Criminal Background Checks  

Some companies submit individuals to criminal background checks before hiring, transferred, promoted, or reclassified into a new position particularly when the job is security sensitive.

Criminal checks normally are requested on a finalist selected for a specific position. Employers should not offer any applicant employment until their background checks have been completed and reviewed by the firms hiring official.

It is the responsibility of the employer to complete the forms for a criminal background checks on finalist for a security sensitive position before offering him/her an employment. This form will then be sent an employment screening service upon which will check with local police, courts, and federal courts. Upon completing, the investigation the agency then notifies the hiring official or the individual who initiated the form with the results. Once the results have been fully reviewed, then an offer of employment should be extended to the applicant.

Companies who conduct criminal background checks on applicants and employees normally are not interested minor blemishes such as parking tickets. They are concerned with individuals who have been convicted of a felony or who possesses a criminal record. If an applicant is found to have either, it is a good possibility they will not be hired by certain companies. Criminal background checks usually include fingerprinting, and a search of the national and state criminal databases.

If an applicant has never been fingerprinted, this may be done at a law enforcement agency. It must be specified to the law enforcement agent that the fingerprint card is to complete a FBI Records Check. The fingerprint card must include your legal name, your birth date, and your place of birth.