What Does It Cost Businesses To Run Background Checks?

Running a background check on a new hire is standard practice for most businesses. Companies need to know they’re hiring people reliable people who are who they say they are and have the knowledge and skills the job requires. What sort of background checks are necessary, and what do they involve? Bottom line: what does it cost for businesses to run background checks?

What Type?

The first thing to keep in mind about background checks is there’s no single type. They are available to investigate every aspect of a candidate’s life. Some can confirm education and training, ensuring a potential hire has a degree, credential, or certification required for the job. Others check the individual’s criminal background. A background check can also pull up a person’s credit history, references, and more. Before getting a price on background checks, you need to know what you’re looking for in a candidate’s past.

Basic Online Check

Plenty of companies out there claim to offer quick background searches and screenings for a flat fee of $10–$20. However, this is an example of getting what you pay for, and what you pay for isn’t much. Many of these services may not be reliable and may even offer questionable results.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) protects information collected by consumer reporting agencies, including tenant screening agencies, medical information companies, and credit bureaus. Low-priced screenings such as these likely aren’t backed by the FCRA, so take the results with a grain of salt.

The Next Tier

A trustworthy screening service will run about $45–$100. These numbers can change depending on how deeply you want to go into a candidate’s background and reputation, or if the candidate has lived in various places during the screening time frame. A basic screening provided by an accredited background screening firm may only check for criminal history records, but it will ensure the accuracy of that information and that it is up to date. The deeper you want to go—say, verifying employment, education, credit, driving records, social media behavior, and so on—the higher the cost. That’s not all that affects the pricing of background checks.

Crunching the Numbers

Naturally, the number of candidates and background checks you request can affect the final price. Bulk rates are often available for large groups, but you’ll need to calculate the cost-to-benefit ratio for that. There may be extra costs involved to ensure background checks meet the laws of the state and country, as well, so ask the screener to share those before committing. In some industries, periodic background checks may be mandatory to ensure employees meet federal standards (citizenship and the ability to work in the country), drug screenings, credit checks, and health status. Sometimes, a background check isn’t one-and-done!

What does it cost for businesses to run background checks? Short answer: it varies. Contact us for a consultation about our custom background checks. We’ll make sure you have all the information and pricing you need to decide!