An Insight into the History of Background Check

Live Scan Fingerprint Service, Los Angeles is now a commonly heard of service provided at authorized live scan centers. Mostly, employers request prospective employees to visit these centers and get their fingerprints captured. Scanners are used to capture fingerprints, which are then transmitted to the FBI or DOJ for further screening.  Fingerprints are screened with the massive database of criminal records to peep into the applicant’s past before hiring them. This process is better known as Background Check.  

History of Background Check

The process of background check is not new. It dates back to a few decades and was designed with a purpose.

 

Here’s more about its inception and the commendable journey since then.

Employers are deemed responsible for any violent or inappropriate behavior of their employees towards customers, associates and co-workers. Any unsuitable incident goes back to negligent hiring by the employer. In a bid to control such incidents, the first law on negligent hiring was made back in 1908. The case that triggered the creation was a prank by an employee that resulted in the death of a co-worker. The employer was held liable for the incident in the court of law, especially because they continued the employment of the wrongdoer despite being aware of the act.

Law of Negligent Hiring

The law witnessed expansion to cover incidents that happened outside the work premises also. This happened between 1911 and 1933. For instance: Employers are held responsible for any violent behavior displayed by employees towards the customer or associate inside and outside the workplace.

A case in point was of an employer being held liable for the inappropriate act of a delivery person with the woman customer. This incident took place in 1951. Since the creation of the law, many employers have been held answerable for the wrongdoings of their employees.

So, by the end of 1970’s, most employers exercised caution while hiring to save themselves from such charges and to maintain a healthy and safe work environment.

Modern Background Check

Here’s how background check came into vogue.

Fingerprinting has been the gold standard for personal identification from over a century. Considering the uniqueness and reliability of finger prints, this is also used for background check of prospective employees and applicants for license etc.

The success of fingerprint based background check rests upon the massive database maintained by the FBI. The FBI stores all important information of criminal offenses at state, local and federal level. The captured fingerprints when transmitted to the FBI are screened against the database to retrieve the criminal background, if any of the candidate. This is extremely helpful in making the hiring decision. For instance: A person with a history of thefts is not hired, while a person with a clean record is hired.

What’s more, thanks to the digitization of the fingerprinting process, background check has become easier and convenient. Fingerprints are electronically captured through scanners at Live scan Centers by a trained technician. The same are electronically transmitted to the FBI. Here, the AFIS system quickly matches the prints with the database and results are returned to the requesting agency. So, the process that earlier took weeks and months is now conducted across a short span of 24 to 48 hours; thanks to technological advancements.

A Live Scan center that provides unsurpassed fingerprinting and notary services is Anshin Mobile Notary & Live Scan.

For further details, contact them at www.anshinotary.com