美国各地的许多雇主正在对其背景审查计划和政策进行内部审查，以应对近年来在实践监管和法律环境中发生的巨大变化。
这些审计旨在支持他们的计划，希望更好地使这些组织免受昂贵的诉讼或其他昂贵的法律诉讼的影响。
但对于许多雇主来说，从哪里开始这些审查可能存在很大的不确定性。毕竟，背景筛查计划以关键业务流程为中心——该流程对其招聘工作的成功有一定的影响——因此在进行背景筛查审计时按下“暂停”对大多数组织来说可能是不可行的。
同样，雇主可能不愿对计划进行重大改变，最终使他们的员工队伍更强大，工作场所更安全。
因此，对于那些需要对其背景筛选计划进行此类审查的组织，有一些最佳实践可以帮助他们朝着正确的方向前进：
涉及多个利益相关者。虽然在某些情况下，从众多人那里收集意见和意见可能会导致不必要的复杂性和混乱，但在审查组织的就业筛选计划时，获得广泛的利益相关者的参与可能是有益的。来自人力资源、法律/合规、运营、安全和其他相关部门的代表可以将急需的可变视角添加到这项关键工作中。
指定背景筛选主题专家 (SME)。大多数雇主可能会从内部专家中受益，该专家精通与背景筛查相关的所有复杂问题。一些较大的组织甚至可以从拥有多个 SME 中受益，这些 SME 可以帮助指导内部审计并就重要事实和发展向更大的团队提供建议。
立即评估审计和任何后续更改是否会受到律师-客户特权的保护。在当前的监管和法律环境下，内部审计的任何文件、工作笔记或其他产品都可能成为未来可能诉讼的证据。因此，雇主应该在前端与他们的律师合作，以确定此类工作成果是否可以被律师-客户特权所掩盖。
确定中心化问题。对于拥有多个地点的雇主来说，确定对修订后的筛选计划的监督是集中（即由单个团队管理）还是分散（即外地办事处可以做出最终招聘决定）至关重要。鉴于不断变化的环境，一些组织可能更愿意让一小群精通所有相关问题的人来管理此类决策。
随时了解景观的变化。随着近年来监管和法律环境发生的所有变化，更多的演变即将到来在一定程度上是合乎逻辑的。因此，雇主将受益于与未决和最近颁布或发布的将影响他们的筛选计划的变化保持同步。
显然，这并不是雇主在审查其背景筛选计划时可能想要考虑的所有最佳实践的详尽清单。
尽管这样的审计似乎是一项艰巨的任务，但执行这项工作的组织最终可能会对他们的整体计划更有信心。
sea change that has occurred in recent years in the practice’s regulatory and legal environment.
These audits are intended to shore up their programs, hopefully better insulating these organizations from expensive litigation or other costly legal actions.
But for many employers, there may be a great deal of uncertainty as to where to start with these reviews. After all, background screening programs center on a business-critical process—one that has a definite impact on the success of their recruiting efforts—so pressing “pause” while undertaking a background screening audit is probably not feasible for most organizations.
Likewise, employers may be hesitant to make significant changes to a program that can ultimately make their workforces stronger and their workplaces safer.
So, for those organizations that need to perform this type of review of their background screening programs, there are a few best practices that can help lead them in the right direction:
Involve multiple stakeholders. Though in some instances collecting input and opinions from a multitude of people may lead to unnecessary complexity and confusion, garnering participation from a wide range of stakeholders can be beneficial when reviewing an organization’s employment screening program. Representatives from human resources, legal / compliance, operations, security, and other relevant departments can add much-needed variable perspectives into this critical exercise.
Designate a background screening subject matter expert (SME). Most employers would likely benefit from having an in-house expert who is well-versed in all the complex issues surrounding background screening. Some larger organizations may even benefit from having multiple SMEs that can help guide the internal audit and advise the larger team on important facts and developments.
Make an immediate assessment as to whether the audit and any subsequent changes will be protected by attorney-client privilege. In the current regulatory and legal climate, any documents, working notes, or other products of the internal audit could potentially be exhibits in possible future litigation. As a result, employers should work with their counsel on the front end to determine if such work product can be cloaked by the attorney-client privilege.
Determine the centralization issue. For employers with multiple locations, it is critical to determine whether oversight of the revised screening program will be centralized (i.e., managed by a single team) or decentralized (i.e., field offices can make final hiring determinations). Given the ever-evolving environment, some organizations may feel more comfortable having such decisions managed by a small group of people well-versed in all the pertinent issues.
Stay abreast of changes in the landscape. With all the changes that have occurred in recent years in the regulatory and legal environment, it is somewhat logical that more evolution is to come. Employers, therefore, would benefit from remaining current with both pending and recently enacted or released changes that would impact their screening programs.
Obviously, this is not an extensive list of all the best practices employers may want to consider as they undertake a review of their background screening programs.
Though such an audit may seem like a daunting task, organizations who do perform this exercise may ultimately feel more confident in their overall programs.
