Plano Background Checks: A Guide for Employers [2025]

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Employers in Plano, Texas should vet potential employees to ensure they are qualified and safe before hiring them.

Comprehensive employment background checks allow employers to make better hiring decisions by evaluating the candidate’s criminal history, past employment, educational history, and other relevant details.

At iprospectcheck, we partner with employers throughout Texas, including in Plano and the counties of Collin and Denton, to provide thorough background checks.

This comprehensive guide to background checks in Plano is your key resource, providing a thorough understanding of the governing laws and detailing the most effective methods for conducting these checks in full legal compliance.

What is an Employment Background Check in Plano?

A Plano employment background check is a pre-employment screening that includes an extensive investigation of a candidate’s education, work history, criminal record, and other job-related information.

Employers in Plano complete employment background checks to confirm a prospective employee is trustworthy, reliable, and suitable for the job.

When completed correctly, employment background checks aid employers in making sound employment decisions while safeguarding the company’s clients, staff, and brand.

Why Do Employers in Plano Perform Background Checks?

Plano employers might choose to complete background checks for multiple reasons, including the following:

1. Ensuring a Safe Workplace

In 2022, the Plano Police Department reported that 5,900 major crimes and 10,100 other crimes were committed in the city.

Employment background checks help employers ensure the workplace remains safe for current employees, customers, and the public by helping to screen out candidates with certain convictions or poor driving records.

2. Having a Fair, Unbiased Hiring Process

A comprehensive background check policy can help to ensure HR staff complete background checks uniformly and helps to avoid the impact of unconscious biases.

This helps to increase fairness and consistency in recruiting and hiring.

3. Complying With State and Federal Laws

Employers that are regulated by certain agencies are required by law to conduct employment background checks.

For example, U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) regulated employers must complete DOT background checks on individuals applying for safety-sensitive jobs.

Companies that hire people to work with vulnerable groups, including children, people with disabilities, or elderly adults, are also required to complete background checks in Texas.

4. Reducing the Risk of Negligent Hiring Lawsuits

If an employer fails to complete a background check that would have revealed that an employee was unqualified or dangerous, the employer can be sued for negligent hiring if the employee later injures someone else while working.

5. Building Client Confidence

Businesses that operate in certain sectors, including finance and healthcare, regularly deal with confidential, private client information.

When you have a policy for background checks, your process can help clients to feel more confident that your employees will protect the privacy of their sensitive information.

What Appears on a Plano Background Check?

What you might see on a Plano employment background check will depend on the searches you request. Most employers ask for the following searches on standard background checks:

• Identity verification
• Employment verification
• Criminal records
• Education verification

Employers hiring for jobs involving driving might also ask for motor vehicle records (MVR) checks, and those that hire for professional positions might request professional license verification.

Here are the types of information that might be reported for each of these searches:

Identity Verification

Identity verification is conducted at the beginning of an employment background check to confirm the candidate’s identity.

This check ensures the candidate’s information is reported instead of the information of an individual with a similar name.

Employment Verification

Employment verification verifies what an applicant has reported about their work history.

On an employment verification report, you’ll see the addresses and names of the applicant’s former employers, their dates of employment at each company, and the titles they held.

Criminal Records

A criminal background check for employment discloses information about any reportable criminal convictions or pending criminal cases.

You’ll see the following details if an applicant has a reportable criminal record:

• Court case number
• Offense/arrest date
• Type of crime
• Whether the offense was a misdemeanor or felony
• The disposition of the charges
• Date the charges were disposed
• Sentence information when available

Convictions for which an applicant has received an order of non-disclosure or expunction can’t be reported or inquired about.

Education Verification

Education verification confirms what an applicant reports about their educational record.

This search shows the schools the applicant attended, the applicant’s attendance dates at each school, and any conferred degrees or diplomas.

MVR Check

If you’re hiring drivers, an MVR check will show information about an applicant’s driver’s license and driving history.

You’ll see the applicant’s driver’s license number, when it was issued, the type of license the applicant holds, when it expires, suspensions or revocations, and any traffic citations or major traffic crimes the applicant has committed in the past few years.

