Employment background checks are an indispensable part of the hiring process.
At iprospectcheck, we have conducted thousands of employment background checks for businesses across Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester, Bloomington, and beyond.
And they uncover real problems. In our 2026 State of Screening Report, a nationwide survey of 1,500 business managers and company owners, 54.1% of employers said background checks reveal discrepancies “very often” or “somewhat often.”
Drawing on our experience and that research, we’ve created this guide to help you navigate the essentials of accurate and legally compliant background checks in Minnesota.
Key Takeaways
- Pre-employment background checks in Minnesota investigate the criminal history, past employment, education, and other relevant details about applicants.
- Background checks typically include criminal history, education verification, employment verification, credit checks, professional license verification, and other searches based on the job’s requirements.
- You must comply with all relevant laws when performing background checks.
What is a Minnesota Background Check?
A pre-employment background check in Minnesota investigates an applicant’s criminal history, previous employment, education, professional credentials, driving record, and other information related to the position for which they’ve applied.
It confirms the applicant’s honesty, qualifications, and experience and reduces your company’s liability and safety risks.
Know Before You Hire
What Shows Up on a Background Check in Minnesota?
The most common reports include the following.
Criminal History
A criminal background check reveals the following information about convictions or pending charges:
- Case number
- Offense date
- Offense type
- Offense severity (Misdemeanor/felony)
- Disposition
- Disposition date
- Sentence information
According to our survey, this is the most common type of screening employers run (29.7%), and for good reason. Criminal history omissions were the most common serious issue employers uncovered(17.0%) and the discrepancy most likely to end a candidacy (30.2%).
Past Employment
Employment verification shows the following information about an applicant’s past jobs:
- Employer name/address
- Employment dates
- Titles/positions held
Our report uncovered only 39.0% of employers verify previous employment for every hire, which means most are taking at least part of a candidate’s resume on faith. That often catches up with them: 40.3% have withdrawn a job offer because of resume fraud or credentials they couldn’t verify, and 30.2% discovered resume fraud only after the person was already on payroll.
Education Verification
Education verification reveals the following information about an applicant’s educational history:
- Names and addresses of schools attended
- Attendance dates at each institution
- Any degrees conferred
Our report showed only 35.2% of employers verify education credentials each time they hire.
Professional License Verification
Employers hiring applicants to fill positions that require credentials should verify their professional license information.
Professional license verification reports the following information about an applicant’s credentials:
- License validity
- License type
- License number
- License issuance date
- Licensee’s name
- License expiration date
- Suspensions/revocations
- Public discipline
Identity Verification
Identity verification confirms that the applicant is who they claim to be by checking government-issued ID and other identifying information against reliable records.
In our survey, 22.9% of employers said they had knowingly interviewed a proxy or suspected deepfake candidate, and 29.3% said they had hired someone who later didn’t seem to be the same person they interviewed. Yet 5.1% of companies don’t formally verify identity at all before hiring.
That’s why 80.9% of employers now believe identity verification should be a standard part of background screening, and 67.5% say it should apply to every role, not just sensitive ones.
Credit History
Employers hiring applicants to fill positions that involve handling money or the company’s or customers’ private financial information might request pre-employment credit checks.
A pre-employment credit check will not involve a hard check on the applicant’s credit and will not affect their credit score.
Pre-employment credit checks report the following information:
- Payment history
- Applicant’s full legal name
- Current and former addresses
- Current and former employers
- Collection accounts
- Bankruptcies within the past seven to 10 years
- Debt-to-income (DTI) ratio
- Other credit inquiries
How to Conduct a Background Check in Minnesota
1. Draft an Effective Background Check Policy
Create a thorough background check policy that includes all of the steps required under state and federal law.
Explain exactly what your HR staff must do at each phase of the background check process, and list the types of searches you conduct based on job requirements while keeping uniformity at different job levels.
2. Train Personnel
Once you’ve finished drafting a good policy, train the staff members responsible for conducting background checks.
Make sure they understand their legal requirements and all of the steps they must take before, during, and after a background check.
3. Partner with a Reliable Background Check Provider
The background check provider you choose makes a difference in the validity and reliability of the results you receive.
Choose a reliable provider like iprospectcheck to ensure your background checks are thorough, up-to-date, accurate, and FCRA-compliant.
4. Follow Notice and Consent Rules
You must follow the FCRA’s notice and consent rules to avoid potential civil penalties and litigation.
