What is utv in verification?

Unable to Verify (UTV):, A check is classified as UTV when our researchers are unable to verify certain facts stated in a candidate's application. Usually, a background check is meant to verify whether or not the applicant is. Multiple Attempts for Component Closure – Unlike competition, where checks like Employment Verification are closed after 3 attempts as “UTV-Unable to Verify”. Usually an UTV (Unable to Verify) only related to past employers, many who may have gone out of business. All employee background verification needs served through technology.

Unfortunately, falsifying or exaggerating previous employment experiences is common. Because of this, employers frequently perform employment verifications as part of their background check programs.

Employment verification is the process of confirming the accuracy of the information a candidate provides on their CV, including details such as previous employers, job titles, and dates of employment.

An employment verification will usually verify a candidate’s title, employment dates (start and end), and occasionally salary history and job duties. Salary related questions are becoming less frequent as local laws are prohibiting those types of questions.

An employment verification may also ask while an employee is no longer with the organization and if they are eligible to be re-hired.

As an employer, you also want to determine how many years or previous employers you wish to verify. The more senior the position and/or the more technical the skill, the longer we recommend you verify employment history (typically 5 to 7 years for these types of positions). We typically see the most frequent employer verifying the last three years of employment for more junior roles.

The fees for a background check party almost always depend on how long or how many employers you want to check. Depending on your volume, employment verifications can often cost between $7 and $15, not including any 3rd party verification services fees like Equifax’s The Work Number.

Employment verifications are either really easy or really hard.

The really easy verifications are those that the background check company can verify through a 3rd party service such as the Equifax Work Number solution. These services collect data, typically from larger companies, that background check companies can utilize to complete the verification. These types of verifications almost always return under one business day. The challenge is these 3rd party services are expensive, and the background check company will usually pass these fees onto the end customer.

The more challenging types of verifications are smaller employers, employers who have gone out of business, or international verifications. In these instances, a recruiter or your background check company needs to reach out to the former employer to complete the verification. This situation means lots of emails, calls, and even faxes to reach HR managers and hope to get enough information to verify the candidate’s prior work history.

An even more significant challenge is when the prior employer has gone out of business. In these cases, many background check companies will simply say they can’t complete the check. However, really good firms will work with the candidate to get additional information, such as a W2 that helps verify work history. You need a background check partner that goes the extra mile on these challenging verifications so your recruiters don’t have to worry about additional work with their candidates.

To ascertain if your background check partner is maximizing their employment verification performance for you, we suggest asking the following three questions.

These questions will give you a good sense of your current vendor partner, and if you should consider finding a new partner or even taking employment verifications in-house for your recruiters. Taking verifications in-house should always be a last resort, given your recruiter’s time is better spent finding great talent versus chasing down old W2s!

Employment verifications are a specialty of ScoutLogic. ScoutLogic has an unable-to-verify rate under 5% because we measure our verifiers on their completion rate, not how many verifications they can get through in a single day.

At ScoutLogic, we know recruiters don’t have time to be following up with candidates on W2s. Recruiters need to be out finding great talent for your organization.

Usually, a background check is to verify whether or not the applicant is truthful about their criminal record, educational degrees, employment history, including actual and reported dates of employment, job titles, etc. A background check will probe for any discrepancies between claims of a candidate and information reports by independent sources such as court records, previous employers, universities, boards and government agencies.

Depending upon the client’s preferences and objectives the background check can be as comprehensive as checking criminal records, verifying past employments (gaps in resumes), educational qualifications, professional reference, place of residence, identity, database checks, and substance abuse screening through Drug Testing. Mostly the candidates furnish false information in the employment history category, which may include the period of employment or the company, or telephone numbers of the previous workplace turn out to be bogus, as the telephone numbers are not reachable. The company’s management may deny the fact that the candidate ever worked in their organization.

As required by law, the employer has to make certain disclosures to the applicant regarding this screening process and get an authorization to search various sources of information. Also, the employer needs to obtain written or electronic consent from the person before a third-party screening company conducts any criminal record verification, reference check, education, and employment history check.

The verifications conducted in the background screening process, searching criminal records in the particular jurisdictional area, insufficient details furnished by the candidate and several other factors like holidays, etc. can affect the TAT (Turn Around Time). Many searches might take only minutes or hours, and some may take days or even weeks. In our experience, the average check takes approximately 10-15 working days for completion. At A-Check Global, we will make sure our clients receive constant background check updates and have access to interim reports regularly.