Professional License Verification

Professional license verification validates an applicant’s professional license and credentials and reports the following types of information:

• Type of professional license
• License number
• Date the license was issued
• Whether the license is current and valid
• Professional discipline
• When the license expires

How to Conduct Employment Background Checks in Plano, TX

1. Draft and Implement a Detailed Background Check Policy

Before you start conducting background checks, your company should draft and implement a detailed background check policy that complies with the FCRA and other background check laws.

Make sure your HR staff are thoroughly trained in how to conduct background checks under the policy to avoid potential problems.

2. Follow Disclosure and Consent Requirements

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you must notify applicants that you conduct background checks in writing.

Your notice should be conspicuous and provided as a separate document. You must also ask for your applicant’s signed consent before you can conduct an employment background check.

3. Partner With a Reliable Employment Screening Provider

Be selective when you are searching for a background check provider.

Choosing a reliable, legally compliant company like iprospectcheck ensures your reports are accurate, up-to-date, and comply with all relevant laws.

At iprospectcheck, we offer a fast, efficient process and technology that integrates with common applicant tracking systems (ATS).

4. Conduct Background Checks Later in the Hiring Process

While you can perform background checks at any time, it’s smarter to wait until you have a small pool of otherwise-qualified candidates or after you have made a conditional job offer to an applicant.

Waiting until later in the hiring process saves your HR staff’s time and your company’s resources.

5. Tailor Your Searches to the Position and Industry

Only ask for searches that are relevant to the positions you offer and the industry in which your company operates.

At iprospectcheck, we can help you create a tailored background check through our wide selection of available background searches. This helps to avoid needlessly spending money on unnecessary information.

6. Complete Individualized Assessments of Criminal Convictions

Avoid a general policy of turning down anyone who has a criminal conviction.

You should instead compare the conviction to the job’s duties and assess whether it might make the applicant unsuitable for the position before making an employment decision.

7. Inform the Applicant

Once you have reviewed the background check report and have made your decision, let the applicant know. If you have decided to hire them, give them a starting date, and schedule onboarding.

8. Follow the Adverse Action Process

If you decide not to hire someone based on information reported on a background check, you must follow the FCRA’s adverse action process.

First, send the candidate a pre-adverse action letter that identifies the concerning information and includes a copy of the report.

Then, give the candidate a chance to challenge any inaccurate information or provide evidence that they have been rehabilitated.

If you ultimately decide not to hire them, send the candidate a final adverse action letter and include a copy of their FCRA rights.

Employment Background Check Laws

Federal Laws

Fair Credit Reporting Act

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) governs consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) that gather, retain, and report information about consumers, including those that complete background checks for employers.

This consumer privacy law also controls what employers must do when they receive background check reports.

The FCRA includes a seven-year lookback period that applies to jobs paying less than $75,000 per year for the following types of information:

• Arrests that didn’t lead to convictions
• Paid tax liens
• Bankruptcies (seven years for Chapter 13; 10 years for Chapter 7)
• Civil lawsuits
• Debts turned over to collections
• Civil judgments

The seven-year lookback period doesn’t apply to jobs paying annual salaries above $75,000.

It also doesn’t restrict the reporting of information beyond seven years about an applicant’s criminal convictions, employment history, education, and other relevant data.

Employers must also comply with the FCRA when they receive background check reports from CRAs.

If you learn negative information about a candidate from a background check report, you must go through the steps of the adverse action process before making a final decision not to hire the applicant.

Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act

The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act (FCA) was passed as an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act of 2019 and applies to companies that want to bid on federal contracts and the federal agencies with which they contract.

If you are a federal contractor, you must not ask job candidates for criminal history information until after you have made a conditional offer of employment. This includes waiting to run a criminal background check.

Federal agencies are prohibited from contracting with companies that ask about criminal history information before they make conditional job offers.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) makes it illegal for employers to discriminate against applicants and employees because of their protected characteristics, including race, color, sex, national origin, religion, disability, and others.

This law is administered by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which has issued enforcement guidance for employers that conduct background checks.

If you learn about an applicant’s criminal record on a background check, you review the conviction as it relates to the job before deciding not to hire the applicant based on that information.

State Laws

Texas Mini FCRA

Texas Bus. & Comm. Code § 20.05 is the state’s version of the federal FCRA and largely tracks its provisions.

