If you’re hiring employees for your Wyoming business, you understand that pre-employment background checks are a critical part of the hiring process. Wyoming background checks provide essential information about an applicant to help you ensure you are hiring the right candidate for the position.
Here at iprospectcheck, we understand all aspects of the Wyoming pre-employment background check process.
We work closely with companies in Cheyenne, Casper, Laramie, and Rock Springs, and many other cities, to help them make smart hiring decisions.
In this article, we’ll help you understand what’s required for Wyoming background checks and how you can streamline your pre-employment screening process while remaining in compliance.
Let’s start now.
Wyoming Employment Background Check Laws: A Complete Overview
When conducting a background check, it’s crucial to comply with all local, state, and federal laws and regulations that apply to companies in your state. Compliance ensures you avoid penalties and fines, as well as potential litigation and time-consuming hiring interruptions.
Still, the legalities involved with Wyoming background checks can be complex to track and understand.
Here are some of the various laws and regulations you should be aware of:
Federal Laws on Employment Background Checks
FCRA
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is a comprehensive set of federal guidelines that regulate hiring practices for employers throughout the country. The FCRA was created to guarantee privacy, accuracy, and fairness for consumers and establishes a standard for how employers can collect, share, and use consumer information.
Under FCRA, employers must get a candidate’s authorization before conducting a background check. FCRA also establishes strict protocols on how employers must conduct themselves if they decide not to hire a candidate due to the information uncovered in the background screening.
If you work with iprospectcheck, you can rest easy knowing we’re fully FCRA-compliant and will help you stay in compliance at every step of the hiring process.
EEOC
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or EEOC is responsible for overseeing the enforcement of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Suppose a background check exposes a criminal incident in an applicant’s history. In that case, EEOC guidelines state that the employer must conduct an individual assessment of those incidents, as they pertain to the position in question.
Wyoming State Laws on Employment Background Checks
Wyoming only has one specific law surrounding employment background checks: If the employer wants to run a drug or clinical test on an applicant, they must pay for all of the medical exams themselves. The applicant does not pay.
Additionally, employers must comply with federal regulations governing the practice of pre-employment background checks.
Know Before You Hire
What Appears on a Wyoming Pre-Employment Background Check?
The most common information included in an employment background check in Wyoming includes:
Criminal history
A Wyoming background check may include searches of proprietary national databases, county level records searches, and a statewide criminal records search. These searches will generate information maintained by Wyoming counties and other states where the applicant has resided previously.
Past employment verification
The background check may also verify the candidate’s stated employment history, including the verification of the candidate’s past employers, job titles, and employment dates.
Education verification
A Wyoming background check may also provide details on an applicant’s education, including schools or universities attended and degrees obtained.
How Far Back Do Background Checks Go in Wyoming?
Most employers are primarily concerned about an applicant’s recent past. People make mistakes, and a choice someone made when they were younger does not necessarily speak to their character today. As such, most Wyoming background checks go back seven years.
There are exceptions, though.
Wyoming does not have a retrospective limit on what information can be included in a background check beyond what the FCRA dictates. As such, employers hiring for jobs with an expected salary of $75,000 or more annually may run background checks that look back for a period of longer than seven years.
The best way to access these records is to work with a reliable third-party background screening company like iprospectcheck. Our experts will support your compliance efforts, so you don’t consider inadmissible background information for a given candidate and that your pre-employment screening remains complaint.
How to Get a Wyoming Background Check for Employment
Criminal records in Wyoming are maintained by the Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI). Employers who want to request a background check through the DCI must have the applicant complete a fingerprint card and pay the required fee.
While it’s possible to DIY your background checks, this is a risky option. It’s easy to miss relevant information or accidentally include information you’re prohibited from considering in an employment decision.
As such, the wisest choice is to hire a third-party background check company to conduct pre-employment screenings for you. When you work with iprospectcheck, you get the peace of mind that comes with knowing your pre-employment screenings are accurate, comprehensive, detailed, and completely compliant.
As experts in the pre-employment screening field, we have the experience, specialized skill, and resources to access comprehensive Wyoming background information on your applicants.
How Much Does a Background Check Cost in Wyoming?
While it can be tempting to leverage free background check services, this is a risky approach since these vendors are unvetted and often unreliable. They often provide reports that are not current, comprehensive, current, accurate, or compliant.
The best option is to work with a trusted, professional background check company like iprospectcheck. Our team leverages advanced research tactics and processional, reliable databases to provide rapid, reliable, comprehensive background check information.
For example, our employment background checks include searches for criminal records. Some include Federal Criminal Records searches. Some employers may also have us complete employment verifications, drug screens, and other employment-driven clinical services. It’s the best way to get a full picture of your applicant.
We allow you to select the background screening reports that pertain to your business, so you never pay for reports you don’t need or won’t use. Look at our background check packages for pricing information.
How Long Will a Wyoming Background Check Take?
Per the Wyoming DCI, criminal background checks in the state generally take two weeks to complete. In some cases, though, the databases get backlogged with a high volume of fingerprints, and background checks can take as long as 5-6 weeks to complete.
If you plan to use DCI to conduct your background checks, it’s critical to prepare for this potential backlog since it can create costly hiring delays otherwise. You’ll also need to consider the fact that COVID-19 has impacted background checks. In many places, virus-related court closures and limited request capacity have created background check delays that can sidetrack the hiring process.
If you partner with iprospectcheck, on the other hand, we can turn around background checks in two to three business days in most cases.
iprospectcheck: Your Trusted Partner for Fast, Accurate, Compliant Wyoming Background Checks
As a Wyoming employer, you know how essential good people are to keeping your company running. Fortunately, adequate pre-employment screening can help you hire trustworthy, dedicated, professional applicants, and build a reliable team that helps move your company forward.
Since pre-employment screening is so important, though, it’s smart to outsource it to a skilled third-party team that understands how to access the most reliable records for you. Here at iprospectcheck, we provide comprehensive, fast, compliant, and accurate screening reports designed to help Wyoming businesses make smart hiring decisions.
Let us help you make informed hiring decisions. To learn more about our Wyoming background check services, all 888-808-9997 to request a free, no-risk consultation with one of our WY screening specialists to discuss your company’s specific needs or fill out the form here.
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.