A-Check Global's internal Quality Assurance and Compliance Team provides you with an accurate and high-quality background verification report which adheres to stringent industry standards. The online system exclusively accessible and available to the clients contains a clear and complete description of the candidate in the PDF format. The candidate’s summary contains all the instructions given by the client, alongside the candidate’s details. We label each report with a Unique Account Number; add individual verification sections, along with the status and detailed information. We use four-color codes while closing the cases. Green signifies verifications with no flaws, Yellow denotes minor differences, while Red indicates critical discrepancies, and Orange represents “Unable To Verify.” Also, A-Check Global provides additional attachments like written authentications received from sources during reference verification.

Gone are the days when background verification was synonymous with hassle and ambiguity! Thanks to digital platforms, there has been a high degree of automation in which background checks are done, and reports are generated. The concept of “report writing” is fading away, as a high degree of human discretion comes with an authenticity risk.

Standardization and Parameterization

Having worked with thousands of organizations, we believe that the interpretation of results from a BGV process, and the color-coding of results must be standardized. This blog publishes standardized outcomes scenarios, and the corresponding color codes, in order to ensure a uniform understanding of the verification or background check process and results.

Globally, there is no Government body or regulator that publishes standardized outcomes and the color codes. Therefore, the best approach to the selection of outcomes and color codes should be for organizations and BGV platforms to come together, and uniformly adopt the same across the industry. This blog therefore also encourages the same.

In addition to standardization, parameterized outcomes and/or color codes also help to analyze large data (including simple wins such as applying a filter in a spreadsheet) and implement a robust BGV or people compliance program at a large organization.

Having said this, color codes do not matter as much as the result (or outcome) itself, and the details in a BGV report! A color code is essentially a quick indicator to interpret the results in a background verification report. In the following table, there are color codes indicated for not just the results or outcomes, but also for the “status” or “state” of a check in a background check lifecycle.

For our peers in the BGV industry, we recommend the adoption of the following codes.

Deep-Dive into BGV Outcomes

A verification or a check is declared a “Success” if the details shared by the employee positively match with the verifying entity or the respective authority. For example, if the employment details such as tenure, designation, employee ID, etc. claimed by the candidate are exactly matching with the response from the previous employer, and there is no negative remark indicated by the previous employer, then the verification result is “Success”.

The primary goal of any BGV process is to identify any discrepancies and act on them proactively. A verification or a check is declared “Failed” when the provided details of the candidate do not match with that of the confirming authorities, or negative results are identified against the candidate. For example, if there is a criminal case identified against a particular candidate, the verification will be deemed as “Failed”.

There may be scenarios where the result of a background check is neither a success not a failure! “Success with Exception” falls into that zone where most of the attributes provided by a candidate are matching with the confirmed information, barring some minor discrepancy. For example, if there is a gap of 10 days in a previous employment tenure claimed by the candidate, the employment verification cannot be categorically bucketed as “Failed”, as it can have serious implications on an employee’s opportunity. However, it is the responsibility of the BGV platform or provider to highlight this exception to their clients.

As the name suggests, a verification once initiated will be “In Progress” till it gets completed.

“Data Insufficient” state is a state when some piece of information is missing or incomplete, or if a document is missing, which is required to complete a check. For example, a university may want to get a degree or certificate in order to verify education credentials, but the candidate may not have provided the same. Similarly, some previous employers may need to look at the letter of authorization or consent provided by the candidate before verifying employment credentials. In the case of address verification, the address may not be complete, leading to an “insufficiency”

Such “insufficiencies” can be resolved automatically by giving an option to the candidate or to the organization conducting the BGV to update or upload the information or document.

A check is marked as “Closed” when it is stopped. A common misnomer among organizations is using “Closed” and “Completed” as interchangeable terms. The correct way to interpret “Completed” is to look at scenarios when the verification or a check is concluded as a Success or a Failure. However, a check is “Closed” when the verification is stopped for reasons such as

When a check cannot be completed and brought to a conclusive result, despite several attempts, due to reasons outside the control of the BGV platform or provide, the check is marked as “Unable to Verify” or UTV.  This is typically true for less than 2% of cases. Such scenarios can emerge in cases where a university or academic institute doesn’t have student records prior to a certain year, or a previous employer has stopped operating. In such scenarios, BGV platforms typically recommend getting an alternative credential verified for the candidate, such as getting the second-highest education credential verified.