Like the FCRA, Texas’s law includes a seven-year lookback period for jobs paying less than $75,000 per year.

However, the Texas mini-FCRA also includes a seven-year restriction on the reporting of criminal convictions for jobs with salaries under $75,000 per year, which the FCRA does not.

The federal FCRA preempted similar state laws that were not enacted before the federal law was passed. Since Texas enacted its mini-FCRA law after the FCRA, the federal law controls instead of the state’s law.

This means that there is no restriction on reporting convictions older than seven years despite the state’s law.

However, many CRAs still abide by the Texas mini-FCRA and don’t report convictions older than seven years for jobs paying salaries below the threshold salary.

Texas Expunction Law

Like many other states, Texas has a law that allows individuals with certain criminal records to ask the court to expunge them after a certain time has passed.

Texas refers to this process as expunction, and the state’s expunction law is codified in Tex. Code Crim. Proc. § 55.01.

Unlike the more expansive expungement laws found in multiple states, expunction is quite limited in Texas and can only be used by people with the following types of criminal records:

• Dismissed charges
• Charges for which people were acquitted
• Pardoned convictions
• Convictions before June 1, 2021, of unlawfully carrying a firearm
• Class C misdemeanor deferred adjudications

Because of the limited types of criminal records that are eligible for expunction, the process isn’t available for most people. However, any expunged records can’t be reported.

Texas Regulatory Consistency Act

The Texas Regulatory Consistency Act is a new law that was just recently signed by Gov. Greg Abbott. This law will be effective on Sept. 1, 2023.

The Regulatory Consistency Act preempts local ordinances that go further than state laws, including local labor and employment laws.

While lawyers are still reviewing this law and its likely impact, it is likely that it will preempt local ban-the-box laws and fair chance hiring ordinances.

Several cities and counties in Texas, including Austin, San Antonio, and others have enacted ban-the-box laws. However, neither Plano nor Collin County has a ban-the-box law.

The Regulatory Consistency Act would likely prevent Plano or Collin County from passing a ban-the-box ordinance in the future since the state does not have a similar law.

Texas Non-Disclosure Law

Individuals who have criminal convictions and are not eligible for expunction can ask the court for an order of non-disclosure under Tex. Govt. Code § 411.074.

Individuals can only request orders of non-disclosure for certain misdemeanors and non-violent felony convictions once the required time has passed after the individual has completed their sentence.

While an expunction erases a criminal record from the state’s criminal repository, non-disclosure does not.

However, an order of non-disclosure means that a criminal conviction can’t be reported, and applicants with non-disclosed records are legally allowed to deny they have been convicted of any crime.

Senate Bill 1849

Texas SB 1849 strengthens employment background checks for individuals applying for jobs involving work with children and vulnerable adults.

This law will be effective on Sept. 1, 2023, and will create a single search engine to combine the do not hire registries that are currently separately maintained by the Texas Education Agency, The Texas Health and Human Services Commission, the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

The law will also mandate the reporting of individuals to the registry when they have engaged in misconduct while working with vulnerable people.

Choose iprospectcheck for Reliable Background Checks in Plano, TX

As you seek to streamline your hiring process and ensure that you’re bringing on the best talent for your organization, consider partnering with iprospectcheck.

Our team offers a comprehensive suite of background check services designed to provide accurate and compliant information for your decision-making process.

When you partner with us, you benefit from our industry expertise, dedication to legal compliance, and our commitment to fast, thorough, and accurate results.

Don’t leave your hiring decisions to chance. Take the first step to a safer, more productive workplace.

Contact iprospectcheck today to discover how our background check solutions can enhance your hiring process: (888) 509-1979

Helpful Resources

1. Texas Department of Public Safety Criminal History Records – Offers instructions on how employers can request criminal background check information for various purposes in Texas.
2. Texas Health and Human Services Background Checks – Provides information to healthcare and other providers on the background check requirements for applicants and instructions for how to conduct them.
3. City of Plano Human Resources – Provides information on the city’s hiring practices and human resources policies, which can serve as useful guidance for private employers in Plano.
4. Texas Workforce Commission References and Background Checks Guide – Provides legal information for employers that conduct background checks and check references.

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.