Washington State Background Checks for Employment [2025]

As an employer, conducting background checks enables you to obtain a comprehensive picture of your job candidates, helping you determine whether they are the right fit for the positions you are recruiting for.

Did you know that a former employee of the Washington Employment Security Department was arrested for embezzling $130,000 of unemployment funds?

At iprospectcheck, we have a large number of  satisfied clients in Washington State, so we understand how to conduct quick, compliant background checks.

We break down everything you need to know in this helpful guide.

Why Do Employers in Washington State Run Background Checks?

Employers typically conduct background checks for the following reasons:

1. Maintain Regulatory Compliance

Employers in certain industries, including transportation, healthcare, and others, are required by federal or state laws and regulations to complete background screens on applicants.

In those industries, employers might conduct background checks to fulfill their legal obligations.

2. Protect Workplace Safety

Per OSHA regulations, employers have a duty to ensure the safety of their workplaces.

Performing background checks identifies applicants who have a history of unsafe conduct and could threaten workplace safety.

3. Ensure Employees Have the Right Experience and Qualifications

It’s important for employers to ensure their new hires have the right level of experience and qualifications to perform the tasks of their jobs.

Verifying an applicant’s employment, education, and professional license confirms whether they have the necessary qualifications.

4. Mitigate Liability Risks

By conducting comprehensive pre-employment background checks, employers can screen out unqualified and unsafe applicants and reduce their risks of negligent hiring liability.

5. Prevent Reputational Harm

If you hire the wrong person, they can significantly damage your brand.

Since employees are the public face of your company, performing background checks can help you ensure you hire people who will best represent your company.

What Shows Up on a Washington State Background Check?

What you can expect to see on a Washington State background check from iprospectcheck will depend on the types of information you request.

While Washington employers might request different types of job-specific information, most employers ask for information about their applicants’ criminal history, education and credentials, and employment history.

Here is what you might expect to see on a background report in each of these areas.

Criminal History

If one of your applicants has reportable criminal history information in his or her background, you should see the following types of data:

• Case number
• Date of arrest
• Charge or charges
• Level of charge or charges
• Disposition of the case
• Date of disposition
• Sentence information

Employment History

Checking the employment history of your applicants is important. Some applicants make misrepresentations on their applications and resumes about their past employment experience.

When you request an employment verification, you will receive information about each company for which the applicant has worked, the dates of employment, and the job titles he or she had for the positions held.

This type of information can help you ensure you are hiring honest and qualified employees. Finally, verifying your applicants’ employment histories can protect you from potential liability in negligent hiring lawsuits.

Education Verification

Education verification confirms an applicant’s reported educational attainment and shows the following information about the institutions the applicant attended:

• Name and address of the school
• Dates the applicant attended the school
• Whether the applicant was awarded a degree or diploma and its type

Professional License Verification

Washington state employers who are hiring for jobs requiring professional credentials might request professional license verification as a part of their pre-employment screening process.

Professional license verification shows the following information about a candidate’s license:

• License number
• Type of license
• Issuance date
• Licensee’s name
• License expiration
• Suspensions or revocations

Important Laws and Regulations for 2025

Washington employers must comply with state and federal laws when conducting background checks.

Federal Background Check Laws

Fair Credit Reporting Act

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is a federal law that protects consumers’ privacy in the information collected, held, and reported by consumer reporting agencies(CRAs). This law also regulates employers that conduct background checks.

You must provide written notices to applicants and employees that you will conduct background checks. You must also secure their written consent before you conduct background checks.

If you decide against hiring an applicant based on information contained in a background check report, you must complete the two-step adverse action process under the FCRA before making a final hiring decision.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 bans employment discrimination based on applicants’ and employees’ protected characteristics. This law is enforced by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Title VII covers the background check process when employers learn that applicants have criminal records. Before you decide not to hire an applicant based on a conviction, you must individually assess the conviction as it directly relates to the job.

Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act

The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act (FCA) is a federal fair chance hiring law that was passed as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for the fiscal year 2019 and was signed into law by former President Donald Trump.

