Pre-employment screening is a programme rather than a purchase, and the employers who find it difficult are usually the ones who bought a package before deciding what they wanted to know. This page works the other way round: what each type of check actually answers, how to group roles so the right checks reach the right people, and the sequence the law requires.
What each type of check answers
Identity screening answers whether the person is who they say they are, and it is the foundation everything else rests on, because a name-based search run against wrong identifiers returns a confident clean result. Criminal searching answers what courts have recorded. Verification answers whether the claimed history and qualifications are real. Driving records answer whether somebody may lawfully drive for you. Credit answers a narrow question about financial position and is restricted in many states. Drug testing answers whether substances were used within a window. Each is a different question and buying them as a bundle obscures that.
Group roles, then assign checks
Three or four groups is usually enough for a mid-sized employer: roles with unsupervised access to people or homes, roles that drive, roles with financial or systems authority, and everything else. Assign the checks each group genuinely needs and apply them consistently within the group. That is a stronger position under EEOC guidance than a single package applied to everybody, it costs less, and it produces less information you have no job-related reason to hold.
The sequence is not optional
Standalone written disclosure, then written authorisation, then the order. State timing rules sit on top: a growing number of jurisdictions require a conditional offer, or an interview, before criminal history may be asked about or looked into. Under the ADA a medical examination may only be required after a conditional offer. If your process asks about convictions on the application form and screens before offer, it is running two of those rules backwards at once, and no provider will stop you.
Levels are marketing, packages are configuration
The tiers providers sell, basic, standard, comprehensive, level one, level two, are product names rather than defined things, with the exception of Florida's statutory Level 1 and Level 2. The only reliable specification is the list of searches: which databases, how many county courts and over what address history period, which verifications, whether federal district courts are included. Ask for that list, compare it across providers, and treat the tier name as a label on the box rather than a description of the contents.
Questions people ask about pre employment screening
What should pre-employment screening include?
It depends on the role. Identity verification underpins everything; criminal searching, verification of history and qualifications, driving records, credit and drug testing each answer a different question and should be assigned by role group.
What order do the steps go in?
Standalone disclosure, written authorisation, then the order. State rules may require a conditional offer or an interview before criminal history is considered, and the ADA bars medical examinations before a conditional offer.
What do the levels mean?
Nothing standard, except in Florida where Level 1 and Level 2 are statutory terms. Elsewhere they are product names, so compare the list of searches rather than the tier.
Should everyone get the same checks?
Everyone in the same role group should. A single package for every role costs more, produces information you have no job-related reason to hold, and is a weaker position under EEOC guidance than a documented role-based policy.