Pre Employment Screening Services

A: Negligent hiring is defined as an employer's failure to exercise reasonable caution when hiring an employee. Today, courts are increasingly holding employers financially and legally responsible for illegal or violent actions by employees who were not subjected to reasonable pre-employment screening. Basically, the courts are declaring that the employer is legally responsible for what they know and what they should have known about their employees. If an employee causes harm to another employee or customer, and the employer knows or should have known that the individual was a risk, the courts have found the companies liable for thousands or even millions of dollars. Employers in negligent hiring cases lose more than 70% of lawsuits.

A: Employers can protect themselves from negligent hiring liability by thoroughly checking references and verifying all pertinent information about each job applicant before making a job offer. A criminal records search should be conducted for each place of residence a candidate has lived for at least the last seven years. Employers should check a minimum of three business or professional references with whom the applicant has worked on a daily basis within the last seven years. In addition, employers should also confirm all degrees and licenses claimed by the applicant. By taking these simple steps, every employer should be able to clearly demonstrate that reasonable care was used in the hiring process.

A: A thorough, comprehensive background check performed by Info Cubic usually costs less than a new employee's first day of work. This upfront cost is far less than the expense of hiring a bad employee. The U.S. Department of Labor figures the average cost of a bad hire is 30% of the new employee's first year earnings. Companies who do not utilize an effective employment screening program to help make informed hiring decisions are more likely to hire "bad" employees, which can ultimately cost the company thousands of dollars.

A: 67% of criminals released from prison in 1994 were re-arrested for at least one serious crime within the next three years (Bureau of Justice Statistics)

The National Crime Victimization Survey, released by the U.S. Department of Justice in December of 2001, analyzed workplace violence from 1993 to 1999. On average, 1.7 million violent incidents per year were committed against employees at work.

Nearly 60% of sex offenders are under conditional supervision (probation or parole) in the United States (Bureau of Justice Statistics).

30% of business failures are due to poor hiring practices (Department of Commerce).

According to a recent study, 67% of job applications and resumes in the U.S. contain misrepresentations (American Psychological Association).

The average organization loses more than $9 per day, per employee, and 6% of its annual revenue to fraud and abuse (Association of Certified Fraud Examiners).

On-the-job violence costs employers $36 billion each year (Workplace Violence Research Institute).

The average award in a workplace violence lawsuit exceeds $1 million per case. (Workplace Violence Research Institute).

Drug users cost 300% more than non-drug users in medical costs and benefits (Crain's Cleveland Business).

According to a national survey, American retail employees stole $10.4 billion in a one-year period (University of Florida).

70% of illegal drug users have full-time jobs (New York Times).

38-58% of on-the-job injuries can be attributed to alcohol and/or drug abuse (Business Insurance ).

A: Generally speaking, no. There are a select few searches where we require a signed release form in order to complete your request. However, in accordance with the FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) you must have your applicant's express written permission to access any of their background check information when making a hiring decision. You must keep this signed release form on file for at least three years if you do not hire the individual. If you do hire the individual, you should keep their signed release form in their personnel file for as long as they remain employed with your organization. From time to time, we may request copies of the documents for audit purposes.

A: Once we receive your signed Client Service Agreement, we will activate your account within three business hours. Info Cubic reserves the right to deny your account application.

A: Both of these searches involve criminal records containing similar misdemeanor and felony conviction information. While both products generally yield the same case information on a subject, your chances of finding criminal record information will be greater if you follow these simple guidelines:

1) If you are relatively certain your subject was tried for a criminal offense in a particular county, choose that jurisdiction for a criminal records search. This is where the actual court records are filed and are hand-checked by our qualified court records researchers.

2) If you are relatively confident your subject was tried for a criminal offense in a particular state, but are unsure of the precise county, or if the subject has moved within the state several times, try a statewide criminal search. This has a much wider geographical focus and will cover every county courthouse in the state. A statewide criminal search is more cost-effective than ordering several county criminal searches.

3) If you are fairly certain that your subject was convicted of a violation quite recently, then you should order a county criminal search. The biggest difference between statewide and county criminal records has to do with how quickly criminal records are made available. When a person is convicted of a criminal offense, the trial takes place at the county level. When a person has been convicted, this court record information is generally filed and made available at the county courthouse shortly thereafter. However, the county courthouse may not report this criminal record information to the statewide criminal repository for several days or weeks. Each state has different requirements regarding how quickly counties need to report court record information.