In summary, parameterization of outcomes is critically important for implementing a successful BGV program. Once again, the importance of color codes is only relevant as a quick indicator, and organizations must look at the results (and the details in the reports) while trying to interpret BGV results.

Uniform adoption of results and color codes by BGV platforms, providers, and organizations would go a long way in streamlining the ecosystem as a whole, and in creating a better working world.

InstaVeritas India Private Limited (InstaVeritas) is in the business of providing Employment Background Verification Services to its Clients. The Client herein, would like to engage the services of InstaVeritas for Background Verification Services in India. VerifyKaro is a product of InstaVeritas India Private Limited.

Consent

The User hereby certifies that it has obtained a current and valid authorization from the Candidate for conducting a background verification check. It is the responsibility of the user to ensure that the Candidate has consented to the verification.

Liability

InstaVeritas and its third-party data suppliers have compiled information that it has gathered from various sources and databases. While all reasonable care is taken to assure accuracy, InstaVeritas, cannot act a guarantor for the information’s accuracy or completeness.

InstaVeritas and its third-party data suppliers have simply compiled information it has gathered in a structured manner. It does not provide an opinion about the individual or the entity researched nor should it be considered a definitive pronouncement on the Candidate or as a recommendation of whether to hire the Candidate. The information provided herein shall not be construed to constitute as legal opinion; rather it is a compilation of public records and/or data for Client’s internal purposes.

The Client’s management shall be fully and solely responsible for applying independent judgment, with respect to the findings provided in InstaVeritas reports, to make appropriate decisions in relation to the future course of action, if any. InstaVeritas shall not be responsible for the consequences resulting from decisions based on information included in the report.

The records contained in this report are compiled from various databases that are updated at defined, undefined or infrequent intervals, and therefore, may or may not have the most current/updated information. These databases are neither owned nor updated by InstaVeritas and therefore InstaVeritas has no control over the frequency of the update.

Unless otherwise agreed by InstaVeritas in writing, InstaVeritas does not intend to or agree to act as an expert witness or provide an expert opinion or expert testimony during the course of any legal proceeding or be deemed as representing or advocating.

InstaVeritas report is based on the desktop research, email questionnaires, telephonic interviews and fieldwork, where required, and was conducted on the dates stated. InstaVeritas undertakes no responsibility for events or circumstances occurring after the date of completion of the research and enquiries.

Indemnity and Enforcement

Except as expressly provided for under this agreement and any other documents referencing this agreement, each party shall bear its own respective costs, expenses, risks and liabilities arising from its activities hereunder.

Notwithstanding any provision of this Agreement to the contrary, neither party will be liable to the other party in respect of any consequential or punitive or economic loss or damage that may arise out of the performance of or breach of this Agreement including but not limited to loss of profits, loss of trade and business interruption.

Relationship of Parties

The Parties acknowledge that they are separate and unaffiliated entities and that the relationship is that of an independent contractor hired on a corporation – to – corporation invoicing basis.

A Party shall not in any way represent itself being in, and neither shall any activity under this agreement be construed as, a partnership, joint venture, employment with the other party. InstaVeritas employees shall represent Client only for the purpose of Employee Background Verification and not for any other reason.

Governing Law, Jurisdiction & Venue

Your organization’s people are your most important resources. Excellent employees can make a good business great. You’ve got performance management and review processes to track how employees are doing and help them improve, but you’re best off if you avoid hiring those who may not be a good fit for your organization.

The one way to help you achieve that goal: The Employment Background check

With a highly mobile workforce, employers use background verification for vetting and screening candidates and new hires.

Background verification is the process of vetting employment history, commercial records, financial records, criminal records, and other activities of a person or a company to confirm their authenticity.

The digitization of numerous public records in India, such as the voter ID, driver’s license, PAN card, and academic certificates, police records, and court records, have facilitated prompt screenings of the entities. With so much information available online, some of which are for free and some available for a fee, there is a thin line about the legality of what can be vetted. It can be confusing for both the employer and employee.

When you’re in the process of hiring and sorting through a group of potential candidates, you clearly want to be as thorough and careful as possible. But if your organization is like most, you may not have the resources to dive deeply into each candidate’s background.

