What are Civil Background Checks and How are they Disrupting HR and Recruitment?

More and more companies nowadays look into an applicant’s civil background as it can reveal key information even criminal history checks may miss. Here’s what you need to know about civil background checks. 

What is a Civil Background Check? 

Civil background checks are processes that involve a search of public records and other sources to establish the suitability of a person for employment, to verify the identity of an individual, and check if a potential employee has been involved in civil litigation. 

Civil litigation is a legal dispute between two or more people or institutions where one party - the plaintiff - seeks monetary compensation or a specific action from the other party - the defendant - after claiming to have been wronged by them. 

Civil background checks are usually a part of pre-employment screening for determining eligibility for certain positions.

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What’s the Difference Between Criminal History Checks and Civil Background Checks?

Criminal History Checks show a person’s involvement in a crime against the city, county, state, or federal government. Hence, the plaintiff in a criminal case is identified as the “People” on behalf of the victim. To be convicted, the court has to find the defendant guilty “beyond reasonable doubt.” Being guilty may result in fines and/or imprisonment. 

A civil court background check does not provide any information about criminal history. It does not determine whether someone has committed any crimes or whether they have been convicted of anything. Instead, it verifies if someone has been involved in a civil lawsuit against another person, an institution, or business. When someone loses a civil case, they may be asked to pay damages or perform an action, but they won’t face jail time. 

What Shows Up in a Civil Background Check?

Civil litigation usually starts when a person or organization claims to have suffered losses or harm because the other party failed to carry out a legal duty owed to them. 

When companies conduct pre-hire civil litigation checks, they may see the candidate’s involvement in cases, such as:

• Breach of contract
• Landlord/tenant issues, such as eviction
• An injury to the person, their property, or reputation
• Money and debts issues, like mishandling of finances 
• Issues in properties
• Marital and parental issues
• Discrimination claims
• Consumer rights 

Basically, all disputes except for crimes fall under civil cases. 

How Civil Litigation Background Check Helps You to Screen Your Employee

Like any kind of screening, a civil court background check gives insights into the candidate’s behaviors, judgment, and values. 

A civil litigation background check is a comprehensive process that can help you to make sure that your company is hiring the right people who are committed to your company's success. This check will help you to identify whether an individual has any records or pending cases in which they were involved in misconduct. This can help you avoid hiring someone who may be a threat to your business or even suing them later on.

Here are 5 reasons why you should do this check.

To better protect your employees, clients, and the company. 

Civil background checks may not provide information about the crimes committed, but they may reveal issues and misconduct records pointing to the possibility that the candidate may commit a crime later. 

For example, candidates who previously engaged in bullying based on protected characteristics, such as sexual orientation or religion, may later potentially escalate their harmful behavior and commit hate crimes. Likewise, someone who was involved in an unethical relationship before may be accused of harassment in the future. 

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To better ensure workplace integrity

Civil litigation checks can reveal cases of employee breach of contract, such as the candidate not carrying out their duties, not providing adequate notice before resignation, and working under a competitor company despite a post-termination restriction. Knowing these things beforehand can help ensure workplace integrity. 

To reduce the risk of ‍privacy issues 

A civil litigation check helps establish whether the person has had any previous privacy violations. If an applicant has been sued before for leaking company secrets, you would think twice before giving them an executive-level role. With this, you can better protect yourself from potential lawsuits and fines due to privacy violations by employees.

To check for outstanding court orders

The company can check if the candidate has any outstanding warrants or court orders against other people so that they don't have to go through the hassle of contacting the authorities later on in their employment.

To learn more about the applicant’s financial management

A candidate may have a good credit score, but if a civil litigation check reveals they have been sued before for being unable to pay the money they borrowed from a friend or family, they may not be suitable for a role that handles company or client money. 

As civil background checks uncover lawsuits that are relevant to the position, they can help you make better hiring decisions and safeguard company assets. 

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Common Jobs Requiring Background Checks That Include Civil and Family Court Records

The most common jobs that require a background check that includes civil or family court records are:

1. State and local government employees including law enforcement personnel, judicial officers, and court clerks.
2. State or local contractors and vendors.
3. Employees who work with children like teachers and child care workers.
4. Positions that handle sensitive information or manage company or client finances

The Challenges of Conducting Civil Background Checks: How They are Disrupting HR and Recruitment

Since civil background checks are valuable in hiring and recruitment, it would be good for companies to understand the possible challenges they may face in the following areas:

Legal Structures

 As briefly mentioned earlier, cases are tried in specific courts. In the US, claims for $5,000 and below are tried in Lower Civil Courts. If you want to know more about Tax disputes, you’ll have to go to the Federal Civil Court. The UK, on the other hand, has County, Family, and High Courts. 

This may be a challenge, particularly for multinational companies that run their business in multiple countries. 

Accessing Data

It may be possible to access some case details online if the information has been digitized. If they haven’t been digitized, then you have to search for cases manually. For example, in the Philippines, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) clearance that employers ask for pre-hire only outlines criminal cases; it does not hold civil case records. 

But, even if the cases are cataloged online, you typically cannot search for them by name. US’ PACER, for instance, requires knowing details such as the specific court and only contains federal court cases. The UK has The National Archive, but this doesn't hold Records of County and Family Courts and they may not include the names of the litigants or details of the case. 

You may be able to find cases by person, date, and court using the Find Case Law service, but for now, it only contains recent judgments from the England and Wales High Court, the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court, and tribunal decisions from the Upper Tribunals.

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Data Privacy

Should you search for the cases online, remember that the information you use to access those details must be collected and used in accordance with the relevant data privacy laws. Not following laws such as the PH Data Privacy Act and FCRA may result in legal consequences. 

Turnaround Time

Depending on the administrative processes and bureaucracy, it may take a long time to complete a civil background check. Learn more about How Long a Background Check Takes here.

Consider Investing in a Background Checking Company

Employers are increasingly finding themselves in a position where they need to check their employees' background. However, this task is not easy to do if they have hundreds or thousands of employees. A background checking company can be hired by employers to do the check for them. By investing in a reliable background checking service provider, like Veremark, employers can save time and  money and they can be assured they are hiring a candidate that has no civil litigation record to keep their company safe from any potential lawsuits.

Veremark’s Civil Background Checks are automated and include negligence, domestic, and personal injury claims. We comb through civil court databases to verify your candidate’s civil history while staying compliant with the applicable laws and regulations. Our system can also readily integrate in your existing workflow, combining relevant data for easier review. This helps you make more informed hiring decisions. 

Conclusion

Civil Background Checks look into an individual’s involvement in civil cases. It’s a valuable pre-hire check because it gives you insights into the candidate’s judgment, behavior, and values, helping you discern their suitability for the position. In some cases, it may even reveal key information that criminal history checks may miss. 

Because it’s quite challenging for companies to conduct civil background checks particularly when they mass hire, it’s a good practice to partner with a reliable screening platform like Veremark. We can review civil court databases in compliance with the relevant laws and deliver the results of the checks with insights into your candidates. 

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