Background check invitations
Checkr cannot cancel in-progress reports on your behalf. However, if a report is still in progress, you can select "Complete Now" in the Actions section of your Checkr dashboard. This option allows you to immediately finalize the report, stopping any pending or paused checks and marking them as "canceled" with a reason provided.
If any screenings within the report have already been completed, their results will be shown as either Clear or Consider. The "Complete Now" feature is a way to expedite the processing of reports, but keep in mind that you will still incur charges since the report has already been processed. Additionally, any canceled screenings will not appear in the PDF version of the report, although the reasons for the cancellation will be documented in the Checkr dashboard and through the Checkr APIs.
For searches within the United States, select the city and state where the person will work. If a person will have multiple work locations, use the location with the strictest reporting requirements.
For searches outside the United States, select the country where the person will work.
You can't edit the email invitation Checkr sends to your candidates to start their background checks:
You also can't edit the consent forms for drug tests.
Checkr can help you edit only the emails below:
- Welcome message
- Disclosure form
- Authorization form
- Adverse action email
Working with Checkr to edit an email involves the process below:
- Contact Checkr, and specify who will sign the authorization addendum to your customer agreement:
- First name
- Last name
- Email address
- Job title
- Checkr sends you the addendum and a form for outlining your changes.
- Return the completed addendum and change form to Checkr.
- Checkr's compliance team reviews the changes and then contacts you. Checkr doesn't provide legal advice. Consult your legal counsel about compliance.
Checkr relies on county courthouses and their clerks to receive the information we need to complete our background checks as accurately as possible. After we request the information, Checkr has no control over how quickly we receive it. Checkr can't expedite the background check process.
To complete a background check, Checkr must access or request information from courts, institutions, and other organizations. We often receive information quickly, such as when it's readily available online. Some information requires manual searches or cooperation from organizations, which can extend the report's turnaround time. Delays might result from the reasons below:
- The court has no electronic records or is closed.
- The background check includes a county search, which requires a court clerk to help complete the search.
Background check process
The industry average turnaround time for most background checks is between 3-5 business days.
Some searches, such as national searches or sex offender registry searches, complete in minutes.
Below are approximate timelines for how long common background check searches take. Delays can make checks take longer.
|
Search type |
Average turnaround time |
|---|---|
|
Employment background check |
>1 hour to 1-5 days |
|
Criminal background check |
1-3 days |
| Employment verification
|
1-3 minutes (quick verification) to 2-7 days (manual entry) |
| Reference verification |
2-5 days |
| Driving record (MVR) search |
>1 hour to 1-3 business days |
| Drug test |
10 minutes (onsite) to 3-10 days (lab-based) |
If Checkr can't verify candidate-provided information, we email the candidate a secure link to the Candidate Portal.
If your candidate can't find the email, use the steps below:
- Log in to the Checkr Dashboard.
- Open the candidate's report.
- In the Exceptions section, copy the verification link and share it with the candidate. Checkr reviews candidate-provided documents and updates the report within 24 hours of the upload.
Checkr doesn't accept emailed candidate documents. Candidates can log in to the Candidate Portal at any time to provide documents.
As part of the organization ordering background checks, you determines how far back to search for records during a candidate's background check. You can request that Checkr use a lookback period of seven years, 10 years, or further back. To determine or change the lookback periods for a search, contact Checkr.
Seven years begins at the "context date," which can vary based on what information courts and other sources of records include.
Convictions
Most states allow the reporting of convictions indefinitely. A report can include convictions no matter how old.
The states below generally limit the reporting of convictions to only the last seven years:
- California
- Kansas
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Montana
- New Hampshire
- New Mexico
- New York
- Washington
In some of the above states, reports for certain companies include convictions older than seven years because of rules that affect reports for regulated industries.
Non-convictions
Most states limit the reporting of non-convictions to only the last seven years.
A non-conviction could include the case statuses and outcomes below:
- Alternative adjudication
- Deferred adjudication
- Dismissed cases
- Not-guilty verdicts
- Formal abandonment of prosecution
The states below prohibit the reporting of non-convictions:
- California
- Kentucky
- New Mexico
- New York
Additional state-specific guidelines
California
- Marijuana misdemeanors: Non-felony (misdemeanor) convictions for marijuana possession in California can only be reported for two years from the disposition date.
- Transportation network or rideshare companies: In California, background checks for transportation network and rideshare companies can report convictions older than seven years.
Maryland
Background checks for transportation network and rideshare companies in Maryland search the person's "entire adult history," including convictions older than seven years.
Kentucky
In Kentucky, pending criminal cases aren't reportable. Background checks in Kentucky don't include pending cases.
Social Security numbers and United States candidates
Checkr requires a Social Security number (SSN) to complete the tasks below:
- Complete a criminal search.
- Find aliases.
- Find previous residences or work locations.
If a court file includes the SSN, it can help confirm that the record belongs to the right person.
No Social Security number
Checkr can complete the searches below for people who have no Social Security number:
- Motor vehicle record (MVR) search
- Education verification
Checkr can't complete criminal searches for people who have no Social Security number. Checkr can't accept an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) instead.
Non-US screenings
Background checks outside the US require a Social Security number only if the candidate has previous US employment history. In this case, Checkr might ask the candidate to provide an SSN for employment verification.
No physical Social Security card
Candidates who need a physical Social Security card must contact their local Social Security Administration (SSA) office and request an item below:
- A new copy of the card
- An SS-5 - Numident record to use instead of the card
The "SSN already taken" error means that you already have a candidate with that Social Security number (SSN).
If you need to submit a second candidate with the same SSN, contact Checkr.