You can read all about Mega Group Online’s employment screening services on our Screening Services page.

The most common background checks consist of a criminal records search, employment and education verifications and reference checks. But the searches that will best fit your needs will depend on your specific industry and specific job requirements.

Mega Group Online strives to provide all our clients with the best background screening experience possible and to do that, we consider each client’s needs on an individualized basis. Many of our clients prefer the simplicity and consistency of ordering pre-determined packages for their employment screening; whereas others enjoy the flexibility of ordering reports via an a la carte plan. And we even have a few clients who order both ways. No matter the manner, we are always happy to accommodate whatever ordering method works best for you. Please review our suggested package options.

While delivery times vary depending on the searches that are being run as well as on individual circumstances, MGO’s average overall background check turnaround time is 4 business days. This includes all background checks conducted, including those that reveal criminal record hits which require additional and time-consuming research. MGO’s turnaround time for background checks that are returned clear of criminal records hits is 2 to 3 business days.

Yes. The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires that an employer must obtain an Applicant’s or employee’s written authorization prior to a third-party screening company like MGO conducting a background check. This authorization must be a stand-alone document and inform the Applicant that the background check will be used in the employment decision-making process. The Applicant must also receive a copy of their Summary of Rights under the FCRA.

By obtaining consent, employers confirm that they are compliant in

• Notifying Applicants about the background screening process
• Informing Applicants about their legal rights
• Taking steps to ensure the Applicant’s privacy
• Taking steps to prevent Applicant discrimination

Due to California law prohibiting employers from obtaining ongoing consent to run background checks, all employers running background checks in the state of California must request the Applicant or employee’s consent each and every time a background check is conducted.

While Federal law does not prohibit employers from conducting background checks before an offer of employment is made, some state laws do. Further, some states limit what type of information you may request before an offer is made, such as sealed or expunged records; arrests that did not lead to convictions; or even certain offenses or those of a certain age. Additionally, many states have passed  “ban-the-box” legislation, which prohibits employers from asking certain criminal history questions at various times during the interview and selection process.

Therefore, MGO recommends conducting background checks following an offer of employment. This is particularly imperative for multistate employers who are legally restricted from having one policy for all locations.`

MGO will need a candidate’s full name (first, middle, and last name), full date of birth, Social Security Number, and current address.

A Social Security Trace verifies a candidate’s Social Security Number (SSN), their past and present reported addresses and possible aliases or maiden names used as well as establishes the time frame when the SSN was issued and put into use. MGO researchers utilize the counties which appear on a candidate’s SSN Trace to initiate county criminal records searches.

Much is being discussed about nationwide (and in some instances regional” or statewide) criminal database searches, and their use in pre-employment screening. Yes, they maintain a wider coverage area than a county criminal search and can help identify those hard to find criminal records that are located outside an Applicant’s counties of residence or employment. And yes, the results are instant. But criminal database searches are not an effective primary search for records. Why? Because a database criminal records search consists of limited records from state departments of corrections, county courts, prison systems, sex offender registries, etc. that are compiled from databases, and as a general rule, databases are notorious for being out of date, incomplete, and simply inaccurate. Many criminal records are missing from databases, and when records are present, identifiers are often removed from the record, making a positive association with your Applicant a guessing game.

Conducting your criminal research on-site at the court house is by far the safest and most legally compliant method of conducting criminal research. Mega Group Online always recommends that you conduct this on-site County Criminal searches in all counties an Applicant has resided in within the last seven years.

Read More About Criminal Record Checks

When a nationwide criminal database search is run in combination, or tandem, with an on-site county criminal records search, it can help identify those hard to find criminal records that are located outside an Applicant’s counties of residence or employment and a more comprehensive and valuable background report is created without a significant increase in cost or turnaround time.

Read More About Criminal Record Checks

MGO’s highly trained team of verification experts verify an Applicant’s employment history, including previous job titles and job descriptions, as well as start and end dates by contacting an Applicant’s former employers.  MGO further provides in-depth professional licensure and certification verification to ensure all details on an Applicant’s resume are true and complete.

MGO’s highly trained team of in-house verification experts confirm the following education history:

• Institution attended
• Date of graduation/dates of attendance
• Diploma earned
• Major

When an education institution does not verify directly, Mega Group Online partners with third party verification expert National Student Clearinghouse, a verification and reporting service on more than 3,600 universities and colleges in the U.S. The Clearinghouse is compliant with the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, which protects the student’s privacy in regards to their education records.

