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Question for the board about background checks with potential employers
Posted on 6/25/14 at 5:51 pm
Posted on 6/25/14 at 5:51 pm
So my SO's position with her organization was terminated, so her and the rest of her department (7 others) were fired.
She has been on the job hunt already, and has had a few interview lined up this week. Well now she's worried that they'll find out that she was fired, and it affect her getting the new job.
I don't know what all a background check entails, but could they potentially see that she was just fired if they run one?
TIA
She has been on the job hunt already, and has had a few interview lined up this week. Well now she's worried that they'll find out that she was fired, and it affect her getting the new job.
I don't know what all a background check entails, but could they potentially see that she was just fired if they run one?
TIA
9
Posted on 6/25/14 at 5:54 pm to cas4t
No.
I'm i. Corp HR. Background checks check criminal history, education history, and can check credit.
They do not check former employers. Your SO can list employers that she does not want contacted on any application she fills out be just fine.
Most HR dept these days don't give out reasons for separation anymore for fear of lawsuits.
I would never tell anyone why someone left bec it is company business and nothing more.
I'm i. Corp HR. Background checks check criminal history, education history, and can check credit.
They do not check former employers. Your SO can list employers that she does not want contacted on any application she fills out be just fine.
Most HR dept these days don't give out reasons for separation anymore for fear of lawsuits.
I would never tell anyone why someone left bec it is company business and nothing more.
Posted on 6/25/14 at 5:54 pm to cas4t
I imagine cutbacks/getting let go is going to look different than getting fired. And besides, they'll probably ask her why she left her last position anyway.
No idea how thorough background checks are... whether it's just going through a criminal database or calling people up. Guess it depends on the job. I'm kinda interested in this as well
No idea how thorough background checks are... whether it's just going through a criminal database or calling people up. Guess it depends on the job. I'm kinda interested in this as well
Posted on 6/25/14 at 5:54 pm to cas4t
I don't know about a background check, but I imagine the subject will come up during an interview if she wanted to explain
ETA: parkjas with the answer
ETA: parkjas with the answer
This post was edited on 6/25/14 at 5:56 pm
Posted on 6/25/14 at 5:55 pm to cas4t
quote:
So my SO's position with her organization was terminated, so her and the rest of her department (7 others) were fired.
This sounds more like "laid off" which is a bit different than being fired (AFAIK).
They will get dates of employment and could ask if she was eligible for rehire.
Posted on 6/25/14 at 6:00 pm to cas4t
What parkjas said. If they do contact the employer, they will only verify dates of employment.
Posted on 6/25/14 at 6:02 pm to the808bass
They copy and pasted the same reasoning on everyone's firing paperwork as "being negative" or some vague/untrue BS. So they didn't classify it as layoffs. Even though 8 people were let go in the same hour and they aren't replacing them with others.
Posted on 6/25/14 at 6:03 pm to parkjas2001
Thank you parkasPosted on 6/25/14 at 6:03 pm to cas4t
Posted on 6/25/14 at 6:10 pm to cas4t
They could have put something negative down to try to avoid paying unemployment benefits.
This post was edited on 6/25/14 at 6:13 pm
Posted on 6/25/14 at 6:24 pm to UMTigerRebel
That's what I was thinking.
We know they copy and pasted the reasoning because they misspelled the same word on all 8 reasonings.
Shitty company
We know they copy and pasted the reasoning because they misspelled the same word on all 8 reasonings.
Shitty company
Posted on 6/25/14 at 6:25 pm to cas4t
Why cant see just tell them in the interview what happened...doesn't sound like it was a performance issue, just got laid off. Other employers should understand this.
Posted on 6/25/14 at 6:37 pm to cas4t
Unless the company has solid documentation of violating company policy, insubordination, tardiness, etc., they would still have to pay. And claims for firing due to performance aren't denied either, at least in Tennessee.
Posted on 6/25/14 at 6:43 pm to cas4t
All most former employers will usually do is verify employment dates and position, you will be lucky above and beyond that, unless it was a small company.
Posted on 6/25/14 at 6:45 pm to parkjas2001
quote:
No.
I'm i. Corp HR. Background checks check criminal history, education history, and can check credit.
They do not check former employers. Your SO can list employers that she does not want contacted on any application she fills out be just fine.
Most HR dept these days don't give out reasons for separation anymore for fear of lawsuits.
I would never tell anyone why someone left bec it is company business and nothing more.
I work in HR and we do employment verifications with our background checks. True most major organizations use The Work Number but our background check company runs across many smaller companies that will let you know if a candidate is "rehireable" or not.
This post was edited on 6/25/14 at 6:56 pm
Posted on 6/25/14 at 6:48 pm to cas4t
quote:
They copy and pasted the same reasoning on everyone's firing paperwork as "being negative" or some vague/untrue BS. So they didn't classify it as layoffs. Even though 8 people were let go in the same hour and they aren't replacing them with others.
I would have her tell future employers that she was laid off. Recruiters may ask her during the interview process about "what happened on your last day" to find out if she was fired or not but she should always stick to the laid off response. The company probably wouldn't verify that she was fired outside of someone POSSIBLY saying that she wasn't rehireable. However, I've seen person after person voluntarily admit they were fired when you ask follow-up questions. It baffles me every time why they would outright admit it in a situation like that one which is borderline.
Posted on 6/25/14 at 6:49 pm to K9
I agree.
But she's worried that it'll affect her getting hired. Idk.
And chesire, she'd be marking them down as a "do not call" as they'd think she was still employed there. And she was at the time of application.
But she's worried that it'll affect her getting hired. Idk.
And chesire, she'd be marking them down as a "do not call" as they'd think she was still employed there. And she was at the time of application.
Posted on 6/25/14 at 6:53 pm to cas4t
quote:
And chesire, she'd be marking them down as a "do not call" as they'd think she was still employed there. And she was at the time of application.
Ah I see what you're saying. She had the job when she applied and now she is worried that they will find out she was terminated recently. Is that correct?
Yes, if they verify her employment they will definitely be able to find out that she doesn't work there anymore.
However, in this thread alone, you have parkjas' company that does not do employment verifications and my company that does. It's definitely luck of the draw. I wouldn't even say it's a big company versus small company thing either. My company is an extremely large organization while my wife works for a 50 person business. Surprisingly, her company actually does an even more in-depth background check than we do.
We tell people up-front during the recruiting process however that we will be doing a criminal background check, employment verification and drug test prior to an offer formally being extended.
Did they say anything to her about their screening process?
This post was edited on 6/25/14 at 7:14 pm
Posted on 6/25/14 at 9:57 pm to TheCheshireHog
Sorry man, we were at a going-away party for a friend. The question in the 1st paragraph is correct. And nobody has told her anything about their screening process. She has 4 interviews with companies that all vary in size and type of business. But the one she really wants is at Belmont university here in Nashville, if that helps.
Thanks for the insight by the way!
Thanks for the insight by the way!
Posted on 6/25/14 at 10:17 pm to cas4t
No worries at all. I did some quick searching and Belmont definitely does criminal background checks at the least. Here's a link to their 2013 Employee Handbook. You'll see the section on background checks under Section I. It doesn't include employment verification in the description of what they check but I probably wouldn't take that as completely accurate. It could always vary by position.
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