Popular crime shows are notorious for emphasizing how critical fingerprints are in nailing down an individual’s culpability. However, it’s increasingly clear that this perception is feeding into the business world, as many companies (particularly in healthcare, education, security and others) are being required by state and, in some cases, federal legislation to use fingerprint background checks for employment screening.

To be clear, an employer can only run a report through the database if they have specific statutory authority to do time clock software so. However, as a company that delivers background screening services, we think it’s important to explore the issues surrounding this topic, no matter what industry regulations govern your business operations.

Accuracy and door security systems Completeness

While the database used home security alarms in fingerprint checks is the largest source of criminal history information, it doesn’t necessarily provide an employer with the whole story. A 2006 government report on criminal history background checks states that the FBI database is not necessarily a complete account of all criminal history in the US. In part, this condition is because many state records are not included (state submission is voluntary) or, if they are included, are not regularly updated. Furthermore, many arrest records (as many as 50 percent) included in the database don’t include the outcome of the conviction.