Myth: A National Criminal Database contains comprehensive criminal records from all states in the U.S. 

Reality: The National Criminal Database is what it is... a database. This means it is a repository for criminal records, and only contains records that are sent to the repository. 48 states participate in the largest database, (sorry Louisiana and Massachussetts) and California and Florida participate only provide data in selected counties. Most of the records come from the various states' Department of Corrections, so you may only get incarceration records. A national database is a great supplement to county criminal record checks, but not a stand-alone check! 

Myth: Some screening companies can get county criminal records instantly.

Reality: Big Brother is not as organized as we think. The vast majority of states still require a physical visit to the courthouse by a researcher in order to access county criminal records. (Oregon and Washington are the lucky states with online access to county court records.)

Myth: Performing background checks guarantees great employees.

Reality: Well, not exactly. But it can save you a ton of money, time and resources in training an unsuitable one,  and help you to prevent and defend against negligent hiring lawsuits.

While urine drug testing is common in all industries for pre-employment testing, there is an option that might be better for post-employment testing. Intercept is an oral fluids (yeah, we mean saliva) test that is collected by the employee, under supervision and then shipped by courier to a laboratory for analysis. Results are equivalent to blood analysis, and negative results are available the next day.  

 

What is the benefit? Well, the detection window for oral fluids is shorter than urine and starts sooner. So while urine will catch drug usage from yesterday and maybe a couple of days back... oral fluids can detect usage within hours (and yes, you can test for alcohol as well!) Plus, there is no reason to send the applicant to a collection site, or pay for collections, and no concerns about adulteration.

 

For more information on this product, just click here:

or contact Pam Mack at pamelam@occuscreen.com

 

We want to know your questions, concerns and interests! Email pamelam@occuscreen.com and we may post your questions and answer them in our next newsletter.