Civil litigation and criminal record search provide a wide range of information that involves legal actions like employment discrimination, credit/debit law, real estate, bankruptcy, etc. 

It could be an added advantage if you are a businessman and have more knowledge about such actions. It gives some employers a sense of the applicant's character. Civil litigation must be part of the pre-employment screening process for any business. All civil records are taken care of by the state of jurisdiction or federal government. The information is always free to be accessed by members of the public. 

An organization's background investigation often includes a review of both civil and criminal histories. Each governmental entity chooses which civil records to keep and how they will be publicly accessible. Civil records, such as lawsuits, debt recordings, or liens, may occasionally be located online. 

In other cases, a request for information can be made to the relevant federal office to access civil documents. Civil records can offer additional context about a potential employee's prior actions that might not appear when a search of their criminal records is done. However, using this information to make recruiting decisions may be subject to legal limitations. 

Importance of Civil Litigation and Criminal Record Search

Hiring The Best Candidate For Job

You must ensure you're hiring the best candidate for the position when adding a new member to your company tribe. Civil Litigation Checks can ensure that the chosen individual fits well with the workplace culture and advance your company's objectives.

Reliable background checks are essential for successful hires, as good employers know. A comprehensive set of online background checks offers crucial information that lowers business risk and aids in a successful hiring selection.

To Avoid Your Company From Falling Into Traps With an Employee's Bad History.

An applicant's civil background check comes up clean, and you decide to hire them. You're finished! Right? Possibly not, Employees' life can alter drastically, even over a short period. They can lose a significant legal battle, declare bankruptcy, or go through a difficult divorce.

And despite your best attempts to stay on top of your team, you can run into someone exceptionally good at hiding their difficulties. 

To Have Knowledge About The Candidate's Morals, Judgments, and Behaviors. 

Like other pre-employment screening methods, civil background checks give information on a candidate's morals, judgments, and behaviors. This kind of information is helpful if you're looking to hire someone for a managerial or financial position.

You might not want to give someone control of your company's finances. For instance, if they had tax liens totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars. Similarly, you will probably think twice before adding a potential hire to your executive team if their prior employer previously sued them for disclosing trade secrets.

Learn If The Candidate Has Ever Been Evicted

When we interview candidates for a property management company and learn that they have a history of being evicted from previous dwellings or similar employers, this is another situation where civil action may be used.

Again, this has a direct consequence and offers at least the basis for future discussion of the matter(s) with the candidate so that the interviewer can determine intuitively if the candidate is truthful or may have a predisposition toward litigation. 

Helps To Curb Employees Who Run From Criminal Actions

An employee could have indulged in an offensive activity like hijacking commercial opportunities for personal gains. Yet, no criminal action was pursued by a jurisdiction for whatever reason. Your company can report such cases to help filter out bad influences from the best candidates.

How Are Civil Background Checks Conducted?

The Fair Credit Report Act applies to civil background checks (FCRA). The truth, impartiality, and privacy of consumer information are all guaranteed by this federal statute. Contrary to its name, the FCRA covers all consumer data, not just credit reports.

Therefore, if your business uses a third-party provider to do a background check, you must adhere to FCRA regulations. Basic steps include:

• Let the candidate know in advance that you are planning to conduct a civil record search in a stand-alone document.
• You have to inform them about the importance of the record check and how it will impact the business. 
• Collect a rough copy of their consent.
• Offer them the chance to review their reports and work on any errors using FCRA pre-adverse action process. Of course, you must comply with local, state, and industry laws. 

A company may opt to do background checks of all kinds more frequently, not just civil ones. The frequency ultimately depends on the position and needs of your business. For instance, it would be unreasonable to conduct civil background checks on a beginning accountant every six months.

On the other hand, your chief financial officer should be reviewed more frequently than once every 20 years. Once more, a screening service can help you decide which regulations are best for your company.

What Results Will A Civil Backgrounds Check Reveal?

At either the local or federal level, civil records can be requested. According to the size of the claim, local matters are typically split between lower and higher courts in most states. Lower courts often deal with lawsuits under $5,000, whereas upper courts deal with lawsuits over $5,000.

Local claims reveal the issues of contracts, discrimination, eviction, auto accidents, personal injuries, nonpayment for products, consumer rights, and product responsibility. Civil background checks also reveal family law issues, such as inheritance disputes, divorce, child support, and child custody.

Civil record searches at the federal level cover interstate commerce, tax disputes, financial institutions, and governmental laws. You might find out about any bankruptcy the candidate has filed, as the federal bankruptcy court is a civil court.

A civil background check will yield results at municipal and federal levels, regardless of whether the person was the plaintiff or the defendant.

Possible Challenges With Civil Litigation Checks 

• Checks for civil lawsuits assist businesses in making informed choices regarding recruits. The results, however, should be viewed in the context of the candidate's whole application, as is the case with all job screening. Examining a single result in isolation could skew results and cause employers to pass up an excellent candidate because of an experience that is not pertinent to the position.
• Similarly, all employers must promote diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace. Avoiding unconscious bias is part of this. Employers must avoid discriminating against applicants based merely on past compensation claims for employment.
• The practice of filing lawsuits against former employers after worker's compensation claims are denied by insurance carriers is one of the most pervasive misuses of civil litigation records.
• Many companies believe that the mere fact that a candidate filed a lawsuit does not speak well of them, even if a carrier or the claim rejected the candidate was "short paid" by the insurer. Therefore, every worker's compensation case should be carefully investigated before making a decision. The applicant should undergo multiple interviews to ascertain whether they are a potential troublemaker or had a valid improperly handled claim.
• The limitation in using civil litigation histories is similar to using relevant conviction records to assess a candidate's suitability for a position (for example, stealing from the till cannot be used to exclude an asphalt worker from employment). However, due to the obvious consequences of typically hiring a convicted felon as opposed to someone involved in litigation. 

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