Background checks ensure responsible hiring, legal compliance, and workplace health & safety, but with such a wide range of providers offering screening services, it can be difficult to choose a comprehensive solution that meets all of your organization’s needs. While working towards mitigating hiring risk and building trust in recruitment, it’s natural to have questions about key distinctions between different services that are available, including the following:
- What’s the difference between continuous monitoring, re-screening, or one-time screening?
- Does the screening provider offer criminal background screening alone, or provide occupational health screening and access to verification services like education verification, employment verification, and license verification?
- Does the screening provider offer assistance with HR strategy development and training (workplace violence, sexual harassment prevention, and more)?
- Does the provider offer screening services domestically only, or are international screening services also available?
- How does the provider work to keep my organization legally compliant?
In this article, we’ll address each of these concerns and outline the benefits of working with an effective background screening partner like The Orsus Group to expedite talent acquisition, establish a reliable background verification process, and enjoy peace of mind about hiring, compliance, and the ongoing productivity and well-being of your workforce.
Comprehensive Criminal Background Screening
Many background screening providers claim to offer thorough screening services, but when choosing a long-term background check solution, it’s imperative to analyze the details to determine where there could be potential vulnerabilities.
For example, although one-time criminal background screening or periodic re-screening can provide accurate information about a candidate’s or employee’s criminal record at a given moment in time, both approaches invite the possibility that a criminal offense could go undetected for months or even years. If an organization chooses re-screening that occurs every year or every three years for existing employees, an employee could be convicted of a crime without the employer’s knowledge and later instigate a damaging workplace incident during a screening-period “lapse.” Such an incident could not only directly harm other employees or clients, but also lead to a negligent hiring lawsuit and significant financial, legal, and reputational damage.
Continuous Activity Monitoring & Occupational Health Screening
To help you avoid compliance, liability and safety concerns, the Orsus Group offers Continuous Activity Monitoring, utilizing Direct-Source Data® live criminal records to conduct nationwide sweeps for your organization every 60 seconds. Rather than waiting every 1-5 years to screen employees after pre-employment criminal screening, we rely on over 100,000 real-time daily records to give you the most up-to-date information regarding your employee’s legal standing, streamlining county-level searches, and providing thorough information and documentation about any relevant case(s).
As part of our emphasis on providing a comprehensive background screening solution, we also offer occupational health screening (drug screening and health screening) to support confident hiring and workplace safety throughout the entire employee lifecycle. Whether your organization operates within a high-risk industry or in the public sector, we offer compliant and extensive screening options to meet or exceed any federal, jurisdictional, or industry-specific requirements.
Verification Services
After confirming that a screening provider offers extensive and high-quality background checks, it’s important to determine whether they offer verification services that complement a criminal background check and render a more complete picture of a candidate’s job preparedness, credentials and character.
The Orsus Group prioritizes education verification and employment verification to grant employers confidence that any new hire is fully qualified and has submitted accurate educational and employment information during the application process. Whether it’s conducting reference checks, expediting confirmation of completed degrees, or acquiring key information regarding past job performance, Orsus handles all of the steps in the verification process to highlight any discrepancies or provide timely confirmation of education, employment, or licensing claims.
Streamlining HR through Consulting, Training, and Leading-Edge Technology
Many background screening providers provide basic criminal background checks, but fail to offer related HR services that can support broader compliance, risk mitigation, and hiring efforts. We support our clients beyond the screening process by assisting with ATS (applicant tracking system) integration, providing HR strategy support, or offering in-person training to prevent workplace violence, sexual harassment, and fulfill necessary local, state, or federal requirements in these areas.
All of our services, including criminal background checks and verification services, extend to the global level. We offer global investigation and verification services to support proper screening of international candidates, employees and/or organizations operating across multiple jurisdictions. We also provide preventative and post-incident global investigation services, which have already been utilized by a number of Fortune 100 companies operating domestically and globally.
Ongoing Protection from Liability, Risk, and Noncompliance
Across industries, organizations that fail to prioritize compliance and responsible hiring contend with financial and legal penalties. According to recent data, nearly 80% of companies lose negligent hiring lawsuits that result from irresponsible screening practices, while the number of FCRA compliance lawsuits has risen steadily each year since 2014.
That’s why it’s so important to choose a background screening provider that emphasizes risk mitigation, security, training, and ongoing compliance with any local, state, or federal regulations that apply to your organization. The Orsus Group leverages decades of experience to adapt to the unique needs of your organization, ensuring that your screening processes are fully compliant with applicable regulations and align with any internal HR policies.
Thorough Screening and Confident Hiring with the Orsus Group
Ensuring compliance, timely hiring decisions, risk mitigation, and efficient application processing can be a daunting process without qualified professional support. The Orsus Group provides extensive screening, verification, and HR consulting services to support responsible hiring and workforce management. Reach out today to expedite hiring timelines, mitigate risk, and improve background screening across your entire organization.