Understanding Background Check Statuses and Results
Making informed hiring decisions requires a clear understanding of the background check process and how to interpret the results. Whether you're a current Checkr customer or seeking a background check provider with user-friendly reports, this guide will help you navigate the information presented in the Checkr dashboard.
Need to know the status of a check?
You can easily scan the Checkr dashboard to see the stage of each background check and note those which may require further action. Here are the six statuses:
| Invitation Sent | Checkr has sent a link to the candidate to begin the background check process, but the candidate hasn't responded yet. The candidate needs to respond to the invitation before Checkr can proceed. |
| Pending | The candidate has responded to the invitation and Checkr is conducting the searches that are part of your package. |
| Invitation Expired | The candidate didn't respond to the invitation within the given time frame. A new invitation must be sent to proceed with the background check. |
| Suspended | The report is on pause due to missing information or incomplete searches. |
| Canceled | The report has been suspended for over 30 days or the candidate has withdrawn their consent. |
| Dispute | The candidate contacted Checkr to dispute information in a completed report. |
Streamline the decision-making process with Assess
To help you increase consistency and reduce potential bias during adjudication, Checkr offers a dashboard feature called Assess. This decisioning tool enables users to pre-set guidelines on which charges to surface that you flag as relevant to your hiring decisions, based on your company’s background check policy. All customers are enabled with free access to Assess Lite, which also includes five industry-best standards to help get started and customize across these statutory records.
For customers running a higher volume of checks, paid versions of Assess are available with further customization and broader record filtering options to increase operational efficiency.
Ready to review the report results?
Once a report is complete, the results are displayed with one of three statuses. These statuses are based on your specific Assess guidelines, which helps you speed next steps:
| Clear | The report is complete and the searches didn't return any records. |
| Eligible | The report didn’t return any relevant records that would make the candidate ineligible for the position. |
| Review (Formerly known as Consider) | The report returned at least one record that needs evaluation. |
Understanding Dashboard information
Candidate information
To kick-start the background check process, candidates are asked to provide key details. This section shows that information which includes their full name (middle name included), date of birth, Social Security number (note their full SSN will not be displayed), current zip code, phone number, and email address. Other information may depend on which screenings are included, such as driver’s license number for a motor vehicle report.
Post-hire safety
To meet the needs of specific business and industry requirements, we provide an option to establish recurring screenings. The details related to the frequency of these repeat screenings—rechecks and subscriptions—are found in the section.
Report information
This portion of the report highlights specifics related to the screening package chosen, along with the report's current status, creation and completion dates, candidate’s location for compliance purposes, assessment, and adjudication. You can also download a PDF of the completed report.
Actions
Additional steps for recording the outcome of the adjudication process can be captured here, including the built-in adverse action workflow. You can also request Candidate Stories to empower candidates to easily share additional context around their records, prior circumstances, and steps toward rehabilitation.
Screening results
The results for each screening are displayed within the specified package. For example, a county search may be flagged as “Review” because a criminal record was returned. You can click into the record to read detailed information about the case, which typically includes the candidate’s PII, case number, jurisdiction where the charge occurred, and charge details. The charge details may include the type of charge (misdemeanor or felony), date of the offense, and disposition. Motor vehicle reports and health screenings (like drug testing) will show the related details.
Get a background check with Checkr
Checkr's modern platform is designed to save time while reducing human error and bias. In fact, 89% of our criminal checks, including county searches, complete in under one hour. To further improve efficiency, the Checkr platform is designed to be intuitive and easy-to-use, so you can easily review results and hire faster.
Log in to your Checkr dashboard to order a background check.
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Disclaimer
The resources and information provided here are for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Always consult your own counsel for up-to-date legal advice and guidance related to your practices, needs, and compliance with applicable laws.