Employment Background Check Basics:
What Every Employer Needs to Know

Hiring your first employees or setting up screening for your business can feel overwhelming. This page covers the essential background check topics every employer should understand — from compliance basics to cost considerations — so you can hire with confidence. 

Getting Started

An employment background check is a process used to verify key information on a candidate’s application and discover details relevant to the hiring decision. The primary goal is to mitigate risk, ensure a safe work environment, and confirm a candidate’s qualifications and history. Ultimately, it helps you build a foundation of trust and make a more informed hiring choice.
Running background checks is a crucial step in protecting your company’s assets, employees, and reputation from potential harm. It helps reduce liability by demonstrating due diligence and ensures you are hiring qualified individuals who can be trusted in their roles. 

From criminal history to employment and education verifications, different checks provide different insights. In addition to pulling and verifying data, employers may choose to incorporate physical and/or drug screening in a background check package. Employers choose which services to include based on the role, such as driving records for drivers or license checks for regulated professions.

Background checks can’t uncover everything. It’s important that employers understand the limitations of background checks and the circumstances that can create those limitations, such as sealed or expunged records, gaps in reporting, and identity mismatches.

Compliance Essentials

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) sets the federal rules for employment screening. Employers must disclose their intent, get written consent, and give candidates specific rights throughout the process. Background check vendors also have obligations to employers and candidates under the FCRA. Using the invitation ordering method, Perfect Fit will provide the relevant forms and collect e-signatures on the required authorization form on your behalf to help keep you compliant. 

Beyond federal law, many states, counties, and cities have additional rules about when and how you can ask about criminal history. Staying compliant means knowing your local requirements.

If the results of a background check report would disqualify the candidate from an opportunity, the FCRA requires a two-step notice process. This ensures candidates can review and dispute information before a final decision is made. The Perfect Fit team will guide you through this process to ensure you’re staying compliant.

Using Reports Effectively (From Results to Decisions)

The background check report will include a summary section at the top of the report giving a status for each of the searches and components of the report. The statuses are color coded green and red to quickly indicate whether there are any results that need closer review. Each search and component of the report will have it’s own detail box following the summary box. 

Not every criminal record should disqualify a candidate. The EEOC recommends considering the nature of the offense, how long ago it occurred, and whether it relates to the job. One third of Americans have a criminal record, and if the record is not relevant to risks of the role, the candidate might just become your most loyal employee.

Some employers screen after a conditional job offer, while others screen earlier. The right timing balances efficiency with compliance (see State & Local Laws section above), and helps you avoid unnecessary cost and effort.

Cost, Coverage & Vendor Selection

Some courts and data sources charge mandatory access fees, which are added to your order at cost with no markup. These fees are an industry standard and apply no matter which provider you choose, but a reliable screening partner should be upfront about them. Perfect Fit provides tools to help you manage these expenses, and our invoices include clear, detailed breakdowns of all fees.

You don’t need to overspend to get reliable results. Choosing the right level of screening for each job, managing alias names effectively, and bundling services can keep costs low while maintaining compliance. The right provider will also help you avoid unnecessary expenses — especially important for small and mid-sized employers who often get overcharged by larger vendors.

While every vendor pulls data from the same courthouses and databases, not all providers deliver the same experience. Look for accuracy, fast turnaround, compliance support, transparent pricing, personal service — and a partner sized to fit your business needs.

Putting It Into Practice

A written policy ensures fairness and consistency across all hires. It should outline which roles are screened, what checks are run, and how results are evaluated.

Getting set up is fast, free, and easy. There are no contracts, subscriptions, commitments, or setup fees — you only pay for the orders you place. Once you create your account, we’ll complete the federally required credentialing process, usually within one business day. To begin, visit our Prices page, select your state, and create your free account.

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DISCLAIMER

The material and information contained on this website is for general information purposes only. While every measure has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the material, Perfect Fit Background Checks does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the material found on this site. You should not rely upon the material or information on the website as a basis for making any business, legal or any other decisions.

Perfect Fit Background Checks will not be liable for any false, inaccurate, inappropriate or incomplete information presented on this website.

To the extent not prohibited by law, in no circumstances shall Perfect Fit Background Checks be liable to you or any other third parties for any loss or damage (including, without limitation, damage for loss of business or loss of profits) arising directly or indirectly from your use or inability to use, this site or any of the material contained in it. 

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