you're hiring in volume, but if you make a handful of hires a year, ordering checks by hand is usually less trouble.
ComplianceWorking with kids, older adults, or adults with disabilities usually means more than a standard background check. Most states layer on their own fingerprint-based screening rule, and it applies to volunteers just as often as paid staff.
PricingSomewhere around 50 to 100 hires a year is where most vendors start talking custom pricing instead of pointing you at their package page. Here's what to actually ask for once you're in that conversation, and the fake discount to watch for.
ComplianceFederal law doesn't let you toss an old background check file in the trash or hit delete and call it done. Here's what FACTA's Disposal Rule actually requires, and a simple workflow for a small HR team to follow.
Choosing a ProviderGoogling a candidate, running a free records site, and calling references yourself feels free. It isn't. Here's the FCRA trap that catches small businesses doing it themselves, and the protected-class info a real screening company filters out.
Report TypesA background check is a snapshot at hire. It says nothing about what happens after. Here's which roles actually need ongoing monitoring, and which ones don't.
ComplianceYes, in most cases, through a genuinely conditional offer. Here's what makes an offer conditional instead of conditional in name only, and why you still can't fire someone on the spot if the report comes back bad.
ComplianceA standard background check usually isn't enough for a school. Most states require a separate fingerprint-based check run through a state agency, and it often covers coaches and volunteers too, not just teachers on payroll.
PricingFive hires a year, fifty, and five hundred don't just cost different amounts. They call for different pricing models entirely, and the math behind each one is different too. Here's what to actually budget at each size.
ComplianceAdverse action is a two-step notice process, not a one-and-done rejection email. Here's the pre-adverse notice, the waiting period, and the final notice, with a real template for both letters you can use today.
ComplianceLooking at a candidate's public profile is legal. Using what you see there isn't, if it touches religion, disability, pregnancy, age, or national origin. Here is how employers who do this well keep that line from getting crossed.
ComplianceFCRA doesn't let anyone pull a background check for any reason they like. There's a specific, legally defined list of permissible purposes, and employment is one of them, but only when the disclosure, authorization, and actual purpose all line up.
PricingPer-report pricing usually wins for small, irregular hiring. Packages usually win once hiring is regular enough to justify them. Here's the rule of thumb, and the monthly fee that changes the math either way.
ComplianceA copy-and-fill background check policy template covering purpose and scope, who gets checked by role, consent, adverse action, record retention, and who owns it, from someone who ran this process for 30 years.
Choosing a ProviderA short expectations email, sent the moment a candidate signs consent, heads off almost every anxious follow-up. Two copy-paste templates for the first update and for a delay, plus what you can legally say about timing.
Choosing a ProviderA first-timer's walkthrough of running a background check the right way: write the policy first, get consent right, pick a provider that acts like a partner, and know exactly what to do if a report comes back with something on it.
ComplianceDOT testing applies to safety-sensitive, DOT-regulated jobs like commercial driving, and follows a fixed federal process. Non-DOT testing covers everyone else, and you set the rules yourself.
ComplianceYes. FCRA consent and disclosure rules apply to a background check on a contractor or gig worker the same way they apply to an employee. What the law actually looks at, and why the contractor-versus-employee question is a separate legal fight this article won't try to settle.
ComplianceYes, you can screen a candidate who lives outside the U.S. But it doesn't work like a domestic check. FCRA still covers the U.S. side, and what you can actually verify depends entirely on their country.
Choosing a ProviderTen questions to ask on the actual sales call, not buried in the fine print later. Pricing, turnaround, PBSA accreditation, disputes, contract lock-in, and what happens when something goes wrong, plus a printable checklist table.
ComplianceBan-the-box and fair chance laws control when you can ask about criminal history, and the rules change by state and sometimes by city. Here is the general pattern, plus a starting reference table you should confirm with a lawyer before you rely on it.
Choosing a ProviderNine real warning signs a background check company is cutting corners, from suspiciously cheap criminal searches to no dispute process. Written for the employer choosing a vendor, not a job seeker worried about a scam email.
Report TypesMost companies only need three or four check types, not the whole menu. A fast reference for matching checks to the actual role.
Choosing a ProviderEight questions worth asking before you sign with a background screening provider, or before you decide to stay with your current one.