Federal agencies and companies seeking federal contracts are covered by the FCA.

Companies that want to contract with a federal agency can’t ask about criminal history information on their job applications or during the hiring process until after they have made conditional job offers.

A federal agency can’t contract with a company that violates the FCA.

State Background Check Laws

Vacating Certain Criminal Convictions

While Washington’s expungement law only applies to non-conviction records, individuals with certain types of convictions can ask the court to vacate them when specific conditions are met under RCW 9.94A.640.

Certain misdemeanors, gross misdemeanors, and felonies can be vacated under Washington’s law.

However, people can’t have their convictions vacated under the following circumstances:

• Convictions for driving under the influence
• Crimes of violence
• Crimes against persons
• Sex offenses
• Class B felonies when an individual has been convicted of a new crime within the last 10 years
• Class C felonies when an individual has been convicted of a new crime within the last five years
• Any conviction if an individual has a pending criminal case
• Class B felony that is less than 10 years old
• Class C felony that is less than five years old

Individuals with qualifying convictions can petition the court for vacatur. If a petition is granted, the guilty plea will be withdrawn, and the court will vacate the conviction.

Once an individual has obtained a vacatur of a conviction, they can legally deny they have been convicted of a crime.

Vacated offenses also can’t be reported on criminal background checks for employment.

Salary History Questions Prohibited

Under RCW 49.58.100, employers are prohibited from asking candidates or former employers for their salary history information.

However, if an applicant voluntarily discloses salary history, employers can confirm what they report with their former employers.

Employers may also seek salary history information after they have made employment offers that include compensation terms.

Employees have a right to pursue damages in court when an employer has violated Washington’s ban on salary history inquiries.

Statewide Ban-the-Box Law

Under RCW 49.94.010, Washington has a statewide ban-the-box law. Under this law, public employers and private employers are prohibited from asking questions about criminal convictions on their applications.

You can complete a criminal background check and consider the information only after you have otherwise determined that the applicant is qualified for the job.

Seattle Fair Chance Employment Law

Seattle passed its own ban-the-box law in 2013.

Under this law, private and public employers cannot ask about or consider criminal history information until after they have completed initial screening and have determined they are otherwise qualified.

Use of Arrest Information

According to the Washington Human Rights Commission, employers should not use information about arrests not resulting in convictions to make hiring decisions.

However, employers can consider arrests that resulted in convictions and for pending criminal cases.

Credit Reports for Employment Restricted

Under RCW 19.182.020, employers cannot request applicants’ credit reports unless one of the following exceptions apply:

• The need for the credit report is directly related to the requirements of the job.
• Requesting a credit report is otherwise required by state or federal law.

Social Media Law

Under RCW 49.44.200, employers are prohibited from asking, coercing, or requiring applicants or employees to provide their social media account login information.

You also cannot ask an applicant or employee to open their social media accounts in your presence, add you to their contact lists, or change their privacy settings to allow you to view their social media pages.

However, you can ask an employee to share this type of information if it is necessary for an investigation after receiving reports about an employee’s activities on social media.

Senate Bill 5123

Senate Bill 5123 was signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee and will prohibit discrimination against applicants and employees based on marijuana use outside of work.

Under this law, employers will not be able to deny employment to applicants based on a pre-employment drug test that tests for the presence of non-psychoactive marijuana metabolites.

The law also forbids employers from firing employees for using marijuana during their off-hours, but it does not prohibit employers from terminating employees based on being under the influence of marijuana at work or using marijuana while on the job.

The marijuana discrimination law does allow employers to conduct and rely on pre-employment drug tests for marijuana as long as they only test for the psychoactive components of marijuana.

This law will be effective on Jan. 1, 2024.

Washington State’s Seven-Year Rule

Washington State has a seven-year rule found in RCW 19.182.040. This law restricts CRAs from reporting the following information for jobs paying less than $20,000 per year:

• Bankruptcies (10 years)
• Civil lawsuits and judgments
• Paid tax liens
• Debt collection accounts
• Non-conviction arrests and indictments
• Convictions

It’s important to contrast Washington’s seven-year rule with the FCRA’s seven-year rule.