Please note: Not all states require their county courts to report to their statewide criminal repository. Therefore, statewide criminal record information may not be available in states such as Alaska, California, Delaware, Nevada, New York, South Dakota and West Virginia.

A: You should search in the county where the crime was committed, not the county where they may be incarcerated. The county where the crime was committed will handle the criminal case and will therefore have the criminal record information. If you are unsure of which county the crime took place, a statewide criminal search may be a good option.

A: If a person was arrested and then released without being convicted, this information will not be reflected in our reports. Depending on the county courthouse, arrest records may occasionally be returned if the case is still ongoing or awaiting trial. Since a person is innocent until proven guilty, arrest records should never be used to make a hiring decision. Only criminal convictions should be used in making decisions.

A: We do offer instant criminal database searches. However, our county and state criminal record searches are all conducted directly at the courthouse. By hand-searching records directly at the courthouse, our experienced researchers ensure we are providing the most accurate and up-to-date information possible.

A: Yes. Statewide and county criminal records will include both misdemeanor and felony conviction information.

The Federal FCRA guidelines allow you to make hiring decisions on criminal conviction information going beyond seven years. However, state FCRA laws in California, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico and Nevada restrict employers to only using the last seven years of criminal record information for hiring decisions.

The following states allow an employer to consider a period longer than seven years if the subject earns or is expected to earn a particular threshold amount:

Colorado: $75K income exception
New York: $25K income exception
Texas: $75K income exception
Washington: $20K income exception

A: Search requests can be ordered by website, phone or fax. We recommend ordering background checks through our secure online service since it is the easiest and most efficient method possible.

A: Completed reports can be returned by email, fax or mail. You have the option of having completed results sent to multiple people. In addition, if you order several searches for the same individual, you may choose between having only the finalized report returned or having each individual search returned as they are completed.

A: Yes. If you input your applicant's email address into the system when you are ordering their background check, Info Cubic will automatically email the applicant their completed report.

A: All of your completed reports will be stored indefinitely. With our system you will never have to worry about losing an employee's completed background check again.

A: No. Our system allows you to add additional searches to a completed profile at any time without having to re-enter the applicant's information. For example, some companies perform an annual background check on all their employees. With our system, they can pull up each employee's profile and order a new search without having to re-enter all of his or her information.

A: You can pay by credit card each time you order a search, or we offer a monthly or bi-monthly invoicing option. With our online payment option, you can always view your invoice and pay online at any time.

A: Yes. Whenever a search is ordered you will be charged. Whether a record is found or not, costs have been incurred in order to complete the search request.

A: The Fair Credit Reporting Act, which is enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), provides the guidelines employers need to follow when performing employment screening. The FCRA requirements apply whenever an employer requests a "consumer report" or "investigative consumer report" from an agency such as Info Cubic. A "consumer report" includes any written, oral or other communication of any information by a consumer-reporting agency regarding an individual's credit worthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, character, general reputation, personal characteristics or mode of living which is used as a factor to establish eligibility for employment. The FCRA requires that employers must comply with certain reporting requirements when using an agency to screen employees or applicants. To obtain a report, the employer must first provide certification to the consumer-reporting agency that they:

1. Are requesting the report for employment purposes (which includes evaluating an applicant or employee for employment, promotion, reassignment or retention).
2. Have provided the required disclosure to the applicant or employee.
3. Have obtained the necessary written authorization to request the report.
4. Will provide the applicant or employee with a copy of the report and a written description of the applicant or employee's rights before taking any adverse action based in whole or in part on the report.
5. Will not use the information from the report in a manner that violates federal or state equal opportunity laws.

The FCRA requires any employer intending to obtain a consumer report to first make a clear and conspicuous written disclosure to the applicant or employee that a consumer report may be obtained for employment purposes. The disclosure cannot be included in an employment application or other document that contains additional information.

A: Yes. Info Cubic is fully FCRA-Compliant. As a consumer reporting agency, Info Cubic abides by all federal and state regulations. In addition, Info Cubic's FCRA experts will help to ensure that your organization always remains fully FCRA-Compliant. Furthermore, whenever there are any changes to the FCRA, Info Cubic keeps our clients abreast of these changes by newsletter so our clients can screen their employees with the utmost confidence.

A: In general, the information is provided to rental property owners/managers who intend to use the information for a FCRA-Permitted purpose.

A: The only conditions you must agree to concern the use of the information we provide. There is no usage contract, and you may close your account at any time without a penalty. Click on the "Sign Up Now" button to view all terms and conditions.

A: Info Cubic is a transaction-based service. Customers have the option of paying by credit card or receiving an invoice.