Backgrounds Online's Knowledge Bank

The need for recurring background checks is a common one for many companies and requires the consent of your employees per the FCRA.

An employer may decide that recurring background checks are required for some or all of its employees depending on the positions they hold. Recurring background checks, whether they be semi-annual, annual or when an employee is up for a promotion, are perfectly acceptable as long as the employee has given permission ahead of time, which can be done one of two ways.

First of all, an employer may state in the original release of information how often background checks will be done and in order to maintain employment, the applicant must approve. Secondly, the employer could have the employees sign the release of information each time they perform a recurring background check. Either way is acceptable, as long as the employee has given permission as directed under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).