Before you conduct background checks, you must notify applicants of your intent on a standalone form that doesn’t include extraneous information.
Before initiating a background check, you must also obtain your applicant’s written consent.
5. Review and Communicate Results
When you receive the results, review them closely. If you’re satisfied, contact the candidate to schedule onboarding and their start date.
If you have concerns, follow the next steps.
6. Complete Individualized Assessments
If an applicant has a criminal conviction, individually assess it in relation to the job’s duties and workplace safety before basing a decision not to hire them on that information.
7. Follow the Adverse Action Process
Follow the adverse action process to comply with the FCRA by following these steps:
- Send a pre-adverse action notice – Include a copy of the background check report with the problematic information highlighted.
- Give a reasonable response time – Give the applicant a reasonable time to respond (typically, five business days) by providing evidence showing the information is wrong or that they have rehabilitated.
- Send a final adverse action notice – If you make a final decision not to hire the applicant, send a final adverse action notice and include a copy of the applicant’s FCRA rights.
Important Laws and Regulations
Federal Laws
Fair Credit Reporting Act
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is a federal consumer privacy law that protects individual privacy in the records gathered and reported by consumer reporting agencies (CRAs), including background check providers.
The FCRA includes a seven-year rule that restricts CRAs from reporting the following information when a job pays less than $75,000 per year:
- Collections
- Paid tax liens
- Chapter 13 bankruptcies (10 years for Chapter 7)
- Arrests not resulting in convictions
- Civil lawsuits and judgments
This rule doesn’t restrict the reporting of convictions, education history, employment history, professional license information, or other relevant background information.
Employers must complete the adverse action process when they learn negative information in a background check that makes them want to deny employment before making a final decision.
Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act
The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act (FCA) is a federal law passed in 2019 that applies to federal agencies and companies that seek federal contracts.
This law requires federal agencies and federal contractors to wait to inquire about criminal history until after they have extended conditional employment offers.
Federal agencies can’t contract with companies that violate the FCA by inquiring about criminal history before making a contingent employment offer.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act is a federal anti-discrimination law that prohibits workplace discrimination based on the protected characteristics of applicants and employees.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which is the agency tasked with enforcing Title VII, has issued enforcement guidance for employers when conducting background checks.
According to the EEOC, employers should individually assess criminal convictions in relation to the job and workplace safety before basing a decision not to hire the applicant on that information.
State Laws
Ban-the-Box Laws
Both the state and two cities have ban-the-box laws in Minnesota.
These laws control when in the hiring process you can inquire about criminal history.
Minnesota’s ban-the-box law applies to public and private employers and prohibits criminal history inquiries until after an interview or conditional offer of employment.
It also prohibits basing an adverse employment decision on convictions not related to the position.
The following Minnesota cities also have ban-the-box laws:
Salary History Ban
Minnesota added a salary history ban found at Minn. Stat. 363A.08 Subd. 8 that became effective on Jan. 1, 2024.
Under this law, employers, employment agencies, and labor organizations are prohibited from asking about an applicant’s salary history or seeking information about it from any source.
The salary history ban does not prohibit employers from considering pay history information voluntarily disclosed by an applicant.
Minnesota Clean Slate Act
In 2023, Minnesota passed HF 2023, which is known as the Clean Slate Act.
This law will be effective on Jan. 1, 2025, and will apply to plea agreements individuals enter into on that date or subsequently.
The Clean Slate Act allows the automatic expungement of qualifying criminal convictions that would have been eligible under the state’s former petition-based expungement system.
Expungement seals a conviction from an individual’s criminal record.
A person with a qualifying conviction must not have had any subsequent convictions.
There is a waiting period following the qualifying conviction before relief is granted.
Qualifying convictions include petty misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors other than those specifically excepted.
The waiting period for automatic expungement for a petty or gross misdemeanor is two years following the person’s completion of their sentence.
Some felonies are also eligible following a waiting period of five years after they have completed their sentence.
The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension must identify eligible persons within 30 days of the completion of the waiting period.
CRAs can’t report expunged records on most criminal background checks, and employers can’t ask about or base employment decisions on them.
Turn to iprospectcheck for Reliable and Accurate Minnesota Background Checks
At iprospectcheck, we have the resources and dedicated staff to collect and analyze vital screening information on job applicants.
Our specialists are trained and knowledgeable in all aspects of the employment background check process so that you can be confident our results are accurate, legally compliant, comprehensive, and current.
Call today to receive a free quote: (888) 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.
