Background checks, pre-employment screening, and background investigations all can aim to dig up criminal, academic, employment, and other records to verify a potential hire or current employee is who they say they are. According to the Professional Background Screening Association, 96.1 percent of employers perform some sort of pre-employment background screening. Most are compliant with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), but some cases show a worrisome gap within the system. More than 60,000 cases over the past 20 years have involved those in law enforcement, security, and the military who were charged with major felonies after falsely passing background investigations. Blame could involve guile criminals, corrupt insiders, the scope of the checks, employer disregard, screener misfeasance, and exalting profit over probity. Reform efforts are present at the government, private sector, and security officer sectors.