When an employer receives a background check report and decides not to hire the Applicant based on the information contained within the report, under the Fair Credit Reporting Act the employer must notify the Applicant that they are taking adverse action as a result of the information contained in the Consumer Report. Adverse action is defined in the FCRA as a denial of employment, or any other decision for employment purposes, that adversely affects any current or prospective employee.

Also required by the FCRA, the employer must provide the Applicant two separate notices; a pre-adverse action notification and an adverse action notification as well as a copy of their background check report. The employer must also allow the Applicant the opportunity to correct any inaccurate information contained in it. Download: MGOs Employer’s Guide to Adverse Action

You or the applicant should contact Mega Group Online and ask to initiate a dispute; and we will take it from there. In compliance with FCRA rules, we will re-verify the disputed information and notify both you and your Applicant of our findings.

Absolutely not. MGO does not and never will outsource our domestic verification processes overseas.  All verifications are conducted from MGO’s Los Angeles office.

Adverse action is the series of steps an employer is required to take under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) if they make a decision to not hire, not promote, or to fire someone based on information found in their background check (a.k.a consumer report). Adverse action also provides the Applicant or employee the right to dispute the contents of their consumer report.

Download: Our Employer’s Guide to Adverse Action

All of MGO’s procedures are in full compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and all federal, state and local laws and legal standards. Further, MGO ensures our client’s compliance by keeping abreast of the industry’s ever-changing regulatory and compliance laws as well as each state’s current legislative and regulatory changes.  We provide our clients with all notices and disclosures as well as all current state and federal notifications and forms. With the guidance of our employment and labor attorneys and our vigilant compliance team, we ensure that this diligence protects your Applicants’ rights as well as your best interests as an employer. All of MGO’s researchers are further certified as FCRA Advanced’ by the National Association of Professional Background Screeners.

MGO team members serve on the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS) Government Relations Committee, which is active with the ever-changing legislation in the screening industry on behalf of NAPBS association members.

All MGO employees are FCRA certified (re-certified annually and are trained on best practices, industry standards, SafeHarbor regulations, emerging laws and regulations and legal compliance issues. MGO promotes ongoing learning opportunities for all its employees. MGO actively conducts companywide weekly training sessions and employees routinely attend webinars and national training conferences.

We encourage clients to subscribe to our social media sites where current updates in the areas of human resource and labor law are regularly posted.

In an effort to protect the personal information contained in credit reports, MGO adheres to national credit bureau requirements for each “End User” of consumer credit reports to undergo a site inspection prior to granting access to Applicant credit information.

The inspection is conducted by a trained third-party who understands exactly what the credit bureaus require and must be conducted at every client site and/or branch location, and includes an onsite visit, questionnaire and further verification of information regarding the principals of the firm. Inspections are timed to accommodate your schedule and can generally be completed within a week of initiating the process.

Protecting consumer information from internal and external unauthorized access is of critical importance to MGO. We utilize a combination of online and offline security technologies, procedures, and organizational measures to help safeguard consumer information against loss, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration and destruction.

All Consumer Information transmitted using our computer network, including email, is secured using a minimum of 128-bit SSL encryption. Strong password protection protocols are used on our computers, and employees are kept up-to-date on our security and privacy policies. The servers used to store consumer information are maintained in a secure environment with appropriate security measures. Any information gathered on any consumer is only provided to the user authorized by the consumer or permitted by the FCRA or similar state law to receive the information. Destruction of consumer information follows the Federal Trade Commission’s requirements that the information be unreadable upon disposal.

For additional information about how MGO manages data, please visit our privacy policy page.

Background checks vary in cost depending on the services you order, but on average, a comprehensive, thorough pre-employment background check costs less than a new employee’s first day on the job. Factors that can also x the price of a background check include fees imposed by courts, the number of county courthouses that need to be searched, and number of aliases a candidate has. By combing several searches into a single package, MGO can offer cost effective solutions. We also offer volume discounts to companies that order x.

When MGO completes a background check you will be notified instantly via e-mail with a secure link to view the results. You will use the login information that you use to access MGO’s system to view and/or print the results. MGO is also able to integrate with Applicant Tracking Systems so that you can receive notification of background check results on your own system.

Yes! Based on your account’s purge settings and applicable state law(s), background checks are accessible from our system 1 to 5 years after they are completed. As the industry evolves and new legal standards are created, best practices now recommend holding on to personal information for as short a time as necessary. By limiting the time you (and we) store old reports and personal applicant information, you will:

• Have fewer security concerns, as there is less data that can be breached.
• Experience improved system performance.
• Decrease your litigation risk, especially your exposure to fishing expeditions.