Background checks for employment
Determine if candidates are a good fit for your company with our flexible suite of solutions for employment background checks, which include drug testing and medical screening.
Why use pre-employment background checks?
Hiring the wrong people can be costly and put your workplace at risk. But with the right background check service, you can make more informed decisions about potential candidates.
Backed by more than 30 years of experience, ADP® Screening and Selection Services offers a full suite of background screening products – including fully integrated global solutions, drug testing and medical screening services – all on a single, easy-to-use platform that features:
- All-in, no-hidden-fees pricing
- Integration with top applicant tracking solutions, including ADP Recruiting Management
- Workflows to support your industry's and organization’s unique needs
Reduce your time-to-hire with fast background check services
Accelerate your hiring process with automation from ADP to help you get timely and accurate employment background check results. Our screening reports:
- Can be integrated with your hiring policies, so you can easily see which results meet your policies and which need additional review by your team
- Incorporate federal and state reporting rules
- Leverage our proprietary sourcing methods, such as real-time access to data and a network of on-site research professionals
Get accurate, relevant, usable information
With our specialized screening tools, sources, processes and proprietary methods, you’ll get accurate and thorough information. To help ensure your report is actionable, we apply data privacy and security procedures and continuously vet and test our data sources. In addition, our dedicated compliance team stays up to date on federal, state and local regulations, including guidance from the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
Our reports can include:
- Social Security number verification
- Criminal background and government registry searches
- Employment and education verification
- Credential/license verification
- Professional reference verification
- Credit reports
- Driving records
- Drug testing and medical screening
- Other public record searches
More reasons to choose ADP’s
background check services
Collect candidate data faster and with less effort
Make it easy for applicants to provide their screening information, sign required forms and upload releases to initiate a background check. ADP Screening and Selection Services allows your recruiters to gather this information electronically, delivering a fully web-enabled experience that:
- Secures applicant information through a paperless collection process
- Eliminates manual entry of candidate identifying data
- Automates the background check initiation process
- Eliminates multiple follow-ups with candidates on missing data
Take control of your background check budget
Tired of pass-through fees and confusing bills that make it difficult to manage budgets? ADP Screening and Selection Services offers you a more transparent solution with:
- Real-time pricing and turnaround time expectations
- Bills that can be customized by location or billing code
- Pay-as-you-go service with no contracts and limited pass-through fees*
*Fees includes New York court fees and The Work Number.
Background checks with built-in compliance support
Stay up to date on ever changing laws and regulations pertaining to background checks. ADP Screening and Selection Services includes:
- Compliance guides – offer guidelines for screening new candidates or current employees in accordance with state and local laws on relevant topics, such as marijuana legislation, and “Ban the Box” laws, which restrict employer use of criminal record information
- Legislative alerts – provide a high-level overview of federal and state legislative bills turned laws that may potentially impact your screening policies and practices
- Compliance webinars – provide helpful compliance and legal insight into current and trending screening topics
- The Guide – contains pertinent screening and selection information, such as client and applicant forms, product information, links to the Fair Credit and Reporting Act (FCRA) and compliance overviews
Need help with global background checks?
Whether you have locations outside of the United States or hire foreign nationals in the U.S., we perform millions of employment background checks in over 170 countries each year for companies of every size.
You’ll get a dedicated global services team, a solution configured to your requirements and one system for both your domestic and global screening needs. Offering truly exceptional client support, the team is ready to help you with simple but powerful technology solutions that work for your country, subject to country-specific data-privacy and reportability laws.
See more ADP solutions for global companies.
Simple and easy integrations to better manage applicants
Take advantage of our modern, responsive interface to easily accomplish your employment background check tasks, such as reviewing a candidate’s screening results or monitoring the status of multiple screenings.
You can also make your hiring process even more efficient by integrating with ADP’s recruiting management or applicant tracking systems (we also integrate with many non-ADP applicant tracking systems).
Learn more about how we can help you with talent acquisition, talent management, or see a full list of ADP solutions.
Background check FAQs
What is a background check?
A background check is an investigation into the background of a potential employee. It is used to discover possible criminal activity, driving risk or discrepancies in employment or education history.
How do background checks work?
Background screening providers search public records using information provided by a candidate, such as name or date of birth, to locate documentation that matches the personal identifiers.
What is usually in a background check?
A background check may include but is not limited to criminal court records, driving history records, employment or education verifications, and registry searches.
What do companies look for in a background check?
The information sought via a background check varies from employer to employer, depending on industry requirements and the needs of the position for which the employer is hiring.
Can a background check reveal past employers?
A background check will attempt to verify previous employers using only the information provided by the candidate. It typically does not reveal prior employers whom the candidate did not disclose.
What do background checks ask previous employers?
Previous employers may be asked to provide starting and ending dates of employment, starting and ending titles, and eligibility for rehire.
What can an old employer tell a new employer?
To eliminate any possible biases, employers should only share dates of employment, titles and eligibility for rehire. They should not answer additional questions about the employee.
How far back do most background checks go?
Seven years is the most common time frame for an employment background check. However, some companies, based on their industry or the requirements of the position, may seek information over a longer time span.
How long does it take for a background check to come back?
Background checks are generally completed in three to five business days, though turnaround time can vary based on the information requested by the employer.
What background check do most employers use?
The most common product included in a background check is a criminal records search.
What is a criminal records check?
During a criminal records check, the background screening company searches county court records to locate any felony or misdemeanor case information (convictions and pending cases) that match the identifiers provided by the candidate.