How Long Do Background Checks Really Take? A Small Business Timeline Guide
- Originally Published: November 12, 2024
- Last Updated: November 18, 2024
Table of Contents
There are many variables that can influence how long a pre-employment screening background check will take, but a typical criminal background check with Perfect Fit Background Checks will be completed within 72 hours. Often, they are complete within 48 hours. If you see a company advertising “instant” background checks, it indicates that the report is not checking primary sources and is not comprehensive enough for most employers. Having a fast hiring process is important for small businesses trying to secure top candidates, so having an efficient pre-employment screening process is essential. In this blog post you’ll learn about the variables that impact turnaround time so you can design your hiring process to be as expeditious as possible.
Quick Summary:
- Basic background checks: <1 day
- Standard background checks: 2-3 days
- Most comprehensive checks: 2-4 days
- Additional screenings: +1-3 days
Typical Background Check Turnaround Time By Order Stage
For the sake of this blog post, we’re going to discuss the most popular method of placing a background check order: the invitation method. With this order method, the employer simply needs to supply the name and email address of the candidate. Perfect Fit will send an email to the candidate for them to read and sign the required authorization forms and to provide the personal information that we need to complete the order. This is far and away the most popular ordering method because it’s easy, reduces data errors, and it ensures FCRA compliance with electronic signatures on the required authorization forms. We will also be talking about typical timelines with Perfect Fit. We tend to be among the fastest vendors in our industry, so it’s important to know that your experiences with other companies may not be as quick as we describe here.
Step 1: Send the Candidate an Invitation
Minutes to days
When you log into your Perfect Fit account, you can initiate an order right from the home dashboard. Simply input the candidate’s full legal name exactly as it appears on their government ID, their email address, and click ‘Send Invitation.’ The order doesn’t start until the candidate has approved the order and supplied their information, so we recommend that you let your candidate know that they should expect this email and to complete it as soon as possible. Any delays in approving the background check can delay the completion of the order and delay the hiring process. This stage takes however long your candidate takes to open the email and complete the process, which could be minutes or days.
Step 2: Perfect Fit Gathers Information
1 to 2 days for most popular searches, occasionally 3 days, rarely longer
Once we have received the signed authorization and personal information from the candidate, we start to gather information from the searches that the employer included in the order package. This is when the timer starts for order turnaround time. Most data sources are digital these days, and in these instances we’re able to get initial data quickly. Some data sources, however, require us to send a court runner to collect the information in person. This stage often takes less than one day, but can sometimes take two days, and in rare scenarios, could be as long as a few weeks.
Step 3: Data Review
Less than 1 day
Once we have our initial data, the real work happens. Our Quality Assurance Team will review the collected data to determine whether it is accurate and should be included in the report. While this step requires manual human intervention, it is essential for background check accuracy. The good news is that we ensure that our Quality Assurance Team stays well-staffed to prevent backlogs and unnecessary delays. This step usually takes only a few hours, and this part of the process is where we typically gain an edge over our competitors on turnaround time.
Step 4: Report Delivery
Once we have reviewed the information returned by the searches and manually reviewed it for accuracy, the report is compiled and you’re notified by email that it is complete.
Now that we’ve covered how the background check process works, let’s look at specific timing expectations for different types of background check packages. Processing times vary based on which searches you include, so understanding package options can help you plan your hiring timeline more effectively.
How Long Do Different Background Check Packages Take?
A typical employment background check takes 2-3 business days to complete:
- Basic checks: Less than 1 day
- Standard checks: 2-3 days
- Comprehensive checks: 2-4 days
- Additional screenings and verifications: May add 1-3 days
Processing times vary by package type, with basic employment screens typically completing faster than comprehensive checks. There are many different searches that an employer could include in a background check, but some searches are more popular than others. Below we’ll cover the most popular background check packages that we see with our customers and the typical turnaround times for the component searches for a candidate that doesn’t have records that need to be investigated.
Basic Package – Less Than 1 Day
This is the package that might be referenced as an “instant” background check. This package is an option you’ll see other background check vendors offer, and due to comprehensiveness issues we never recommend it, but we do list this package on our pricing page to facilitate informed comparative decision-making.
SSN Trace / Address History: Instant
Sex Offender Registry: <1 day
Global Watchlists: <1 day
Nationwide Criminal Records: <1 day
Standard Package – 2 to 3 Days, Rarely More Than 3 Days
This is the most popular entry point for criminal background checks and includes the searches in the Basic Package plus the County Criminal Search. While the majority of the US population lives in counties with digital records accessible by API, most counties still require us to send a court runner to access the digital records in person. While it is pretty rare at this point, there are still some counties that operate on paper records and require us to send a court runner, submit a request, and wait for a clerk to fulfill the search request. Counties that operate on paper records often take several days and sometimes can take up to three weeks.
County Criminal Search: Often 2 Days, Sometimes 3 Days, Rarely up to 3 weeks
Standard + Driving History – 2 to 3 Days, Rarely More Than 3 Days
This is a popular package for organizations that have folks driving vehicles on behalf of the company. This simply adds a Driving History to the Standard Package.
Driving History : 1 to 2 days
Standard + State + Federal Criminal – 2 to 3 Days, Rarely More Than 3 Days
This is a popular package for organizations that want a more comprehensive criminal search. In addition to the County Criminal Search, it adds state level and federal level searches.
Statewide Criminal Search: 1 to 2 days
Federal Criminal Search: 1 day
Standard + State + Federal + Financial – 2 to 3 Days, Rarely More Than 3 Days
This package is popular for screening candidates that will be involved in an organization’s finances.
