Background Checks You Can Feel Good About

GoodHire’s range of specific employment screening services are detailed on our All Services page.

In addition, GoodHire has a dedicated account management team based in Omaha, Nebraska, in-house compliance expertise and a technical support team for companies looking to integrate with our API.

GoodHire’s employment screening packages have been created specifically to yield quick, accurate results for most employers. However, additional consideration, such as industry or experience level might require different add-ons. Our Industries page can help guide you. Or, use our All Services page to understand your choices.

GoodHire partners with a variety of FCRA-certified providers whose comprehensive databases compile state and federal records. Our team of experienced court researchers conducts on-site court record checks, while a team of professional educational and employment search specialists pursue direct verification of candidate credentials.

For resume verifications, such as a completed degrees, past employers, or professional licenses, GoodHire investigates information provided about a candidate’s background to verify claims made by the candidate. For further details about the process, please refer to our Verification Protocol.

At a minimum, we require a candidate’s full legal name, Social Security number, email address, date of birth, and current home address. GoodHire will let you know if more information is needed.

Submit candidate information to GoodHire directly, or ask candidates to provide their own information through our simple e-consent process:

• You provide the candidate’s legal name and email address to GoodHire.
• We send the candidate a unique link to complete the rest of the form.
• Candidate signs the digital Candidate Consent form via electronic signature.

Once the e-consent form is complete, we’ll automatically start generating background check.

 

GoodHire needs your candidate’s email address to contact them and obtain their consent to run a background check. If you do not have your candidate’s email address, GoodHire can not electronically obtain their consent on your behalf. Instead, choose to download the consent form directly from the GoodHire website and manually upload it once you’ve received the necessary signatures. Note, the manual option may delay delivery of your results.

GoodHire requires the candidate’s date of birth (DOB) and Social Security number (SSN) in order to run a background check. An individual’s DOB and SSN is used as a primary identifier by nearly all American court systems and this information helps ensure the accuracy of our reports.

If you can’t or don’t wish to collect sensitive information from the candidate, you can request that the candidate securely provide his or her information to GoodHire directly through our e-consent process. Companies that choose this option will only need to submit the candidate’s legal name and email.

Accurate names are critical to retrieve criminal records. Industry best practice is to conduct background checks of each name used within the last seven years.

All required information must be provided before starting a background check. GoodHire provides employers the option to ask candidates to complete their own information, effectively offloading the often difficult task of collecting the information yourself.

If a candidate is unable to or prefers not to provide their information online, employers can request the required information from the candidates, and enter it manually during the ordering process. Be sure to use the GoodHire Candidate Information Form to gather the necessary information needed to run the background check. It is important to note that supplementary information may be required from the employer and/or the candidate for certain screening services.

Absolutely. All transmission of personal data uses SSL (Secure Sockets Layer), a robust protocol for encrypting data online (check your browser’s address bar for the “https://” prefix—this means you’re surfing with SSL protection). HTTPS connections are used throughout GoodHire’s checkout process for payment protection, and whenever you’re logged in to the site.

To protect your candidates’ privacy and ensure the security of their data, background check results will be available to both you and the candidate or employee on the GoodHire website. You’re automatically notified by email when results are ready. If you prefer not to be notified via email, it’s easy to turn off this feature in the Account Settings section.

First-time GoodHire businesses are verified per FCRA guidelines. The verification process typically takes less than 24 hours and is often shorter, based on the clarity and completeness of information provided at sign up.

Delivery times for background checks vary depending on the type of searches being run. The Basic Check is fastest, often instant, as it does not require on-site county criminal records search or Terrorist Watch List Searches, which normally take 1-3 days. Some verification add-ons, like employer and education, require specialized agents and can take up to 5 days to complete.

For each purchase, you receive estimated delivery time for completion. Also, to save you time, each section of the background check is viewable on completion, regardless of whether another section is still in progress.

If you would like to cancel a check, please Contact our Support Team as soon as possible so we can stop processing your order. We will require confirmation of your employer status to prevent unauthorized payment changes and to help better protect your confidential information. To cancel, just follow the three steps listed below:

• Call GoodHire Support at 1-888-906-4284
• Verify your company name and account information
• Specify which orders need to be cancelled using candidate name

 

This will depend on the status of the background check. Different parts of the check are processed at different times. GoodHire can only refund the portions of a background check that have not already been delivered.

In order to legally run a background check, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires that employers obtain written authorization from the job candidate or employee before they can be screened. Click here for a sample consent form.
By obtaining consent, employers can officially certify that they have:

• Notified candidates about the details of the background screening process.
• Informed candidates about their legal rights in case of an adverse action.
• Made efforts to ensure candidate privacy and prevent discrimination.