The FCRA has a salary threshold of $75,000 instead of the state’s threshold of $20,000. This means that CRAs can’t report information about an applicant’s bankruptcy, civil lawsuit, civil judgment, paid tax lien, collection account, or non-conviction arrest record if the information is older than seven years and the job pays less than $75,000.

Washington State’s law prohibits the reporting of conviction records older than seven years, but the FCRA does not.

However, since Washington has a $20,000 salary threshold, this means that convictions older than seven years can be reported for nearly any job in the state.

Washington State’s minimum wage is currently $15.74 per hour. This means that the reporting of convictions is unrestricted for any full-time position, including a full-time minimum-wage job

How Do I Get a Background Check in Washington State?

1. Implement an Effective, Compliant Background Check Policy

If your company intends to conduct background checks, you should first implement an effective, legally-compliant background check policy.

Your policy should include all procedures that comply with state and federal background check laws your HR professionals should use when completing pre-employment screenings.

The policy should also provide for a uniform system used to complete background checks to prevent unconscious biases and should clearly be communicated to all HR staff.

2. Notify Applicants and Obtain Consent

Before you can conduct a background check, the FCRA requires you to notify your applicants in writing on a separate form that can be easily seen.

You also must obtain an applicant’s written consent to conduct a background check. You can include the consent on the same document as the notice.

3. Choose a Reliable Screening Partner

While some employers try to run background checks themselves, doing so is generally not a good idea.

It’s easy to miss important information or uncover inaccurate or outdated data about an applicant.

It’s best to partner with a reliable employment screening provider like iprospectcheck.

We always comply with all state and federal background check laws, and our technology seamlessly integrates with the applicant tracking systems (ATS) employers rely upon to facilitate a smooth hiring process.

With iprospectcheck, you can also benefit from our fast turnaround times, allowing you to make confident hiring decisions quickly.

4. Wait to Conduct Background Checks

Washington State’s ban-the-box law prohibits employers from asking about criminal history information until they have made an initial determination that an applicant is otherwise qualified.

While the law doesn’t require you to wait until after you make a conditional employment offer, doing so might be a good idea.

Waiting until you make a contingent job offer to conduct an employment background check can help you to save time and money on background checks by limiting how many you have to run to only qualified candidates.

5. Be Selective in the Searches You Request

When you order background checks, choose only the searches that apply to your open position.

At iprospectcheck, you can select from a large menu of background searches to create customized background checks that meet your needs.

We have multiple packages and numerous add-on searches, so you won’t have to pay for any extraneous information.

6. Individually Assess Conviction Records

You should avoid a blanket policy to reject anyone with a criminal record.

If you learn an applicant has a criminal conviction, assess it as it relates to the duties of the job for which you are considering the applicant before deciding not to hire them based on that information.

7. Tell the Applicant the Results of the Background Check

After you receive and review a candidate’s background check report, make sure to promptly tell the candidate the results.

8. Complete the Adverse Action Steps

If red flags on a candidate’s background check make you decide not to hire them, you must complete the following steps of the adverse action process under the FCRA:

• Send a pre-adverse action notice with a copy of the section of the report containing the problematic information.
• Give the applicant a reasonable time (generally five business days) to correct the information or present evidence they have been rehabilitated.
• Send a final adverse action notice with a copy of the applicant’s legal rights if you still decide against hiring them.

Start a Background Check with iprospectcheck

Washington State has many specific laws employers must follow when conducting background checks for employment purposes.

The easiest way to conduct a background check on a qualified candidate in this state is to partner with a third-party background check company like iprospectcheck.

We are a 100%  USA-based service team dedicated to providing the absolute best customer service. Our mission is to make the background screening process go smoothly for you, while ensuring your needs are met in a timely manner.

Contact us today to learn more about our background check services or request a free quote: (808) 509-1979

DISCLAIMER: The resources provided here are for educational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Consult your counsel if you have legal questions related to your specific practices and compliance with applicable laws.