Bankruptcies, Liens, and Judgements: 1 day
Popular Package Add-Ons
Drug Screening: 2+ days (depends how quickly your candidate schedules and attends the screening)
Physicals, Audiograms, & Vision Tests: 2+ days (depends how quickly your candidate schedules and attends the exams)
Social Media Search: 1 day
Employment Verification: 2 to 4 days (depends on employer responsiveness)
Education Verification: 1 to 2 days
Professional References: 2 to 4 days (depends on professional reference responsiveness)
FACIS III: 1 day
Consent-Based SSN Verification (CBSV) : 1+ days (depends on candidate responsiveness for completing supplemental form SSA-89)
What Factors Affect Background Check Speed?
The speed of a background check depends on several key factors:
- Package Type: More comprehensive packages take longer to complete
- Location: Some counties offer instant digital access while others require in-person court runs
- Court Systems: Digital records are faster than paper-based systems
- Delays and Outages: Systems going down and staffing issues can create temporary delays
- Candidate Response Time: Delays in providing information or completing forms
- Record Complexity: Cases requiring investigation take additional time
- Verification Speed: Depends on how quickly employers and references respond
- Documentation: Missing or incorrect information can cause delays
- Additional Screenings: Drug tests and health exams require scheduling
While many of these factors are part of the background check process, there are several common delays that you can help prevent. Let’s examine the most frequent causes of delays and what you can do to keep your background checks moving efficiently.
How Can I Avoid Common Background Check Delays?
While some of the factors that impact background check turnaround time are simply circumstances of our industry, some factors can be influenced. Let’s cover the common delays that as an employer you can avoid and how to do so.
Candidate Responsiveness
The background check order won’t start until the candidate has approved the order and supplied their information. When proceeding to the background check portion of the hiring process, we highly recommend that you let your candidate know that you will be sending them an email to approve the background check and the hiring process can’t proceed until they approve it. There is also the option to text the invitation link to the candidate in addition to email, and most candidates are faster to respond by text so this can be a great way to speed up this stage of the order process.
Use the Candidate’s Full Legal Name
Criminal records are filed under a person’s legal name, and since we search by name and date of birth, it’s essential that you use the candidate’s legal name as it appears on their government ID, otherwise we won’t find any potential records. If you find yourself putting “Mike” or “Jess” in the name field, take a moment to double check. It’s possible that the candidate uses that as their legal name, but more likely their legal name is “Michael” or “Jessica.”
It’s also important to include the candidate’s middle name if at all possible. Including the middle name helps us confirm whether records belong to your candidate or someone else with the same name. This is especially important for candidates with common names or candidates in California where, as of 2024, courts are removing the ability to filter by date of birth.
Verification and Reference Responsiveness
Verifications and reference checks are often the last component to be completed in an order, and it’s due to our ability to successfully connect with the previous employer or professional reference. With spam phone calls being rampant, many of us don’t answer calls from unknown phone numbers. If you ask your candidate to inform their references that they will be receiving a phone call, that can help with our ability to connect quickly and complete that portion of the background check.
Occupational Health and Drug Screening Scheduling
In-person screenings require the candidate to visit a clinic, which can create delays if the candidate doesn’t realize they need to schedule their appointment or if they aren’t selecting a timely appointment. Communicating with the candidate ahead of time that they will need to schedule and attend a screening, and that the hiring process can’t proceed until it is complete can encourage them to be expedient with completing that portion of the screening.
Missing Documents
Some searches require additional documentation to be submitted by the candidate and/or employer. Knowing what is needed ahead of time and having it prepared before our team realizes that it is missing can help keep things on track. Common searches that require additional documentation to be manually submitted include: International Criminal Searches, Consent-Based SSN Verification, and I-9 Verifications (E-Verify).
Manual Review of Records
The background check process will be extended anytime a record is revealed. This will require manual review to assess the relevance to the job role in questions and whether or not it will impact the decision to hire the candidate. If the background check results would disqualify the candidate, you can’t simply decline the candidate. The Fair Credit Reporting Act mandates that candidates receive a copy of the background check and be given sufficient time to review and dispute the information. You can learn more about the “Adverse Action Process” in our guide to FCRA Compliance. To minimize the time added in this scenario, it’s important to have a written policy in place that addresses the types of records that are disqualifying for different roles.
Conclusion and Next Steps
Background checks are a crucial part of the hiring process, and while they typically take 2-3 days, understanding the factors that influence timing can help you optimize your hiring timeline. By choosing the right package, preparing your candidates appropriately, and working with a provider focused on both speed and accuracy, you can minimize delays while maintaining thorough screening standards.
Remember these key takeaways:
- Most background checks complete within 72 hours
- The invitation method offers the best balance of speed and accuracy
- Clear candidate communication can prevent common delays
- Text invitations typically get faster responses than email
- Package selection influences turnaround time
Ready to start screening candidates? Perfect Fit Background Checks offers comprehensive screening starting at just $28, with most reports completed within 48-72 hours. Our team provides personal support throughout the process to ensure you get accurate results as quickly as possible.
Start your first background check today or contact us to design a screening program that fits your small business needs.
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About the Author
Travis Reiter
Owner-Operator, Perfect Fit Background Checks
Travis has co-owned Perfect Fit Background Checks with his wife Rachael since 2021. With a passion for helping small businesses, Travis specializes in providing affordable background check services with unrivaled service. When he’s not helping customers, Travis is actively volunteering around Austin, Texas, exploring new destinations, or enjoying board games with friends.
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