Fingerprint background checks are a great way to identify criminal records. They can go back as far as public and government documents are maintained and are extremely accurate.
Getting a fingerprint background check is essential for employers, especially those who have to meet CMS requirements for direct access employees.
Know Your Legal Requirements
Fingerprint-based background checks are often required before hiring in regulated industries such as healthcare, law enforcement, banking, real estate, and financial services. These backgrounds are also needed for adoption, foreign travel, and professional licensing.
Civil fingerprinting involves an applicant going to the local police department and having their prints electronically scanned for matching criminal records. This information is then sent to the SIB or FBI, where State and Federal arrest records are established. Relying solely on this information could have significant legal risks for an employer if it leads to an adverse action that is discriminatory against protected groups.
Know Your Vendor
Once a CBC has been initiated, an individual will receive directions via a letter on scheduling a fingerprint appointment.
Firms may also utilize a different EFS vendor collection site or their in-house fingerprint equipment to capture an individual’s prints for submission to Sterling.
State laws authorize certain governmental and private organizations to conduct criminal offender record information background checks. Examples include law enforcement agencies, school contract employers, and in-home supportive care providers. The organization must have a state license or be approved under a state or federal clearinghouse program. These entities are typically required to provide specific privacy notices to individuals who submit them for fingerprinting.
Choose a Secure Vendor
Before hiring someone, a fingerprint background check is conducted by submitting an applicant’s fingerprints to the FBI for a criminal records search. Fingerprint-based searches rely on the candidate’s unique biometric information, typically their ten fingers, to locate criminal history versus searching their name or date of birth as other methods do.
When choosing a fingerprinting vendor, look for one with strong customer service. This is essential because it allows you to have a point of contact to assist with any questions or concerns during the process. Also, look for a vendor offering encrypted data transmission and storage to ensure your sensitive information is safe in transit or at rest.
Choose a Secure System
Many people assume fingerprint-based background checks are more thorough than name-based searches. However, this is only sometimes true.
Fingerprint-based background checks cross-reference prints with criminal records in law enforcement databases. These are often the only places to find crime information recorded on someone’s fingerprint, and they may miss other relevant convictions.
Furthermore, the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) houses millions of records, and it needs to be designed with a failsafe for poor-quality fingerprints or other issues that may impact accuracy. For these reasons, a private screening company’s name-based checks are safer for employers who must verify a person’s identity and history.
Conduct a Training Session
Fingerprint background checks are often considered the gold standard of criminal background screenings. This is partly because fingerprints track records of arrests and dispositions, making them useful for compiling criminal history reports.
However, fingerprints are not infallible, and they can sometimes reveal non-criminal biographic information, such as an applicant’s date of birth or Social Security Number. It can potentially lead to a false positive and is one of the main reasons that fingerprint screenings should be used as part of a comprehensive background check strategy rather than being relied upon alone.
Also, since people of color are disproportionately arrested, using fingerprint background checks without verifying the accuracy of their results could have a disparate impact on them.
Conduct a Post-Application Review
Fingerprint background checks search the FBI’s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) database to find criminal records. They also search civil court records, which can reveal non-criminal biographic information such as employment, insurance, and full name.
Unlike other types of vetting, fingerprint-based screenings require the applicant to participate actively. It can be done through ink-and-roll or electronic fingerprinting, a live scan.
While fingerprint-based criminal history searches are more accurate than a traditional name check, they have limitations. The most significant challenge is that fingerprints are only sometimes matched to records and can return incomplete or inaccurate data. This may lead to legal risk for an employer that takes adverse action based on incorrect or incomplete information.
Schedule a Live Scan
Fingerprint-based background checks provide an added verification level to a candidate’s information. This is because fingerprints contain unique identifiers, like the shape of a person’s thumb or the pattern of their fingertips.
Fingerprints are submitted to the State’s Crime Information Bureau (SIB) either by Live Scan or by submitting a ten-print applicant’s fingerprint card. Government fees for processing a background check must be paid during the Live Scan or request of a hard fingerprint card.
Receive the Results
Fingerprint-based background checks search the FBI’s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) for criminal records. These records include arrest dates, charges, and disposition of cases.
This type of screening can also reveal non-criminal biographic information, such as an applicant’s full name or date of birth. As a result, employers should be careful when making decisions based on this information. Live Scan results typically enter the BRN’s system within 72 hours. Hard cards can take a couple of weeks or months. A notification is sent to the employer once the results are posted to an individual’s CRD record. The results may indicate CHRI, Clear, or No Data. The employer then decides how to proceed with hiring decisions.