Note: Because California law prohibits employers from obtaining ongoing consent to run employment screening, all employers running background checks in the state of California must request candidate or employee consent each and every time they conduct a background check or update.

 

GoodHire’s FCRA-compliant, e-consent is the quickest, most efficient way to obtain the appropriate authorization for a background check. To use e-consent, just provide your candidate’s email address and we will contact them and request consent on your behalf. Candidates receive a link to complete the consent form online, where they can read the fine print and sign the document digitally. The e-consent form works on all devices, including smartphones and tablets and has been thoroughly vetted by GoodHire’s legal team.

If you already have a copy of your candidate’s signed consent, you can scan and upload the form to GoodHire. Due to legal compliance requirements, GoodHire manually reviews and approves each scanned or uploaded consent form, which may delay the background check results. If this method is preferred to the e-consent, we recommend using our pre-approved consent form.

Download editable PDF templates for employees, contractors, and volunteers. We also include “A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act” and other relevant legal disclosures to the candidates in the documents. Simply enter your company name in the field “Insert Company Name” and deliver it to your candidate to start the process.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) prohibits making employment decisions based on any arrest records or adverse information older than seven years. This time limit does not apply to records of conviction or employees reasonably expected to earn $75,000 or more per year. GoodHire abides by these regulations and will only display records that match these limitations. Read more

You can check the status of any background check from your GoodHire account, using the “Candidates” icon. “Status” is one of the columns displayed.

All GoodHire background checks provide a contextual “what to do” guide when portions of the results are flagged. This guide paves a step-by-step process for you to follow.

Contact our dedicated support team and we’ll investigate and resolve any inaccuracies found in a background check.

Telephone: 1-888-906-4284
Address: GoodHire P.O. Box 391403 Omaha, NE 68139-1403

You can find results for each candidate under the “Candidates” tab of your account. Simply click on “View Report”.

No. Your reports are delivered through our secure website. Once logged in, you can print out or save results to a secure location on your hard drive.

If you want to save results to your computer, right-click the “Download Report” option in the upper-right corner of the results. In order to comply with the law, you must delete the document from your computer when you’ve finished your evaluation.

You can change your email and password from the Account page once you have signed in.

To log in, use the same email address and password used during your first purchase. If you’ve forgotten your password, please enter your email address on the Password Reset page. You’ll receive an email with your password reminder and sign-in instructions. If you’re still having trouble with your login, please submit a help request to our customer support department and we’ll get it figured out quickly.

You can add and remove users if you are an account administrator (usually the individual who initially registered with GoodHire). Once you are on the “Users” page of your Account Settings, click on the “Add New User” button to start entering a new user’s information.

There are three levels of GoodHire user access: Admin, Read/Order, and Read Only. You can manage account permissions in the Account Settings section.

You can edit your company information on the “Company” page of the Account section, available only to administrators of the account. This information is edited in-line after pressing the “Edit” button. Note: you cannot edit Tax ID and verification status.

Manage email notifications via the “Profile” page of the Account section.

GoodHire offers a variety of sort and filter options for your billing history. You can filter by date, keyword, and sort alphabetically.

Yes. Your billing history can be exported as a CSV file. Just look for the “Export CSV” icon on your Billing page.

Because GoodHire is an FCRA-compliant, employment screening tool, we need to make sure that all our customers are using our services strictly for hiring purposes. By verifying that your company is a legitimate business, we can make sure all investigative background research on any individual abides by federal and state laws.

GoodHire needs you to fill out a W9 so we can better determine the legitimacy of your business.

Employer verification can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few days depending on the accuracy and breadth of the information you provide. If your business is registered with your state’s Secretary of State office, then verification should take only a few minutes. Otherwise, our Member Services team will request a combination of your Doing Business As (DBA) certificate, business license, and Employer Identification Number (EIN) to complete the verification process.

GoodHire will grant a full refund for all background checks purchased if we cannot verify your company.

GoodHire uses the following information to verify your company:

• COMPANY NAME, PHONE NUMBER AND ADDRESS
• EIN:Employer Identification Number. Help me find my EIN
• STATE OF INCORPORATION:The state in which your company is registered for tax purposes.
• DBA (DOING BUSINESS AS):The trade name or name under which your business or operation is conducted and presented to the world (if applicable).

Companies located in the states listed below will also be required to submit a business license as part of the verification process:

• Delaware
• Massachusetts
• New Jersey
• Rhode Island
• Washington DC
• West Virginia