Running a background check on potential hires is a common practice across all states, and Georgia is not an exception. A background check in Georgia provide hiring managers with detailed information about criminal and financial records, as well as their past employment and education histories. That way, employers can make better hiring decisions and employ the right people best suited for their respective positions.
In this article, we’ll focus on the background checks conducted in the state of Georgia, providing insights into what types of background checks are run, how long they take, how far back they go, and other common questions related to this topic.
Types of Background Checks Ran in Georgia
For certain job positions, employers are legally obligated to run a specific background check on every potential hire they want to employ. For example, people who apply for a job that involves working with children, the elderly, or other vulnerable groups, have to pass a criminal background screening.
However, since background checks are proven to be an excellent tool for selecting ideal candidates and effectively reduce the risks of negligent hires, they have become a common practice, even for companies that are not bound by law to conduct them.
Here are the most popular background checks that employers in Georgia usually run.
Past Employment Background Checks
In Georgia, the background check, which examines the past employment as well as the education histories of the candidates, can be run by the hiring managers themselves or by hiring a background-checking agency. It is also known as the past employment & education verification process, as it verifies the validity of the claims on the applicant’s resume.
It involves contacting the former employers and the educational institutions listed in it and confirming the integrity of their information.
While hiring managers can go back as much as they feel is needed to run a successful past employment background screening, Georgia employers usually only check up to seven years into the applicant’s history. Similarly, background-checking agencies only report on the last seven years for the previous jobs and indefinitely for the education verification process.
Most providers of background-checking services promise complete reports in three to five business days. However, since they request information from third parties, such as past employers and schools, it is not up to them how quickly they will get the needed information to create the background check report.
Criminal Background Checks
While running a criminal history check in Georgia is an obligation for some employers, more and more companies decide to add it as a part of their recruitment strategy. These examinations allow employers to have a peek at the criminal records of their applicants and learn more about their recent histories.
Depending on how in-depth examination they need, employers can run county, state, and nationwide criminal background checks. Additionally, they can even check the FBI’s federal records or run fingerprint background checks on their candidates. The criminal background checks won’t report on expunged, sealed, or juvenile records.
The Georgia criminal background check system doesn’t have any legal restrictions on how far back these examinations can look into the applicant’s past. However, most employers usually look back at the last seven years. Depending on the responsibilities posed by the job position the applicant is applying for, this period, in some rare instances, can be prolonged.
To run a criminal background check on a candidate, employers must get written consent from them and hire the services of an authorized background screening agency. In most cases, such examinations should not take longer than one or two business days to be completed, though running into an unexpected issue can increase the processing times significantly.
Civil Court Checks
In addition to the criminal background check, Georgia employers have the ability to run a civil court background check on their potential hires. Even though this is not as commonly practiced as running criminal background checks, it can happen when hiring for a position that requires a highly responsible candidate.
A civil court check will examine the upper and lower civil court records and look for small claims, restraining orders, misconducts, privacy violations, and outstanding court orders that are not included in the criminal background check reports.
Like most other GA background checks, civil court checks also usually go back for seven years. However, background-checking agencies can go back for ten years if the salary of the prospective job position is expected to be over $75,000.
In most cases, civil court background checks can be done in one or two business days unless something unexpected happens, in which case their processing time can be prolonged.
Credit Background Checks
For many jobs, it is also not unusual for employers to run credit background checks on their potential hires. Credit background checks are the norm in GA background check practices, particularly for accountants and other positions requiring high financial prowess.
In addition to allowing employers to gain insights into how good the applicants are at handling their own finances, they also indicate how responsible as individuals they are. While they don’t report the actual credit scores of the candidates, they reveal plenty of useful information, such as their previous bankruptcies, collections, and foreclosures.
Credit background checks are directly regulated by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), which is a federal law that says these examinations can go back for seven years. However, Georgia background check laws permit reporting past bankruptcies in the last 10 years. Generally, credit background checks take two to four business days to be completed.
MVR (Driving Records) Background Checks
Finally, for many jobs that involve driving and operating heavy machinery in their requirements, MVR background screening is mandatory. Nevertheless, concerned employers can run them on any applicant they feel the need to, even if the law doesn’t obligate them to do it.
Hiring managers who want to know more about the driving history of their applicants conduct MVR background checks because the Georgia criminal background check reports don’t report everything. While certain felonies like hit and runs and DUIs are included, traffic violations, accidents, license statuses, and moving violations are not, so an MVR check is a good idea.
Employers can request three-year, seven-year, or lifetime examinations depending on how in-depth they want their report to be. Additionally, the time needed to complete the report also depends on how many details they want. Some reports can be done in one business day, while others can take weeks to complete.
GA Background Check Laws
To ensure that the hiring process is done correctly, both employers and applicants need to understand the law concerning background checks. Now that we know more about the most common background checks practiced in the state of Georgia, we can have a look at the laws relevant to them.
- GA CODE 35-3-34 (3) (B) – If an employer decides not to hire an applicant because of information from a background check, they must inform the applicant about it. They must point out the information and elaborate on how it affected their decision.
- GA CODE 42-8-3 (FIRST OFFENDER ACT) – The state of Georgia employment background check laws disqualify exonerated first offenders from getting employed in jobs that involve working with children, people with mental disabilities, the elderly, or other vulnerable groups.
- GA CODE 31-7-14 – People applying for a job that involves working in an institution that provides care for vulnerable groups, such as nursing homes, assisted living facilities, etc., must agree to a fingerprint background check.
- BAN-THE-BOX LAW – Employers can’t ask candidates questions about their criminal histories until after the initial employment application. Additionally, they can’t automatically disqualify candidates (besides the exceptions mentioned above) based on their criminal records found in a Georgia state background check report.
Furthermore, applicants have the right to find and dispute any inaccuracies in the background checks, must be allowed to speak in their defense, and show proof of rehabilitation that may help their case.
The Bottom Line
In summary, hiring managers in Georgia, as well as the remaining 49 states, use background checks to gather more information about their potential hires. Besides the rare cases where candidates are automatically disqualified, background checks serve as a valuable tool to help reduce the chances of hiring unqualified personnel and ensure safety in the workplace.
FAQs on Background Checks in Georgia
How far back does a background check go in Georgia?
Depending on the type of information included in the background check report, they can go back for three, seven, ten, or more years. In some cases, background checks may even go back indefinitely.
How long does a background check take in Georgia?
While most background check agencies usually advertise their processing times as between 24 and 48 hours, in reality, there are many things that drag things out, and it is not unheard of for background check reports to be done in 10 or even more days.
How far back do employment background checks go in Georgia?
In Georgia, the background check for employment is actually a combination of multiple background examinations under one umbrella term. They include identity verification and education background screening, which go back as much as necessary, past employment and criminal records checks, which usually go back for seven years, etc.
How much does a background check cost in Georgia?
It depends on how detailed the background is needed to be. For example, state criminal records can be examined for as low as $24.95, while checking nationwide records and other additional requirements can increase the price even more. Online reports suggest that the average cost of a background check in Georgia paid by most employers is about $75.
Do pending charges show up on background checks in Georgia?
Pending charges are unlikely to appear on basic criminal background checks, though very likely to be reported on fingerprint background checks.
How to get a background check in Georgia?
The easiest way to get your own criminal records in Georgia is to contact your local law enforcement agency and get further instructions from them. If you are looking to run a background check on a third party, you must first obtain their written consent and hire a licensed background-checking agency.
