How to Perform a Background Check on an Employee

• 1). Determine which state the employee is originally from, using the first three digits of the employee's Social Security number. The first three numbers will probably match up to numbers of your own, if the employee is from the state you're in. You should have all employees' Social Security numbers from tax papers they filled out when they began working for you. Social Security number prefixes are listed by state on Social Security's website (see Resources section).
  
  
• 2). Check a copy of your employee's application or resume. A standard job application lists several pieces of information that can help you perform the background check. The most valuable is the section on past employers; their locations should give you a pretty good idea of where your employee has lived over the past 10 years. These places are where you should begin your background check.
  
  
• 3). Consider signing up for an online records-check service. Many of these websites often offer one or two free trial runs. There is no need for a full-blown report. A quick check of your employee's Social Security number will turn up a list of past addresses. This can be particularly helpful if the employee worked in a major metropolitan area and lived in a suburb.
  
  
• 4). Visit the clerk of court or county clerk offices for the locations listed on your employee's application or resume in the cities where they worked. Begin in the criminal division, where an employee can assist you with your search. Most of these offices have switched over to computers. If this is the case, simply type in your employee's name and search. If your employee's name comes up, be sure to check the charges. Traffic offenses are often intermingled with criminal records.
  
  
• 5). Repeat the same steps at the civil section of the clerk of court or county clerk's office. Although employers are mostly concerned with criminal records of their employees, a lot of telling information can be collected from a civil-records search. For example, a civil search can tell whether the employee has any pending civil decisions. It can also show whether she has recently gone through a divorce, or whether she has a history of filing civil lawsuits or workers' compensation claims against employers.
  
  
• 6). If necessary, make copies of individual criminal charges or petitions of civil lawsuits. Depending on what you intend to do with records retrieved during your search, you might want to spend a few dollars to have the clerk of court or the county clerk certify the documents as "true copies."