San Antonio employers, like their peers in other cities, shoulder the responsibility of ensuring their prospective employees are safe, trustworthy, and competent before extending a job offer.
This assurance is often made possible through in-depth background checks encompassing a candidate’s criminal history, educational background, employment record, and more.
As a leading provider of employment screening services, iprospectcheck frequently completes these crucial background checks for employers across Bexar, Medina, and Comal Counties in Texas.
This San Antonio background check guide is your roadmap to understanding the legislation governing these checks and the most effective ways to conduct them while maintaining compliance with all relevant laws.
Key Takeaways
- San Antonio background checks confirm the information provided by applicants on their resumes.
- With a background check, employers in San Antonio can review a candidate’s criminal history, educational background, employment record, professional credentials, and other pertinent details.
- To avoid potential penalties and legal liability, employers must strictly comply with all relevant laws when conducting San Antonio background checks.
What is a San Antonio Employment Background Check?
A pre-employment background check in San Antonio involves a thorough examination of a candidate’s educational attainment, employment history, criminal record, and qualifications.
The goal of conducting employment background checks is to confirm the candidate’s trustworthiness, reliability, and suitability for the position.
These checks facilitate employers in making sound hiring decisions and help protect the company’s reputation, staff, and customers.
Why Do San Antonio Employers Perform Background Checks?
Employers in San Antonio conduct background checks for the following reasons:
1. To Protect Workplace Safety
Employers must maintain a safe workplace to protect their clients and staff.
In the six months between January and May 2023, San Antonio reports there were 63,224 criminal offenses committed in the city. Of these, 13,584 were crimes against people, demonstrating the importance of ensuring your new hires are safe.
Background checks can reveal if a job candidate has criminal convictions, a history of unsafe driving, or other indications that they could pose a threat to the safety of staff, customers, or the public.
2. To Ensure a Fair and Equitable Hiring Process
Employers can foster fairness in hiring and minimize unconscious biases by instituting and consistently applying an effective background check policy.
This practice helps promote equitable recruitment and hiring processes by reducing the impact of unconscious biases.
3. To Comply with State and Federal Regulations
In some industries, employers are regulated by government agencies and must complete background checks to comply with regulatory requirements.
These regulations apply to companies hiring for safety-sensitive positions that are regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation and jobs that involve working with vulnerable populations, including the elderly, the disabled, and children.
4. To Mitigate Risks of Negligent Hiring Liability
Employers may face legal action if an employee harms others while on duty, especially if the risk could have been identified through a comprehensive background check.
Employers can use background checks to exclude applicants who could threaten others’ safety and lessen the risk of negligent hiring liability.
5. To Boost the Confidence of Clients
In key San Antonio sectors like healthcare, technology, and finance, employees must access sensitive client data.
A consistent background check policy can reassure clients about the security of their private information.
What Shows Up on a San Antonio Background Check?
What you might see on a background check depends on the specific searches you ask for.
The most commonly requested searches by San Antonio employers include:
- Criminal records
- Employment verification
- Education verification
- Identity verification
- Motor vehicle records (MVR) checks
For positions that require professional licensure, employers may also ask for verification of the applicant’s credentials.
Here’s what you might find in these reports:
Criminal History
A criminal background check for employment will report the following information when a candidate has a conviction or unresolved criminal case:
- Case number
- Type/nature of the offense
- Offense date
- Offense level (misdemeanor or felony)
- Disposition
- Date of disposition
- Sentence information
Under Texas state law, expunged criminal records and convictions for which an applicant has received an order of non-disclosure can’t be reported.
Employment Verification
Employment verification uncovers information about an applicant’s past employment, such as the names and addresses of previous employers, employment start and end dates, and the positions and titles held by the candidate.
Education Verification
Education verification verifies the information an applicant has provided about their educational background.
It discloses the names and addresses of the institutions the applicant attended, the candidate’s dates of attendance, and whether they were awarded a diploma, certificate, or degree.
Professional License Verification
Professional license verification confirms a candidate’s professional credentials and licensures.
