Yes, but employers should weigh the advantages and disadvantages when choosing whether to conduct background checks before or after extending an offer of employment. Here are some of the issues to consider:

Costs: If an employer plans to run background checks on all applicants, it goes without saying that this is not the cost-effective option. An employer can also wait and run background checks only on the final two or three candidates selected, which is a middle-of-the-road approach in terms of costs. Then there’s the least expensive background check option; only conducting a check on one final candidate who has received a contingent offer. While this is the least expensive option in terms of the background check costs, this method brings us to the cost associated with the risk of having to rescind an offer if the results come back unsatisfactory, which can far exceed the cost of two or three background checks in the event the employer is found to be responsible for the candidate resigning from their most recent job or defending itself against such an accusation.

Time: Just about any HR professional has felt the pressure of a hiring manager who wants the candidate they’ve been longing for to be hired yesterday. If an employer completes background checks before extending an offer, which can usually take as little as 48 hours or less, or as much as a week, this time constraint can be eliminated. Conversely, if the employer waits until the final, lone candidate has been selected and has received an offer, the waiting begins for the results and if Sue Smiley isn’t as squeaky clean as you and the hiring manager had hoped, it’s back to square one and you just spent precious time in background-check-results-limbo.

Report Content: The more background checks that an employer sees prior to narrowing the number of candidates actually being considered, the greater risk the employer will probably run of seeing information on the report that it really shouldn’t take into consideration. As most employers know, there are certain situations where a conviction on a report may not be one that the employer is required to take action on or is not relevant to the job being applied for. Without narrowing the selection pool down to one or at least a final few, applicants and/or candidates could accuse the employer of using this information illegally.

Please Note: This material is provided as general information and is not a substitute for legal or other professional advice. Contact the Knowledge Center for more information.

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