Fortunately, you’re not in this alone. You can use a background check service to handle the screening, allowing you to focus your attention on the other attributes of your job candidates.

In this article, we’ll talk about the six different background checks for different situations and the legal information for the employer to access. (Click to Tweet)

Employers run background checks to avoid hiring someone who could be a liability to the employer or pose a threat to the workplace. An AuthBridge report revealed that one in every six candidates lie on their resumes.

No wonder the background check discrepancy levels shot to 48% in 2018 from only 10.29% in 2016 in India. An employment background check typically includes the candidate’s work history, educational qualifications, driving record, medical history, and criminal record.

These days, verifying candidates’ social media has also become an authoritative source of screening. SpringRole, for instance, lets individuals create profiles on the platform which are verified using blockchain technology.

They can add meaningful endorsements to the profile, showcase projects in detail, and customize the profile by adding links to other profiles such as Twitter, GitHub, and Quora.

Although employers are allowed to access background information on existing and potential hires, there are strict rules set by United Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that must be followed. They are:

Criminal record checks are one of the most widely used background screening tools, but they also happen to be one of the most complexes and misunderstood.

The two main categories of crimes include serious crimes and minor crimes. As an employer, you must define your organization’s values and draw the line when screening employees and making hiring decisions.

One thing is certain—criminal record checks are helpful in making more confident, informed hiring decisions.

It is also known as a credit report card. It is a standard requirement by banks when applying for a credit card and car or home loan. The credit background screening helps in verifying the record of a person’s credit-to-debt ratio.

For some jobs in the finance industry, where fraud and embezzlement are possible, conduct a credit background screening.

In the USA, as per the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the employer has to obtain written consent before they request the candidate’s credit report. This consent is required in all 50 states.

Further, when a business rejects a candidate based on their credit report, they are required to give an explicit reason, along with the contact details of the credit reporting company that shared this information. This way, in the case of misinformation, the applicant gets a chance to correct it before the hiring decision is made.

With 100+ new online games set to enter the Indian gaming ecosystem, the addiction levels will only grow. Fraudsters and scammers will continue to do what they do best. To combat this, gaming companies are deploying fraud detection solutions to authenticate a user in real-time.

SpringVerify, for instance, verifies the KYC details of the gamers to create real customer profiles. When gaming companies have more information about the users, they can screen them before they gamble.

A reliable verification process paves the way for a safer environment for individuals to play and combat gaming-related harm.

With access to 200+ million court records across India, many companies have developed their in-house AI and ML-powered search algorithm. The technology is so precise that it can pick a needle from the haystack.

Therefore, to see what employers or banking professionals see when they run a background check, individuals can screen themselves too. This exercise helps them check where they have lived and worked and if their name appears in any public litigation database, both criminal and civil.

Background verification is a great way to address any potential errors and not miss out on any opportunity to bag a job or loan or start a business.

Simultaneously, it is illegal for the employer to ask about age, race, ethnicity, disability, marital status, and pregnancy during an interview or a background check. Protected information cannot be used to influence employment decisions.

When the job applicant is a doctor, realtor, or accountant, background screening verifies if he possesses a valid license to protect the employer from negligent hiring claims.

The background screening company typically contacts the state licensing board to verify the license hasn’t expired or lapsed and is in good standing. Sectors that majorly run a professional license background check include:

Before obtaining the records of the profession of the hire, the business has to ask the candidates for permission about:

For applicant, they should be well aware of the rules the employer must adhere to while conducting a background check. For an employer, being aware of the state and federal laws ensures that they do not run into legal troubles in the future.

The purpose of doing a background check is to gather useful information about an entity to assess whether they are trustworthy, reliable, and credible. Indeed, a person’s past actions don’t predict their future ones.

Certain red flags before hiring someone includes:

However, it is important to clarify the reasons behind any of these situations.

The background verification process should be ideally done after offering the letter and before the onboarding.

Level 1: It is the most basic level of verification. It is an essential check with a less restrictive screening process.

Level 2: This is more of a state and national level screening. The purpose is to check the criminal records of the employee.

Lever 3: It is the most common level of screening- reference check, employment history, education, and criminal history.

Level 4: This is the highest level of background verification which includes national bankruptcy, federal criminal search, and media search.

These levels of background verification define how far background verifications go. An organization can either pick their own level or complete all the four steps together.