It reveals the following information about an applicant’s professional license:
- License number
- License type
- Date of issuance
- Expiration date
- Public sanctions or discipline
- Validity of the license
Identity Verification
Identity verification confirms the applicant’s identity to verify the information revealed belongs to the applicant instead of someone else.
This process is crucial to avoid confusing the candidate with a similarly-named person.
Motor Vehicle Records Check
A motor vehicle records (MVR) check provides details about an applicant’s driving record and license.
An MVR check reveals the following information:
- Driver’s license number
- Date of issuance
- Type/class of license
- Expiration date
- License revocations or suspensions
- Traffic violations and crimes
Know Before You Hire
How to Conduct Employment Background Checks in San Antonio, TX
1. Create a Comprehensive Background Check Policy
Your organization should create a thorough background check policy that outlines the procedures for the employment screening process.
This policy should follow all relevant federal, state, and local employment screening laws and provide specific procedures for HR staff to follow.
2. Adhere to Notice and Consent Requirements
Before starting a background check, it’s crucial to provide written notice to the applicants and obtain their written consent.
The FCRA requires employers to provide a notice to applicants that they conduct background checks on a separate form to ensure it’s not overlooked.
Employers must also secure the applicant’s signed consent before performing a background check.
3. Select a Trustworthy Employment Screening Provider
While it’s possible to perform background checks independently, engaging a professional employment screening partner like iprospectcheck makes the process more reliable and efficient.
We are recognized for our rigorous legal compliance and seamless integration with your applicant tracking system (ATS).
This integration streamlines the hiring process and minimizes the risk of errors.
Our extensive experience and access to resources enable us to deliver rapid turnaround times, ensuring timely access to necessary information.
4. Schedule Your Background Checks Appropriately
Although Texas state law may not require it, it’s advisable to conduct background checks only after extending conditional job offers to candidates.
By waiting to conduct pre-employment background checks until after extending a contingent job offer, you’ll already be confident that the applicant is otherwise qualified. This helps to save time and money.
5. Choose Background Checks Suited to Your Industry and Position
At iprospectcheck, we provide a wide array of searches to help you create customized background checks for your open positions.
You can select from various packages or individually choose from many different types of searches.
6. Fairly Evaluate Conviction Records
Avoid implementing a blanket policy to reject applicants with criminal records.
Instead, consider the nature of the offense, its relevance to the job responsibilities, and the time elapsed since the conviction.
7. Communicate the Results
After receiving the background check report, transparently communicate the results to your candidate.
8. Adhere to the Adverse Action Process
If you learn negative information about an applicant from a background check and don’t want to hire them, you must follow the adverse action process before making a final decision.
This process involves sending the applicant a pre-adverse action notice and allowing the candidate a reasonable time (typically five business days) to correct any incorrect information or provide evidence of rehabilitation.
If you still decide not to hire the applicant, you must send them a final adverse action notice along with a copy of the applicant’s rights.
Background Check Laws and Regulations
Federal Laws
Fair Credit Reporting Act
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is a consumer privacy law enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
This law safeguards the privacy of consumer information when it is gathered and reported by credit reporting agencies (CRAs) to third-party creditors and employers.
The FCRA applies to background checks prepared by CRAs and governs what they can report and how employers should treat the information they receive.
For jobs paying annual salaries of under $75,000, CRAs can’t report the following types of information when it is seven or more years old:
- Arrests that didn’t result in convictions
- Paid tax liens
- Bankruptcies (Chapter 13; Chapter 7- 10 years)
- Civil lawsuits and judgments
- Collection accounts
The FCRA’s seven-year lookback period does not apply to jobs with annual salaries of $75,000 or more or to conviction records, employment history, education history, and other relevant data about an applicant’s background.
When employers learn damaging information about applicants on employment background checks, they must go through the adverse action steps before they make a final decision not to hire based on that information.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) bans workplace discrimination based on the protected characteristics of applicants and employees.
This law is enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and prohibits discrimination in all aspects of the employment relationship, including hiring.
According to enforcement guidance issued by the EEOC, employers should individually assess conviction information learned from background checks as the details of the offense relate to the job for which the applicants are being considered.
The individual assessment should be completed before an employer decides not to hire the applicant based on their conviction.
Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act
The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act is a federal ban-the-box law that governs federal agencies and companies that seek federal contracts.
Federal contractors can’t ask about criminal history information or perform criminal background checks on applicants until they have made conditional employment offers.
Federal agencies can’t contract with companies that violate the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act by inquiring about criminal history information on their applications or before making contingent job offers.
State Laws
Texas Expunction Law
Expunction is a process in Texas that is known as expungement in other states. Texas’ expungement law is codified in Tex. Code Crim. Proc. § 55.01 and allows people with certain criminal records to ask the court to expunge them.
However, this law is much more limited than similar expungement laws in other states and is only available to people with the following types of criminal records:
- Dismissed or acquitted criminal charges
- Pardoned criminal conviction
- Unlawful carrying of a firearm before Sept. 1, 2021
- Class C misdemeanor for which the individual completed a deferred adjudication
The effect of expunction is that the record will be removed and can’t be reported on background checks. Applicants with expunged records can also legally deny they have been arrested or convicted of crimes.
Since expunction is so limited, most people with criminal convictions on their records aren’t eligible for it.
Texas Non-Disclosure
People can seek an order of non-disclosure under Tex. Govt. Code § 411.074 for convictions ineligible for expunction.
This law primarily applies to misdemeanors and non-violent felonies and requires the individual to petition the court for an order of non-disclosure after a waiting period following the completion of the sentence.
While a non-disclosure order doesn’t remove an offense from a person’s record, it makes it inaccessible to employers.
Convictions subject to a non-disclosure order can’t be reported on background checks.
Texas Regulatory Consistency Act
The Texas Regulatory Consistency Act is a new law that will be effective as of Sept. 1, 2023.
This law invalidates local laws that go further than what state law provides and will likely unwind many city and county ordinances that provide rules for labor and employment.
Attorneys are still reviewing this law to determine its effect, but it is believed that it will affect local ban-the-box rules and other local and county ordinances since the state doesn’t have similar state-wide legislation.
Texas Mini-FCRA
Texas Bus. & Comm. Code § 20.05 is known as the state’s mini-FCRA because it tracks the federal consumer privacy law’s seven-year rule for reporting certain types of older information for jobs paying less than $75,000 per year.
However, this state law also prohibits the reporting of convictions older than seven years while the federal FCRA does not.
Since the state law was enacted after the FCRA, the FCRA pre-empts it. This means that convictions can be reported in Texas regardless of how old they are.
Even though convictions can be reported when they are older than seven years, many CRAs follow the state’s mini-FCRA and don’t report old convictions for jobs paying less than $75,000.
Local Laws
San Antonio Fair Chance Hiring Policy: Preempted
San Antonio passed a fair chance hiring policy in 2022, which applied to public employers.
This law prohibited public employers from asking about criminal history information on job applications.
However, the Texas Regulatory Consistency Act preempted this law since the state has no corresponding requirement.
Trust iprospectcheck for Reliable San Antonio, TX Background Checks
You can trust iprospectcheck to provide comprehensive, up-to-date, and legally compliant San Antonio background checks quickly.
Our experienced team ensures you receive accurate, detailed information so you can make good hiring decisions while strictly following local, state, and federal regulations.
Contact us today for more information about our background check services and 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.
FAQs
How long does a background check take in San Antonio?
The length of the background check process depends on whether you perform it internally or work with a professional screening provider like iprospectcheck.
If you want to perform a background check yourself, you can send your applicant to get their fingerprints taken and send a copy of the fingerprint card, a copy of the applicant’s ID, and a money order for $8 to the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.
However, this method will only provide criminal record information and won’t include other important details about the candidate.
A DIY background check might take a week or more.
This is a good reason to partner with iprospectcheck. Because of our extensive resources, experience, and research skills, we can often return comprehensive, legally-compliant employment screenings within hours.
More in-depth background checks may take a few days.
Can an employer refuse to hire based on a background check?
Employers can legally turn someone down because of their background check results. However, they must strictly follow all relevant laws, including the FCRA and others.
If you intend to turn down a candidate because of a criminal conviction, the conviction’s details must be evaluated individually as they relate to the duties of the job before deciding not to hire them.