FAQ
How Far Back Does a Background Check Go in Minnesota?
Minnesota background checks are subject to the FCRA restrictions on how far back any adverse information on a candidate may be used to disqualify their employment. The seven-year lookback period for employment background checks does not apply for salaried positions at or above $75,000 or any criminal convictions from more than seven years ago.
While criminal history and other important records may be accessible from Minnesota databases from beyond seven years ago, you should exercise caution in relying upon those records in your hiring decisions. Working with a reliable background screening provider for Minnesota background checks prevents you from considering impermissible information in the hiring process because the screening reports will only include compliant and applicable information.
Legal restrictions on how far back you can consider criminal history in hiring a candidate do not prevent you from recovering and reviewing information on a candidate’s employment history, education, credentials, and other relevant background information from well beyond seven years ago.
How Long Does an MN Background Check Take?
The time required to conduct a thorough and compliant Minnesota background check varies greatly based on the resources available and the reliability of the information accessed. Combing through various sources of public records across multiple jurisdictions can be time-consuming and expensive, especially without the assistance of an experienced background screening company like iprospectcheck.
At iprospectcheck, we understand that delays in the background screening process can cost you qualified candidates and obstruct your hiring timeline. That is why we are committed to providing detailed and legally compliant background check reports as quickly as possible.
You can access comprehensive and reliable Minnesota employment background check reports from iprospectcheck in as little as one hour to up to two days. Our urgent turnaround times for Minnesota background check reports help employers like you to make informed and safe hiring decisions without losing out on valuable candidates from a prolonged screening process.
How Do I Check My Criminal Record in Minnesota?
You can access limited public information about your own criminal record in Minnesota by searching the public court records database. For an official copy of your own Minnesota criminal record, you can write to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension with a notarized request form and an $8 check. The processing time is at least two weeks for these requests.
For any information in your criminal history outside of Minnesota, you will need to contact the specific jurisdiction directly and follow their unique process for requesting individual records.
You can also run a personal background check with iprospectcheck to see what’s in your report before employers do.
What Disqualifies You on an MN Background Check?
In Minnesota, certain employment positions require a background check, including employees who interact directly with children, medical providers, those with access to private and confidential taxpayer information, and social workers.
Certain criminal convictions for work-related offenses may disqualify an applicant from specific employment positions, but an employer is not necessarily required to reject the applicant based on their criminal history. Public employers and licensing authorities are required to provide access and information to an applicant on the available grievance process for appealing the hiring decision.
How Much Do Background Checks in MN Cost?
Vital records for a Minnesota background check are not centralized in a single public database. This requires that you target individual agencies and departments for criminal records, civil judgments, driving records, licensing credentials, and other essential records.
The costs of seeking out background information on a candidate across multiple states, counties, and other jurisdictions can add up quickly. This can also get expensive for your company in terms of the administrative time and resources that must be devoted to this extensive process.
The cost of conducting Minnesota background checks on your own can make it tempting to rely on free online background check websites instead.
That choice can be problematic and ultimately much more expensive for your company because there are no guarantees that free online background check reports are accurate or compliant with applicable laws.
It is prudent to avoid the pitfalls of a civil lawsuit and additional enforcement actions that result from using free, unreliable, and inaccurate online background reports by working with a trusted provider of screening services like iprospectcheck. We proudly offer affordable and efficient Minnesota background checks and can reduce your costs even further for higher volumes of background report orders.
One of the advantages of partnering with iprospectcheck for all of your Minnesota background check needs is the option to customize the scope of your requested background reports.
We can work with you directly to ensure that your background reports include all of the necessary information for your company’s hiring process without charging you for types of information that you do not need.
Why should employers screen applicants?
1. Improve Workplace Safety
Pre-employment background checks identify applicants who could pose risks to the safety of your current employees, customers, and the public.
2. Reduce Liability Risks
Employers can face lawsuits when they negligently hire unqualified or dangerous individuals who subsequently harm others.
Performing background checks helps to identify issues in an applicant’s background that could result in problems if hired.
3. Ensure New Hires are Qualified and Competent
Background checks confirm an applicant’s qualifications and experience for the job.
4. Protect the Company’s Brand
Your employees represent your company and can facilitate a positive or negative brand reputation.
Conducting thorough pre-employment background checks helps to protect your company’s brand.
5. Increase Employee Morale
Performing pre-employment background checks demonstrates your company values qualified applicants with the skills necessary to perform their jobs.
This can increase employee satisfaction and morale.
