Universal Background Screening is based in Scottsdale, Arizona, and operates as a private investigation company licensed under Arizona state laws (they even provide their license on their site). It offers a number of services starting with employment background checks, but also related elements such as job physicals, physicals, income verification, and compliance management solutions. Although 100% based in the USA, Universal Background Screening offers its services worldwide in approximately 200 countries, from Albania to Zimbabwe.
Packages and prices
The price of universal background filtering is opaque and is not disclosed on the site. Instead, business credentials must be exchanged and a custom quote can be provided. The price is established according to the expected volume of use and the chosen service offer. Needless to say, we would rather see more initial transparency in pricing being offered by some of your competitors.
We searched for a price for this service and couldn't find one because it's so opaque. However, we have found complaints of some "hidden drug test fees" when an applicant takes a drug test and with limited locations in a remote area, they go to a less than preferred location, and the price of the test increases drastically. as long as.
How does it work
After contacting Universal Background Screening via the contact form, a member of staff will develop a personalized screening program tailored to your specific situation. In developing this bespoke program, Universal will consider the specific responsibilities associated with your industry to determine what screening services are required.
Once you and Universal decide which controls are relevant and you have registered with the company, you can request background searches when you are about to hire.
Because Universal follows a paperless system and is HR-XML certified, you can place a new order with one click from any Applicant Tracking System (ATS) of your choice. Alternatively, you can add a candidate's details through a portal on Universal's website.
Features
Universal Background Screening offers a number of services to its clients. One downside is that there are no smartphone apps for universal background filtering.
Criminal record searches from the cornerstone of deals. The most local is at the county level, which is called a county court criminal record search. Covers a minimum of 7 years and includes felony and misdemeanor convictions. It is carried out on site at the local court, with a response time of less than 2 days in 97% of cases. When a conviction is identified, the relevant case number and other details of the case are included, such as jail time or court-ordered fines, and how the applicant was identified.
The search broadening brings us to the proposed statewide criminal search that covers 42 states. Results vary by state, but often include the crime, court document number, and other details relevant to a conviction. In some cases, there is an additional charge for this search, depending on the state, ranging from a minimum of $ 95 in Alabama to a maximum in New York that imposes a search fee of € XNUMX.
These county and state searches are often done based on addresses the person has lived at, both now and in the past. Sometimes the focus needs to be more generalized, for example with a person with no specific prior address information. Universal Background Screening also covers this topic, beginning with USA CriminalSearch, which covers "criminal history data from 22 state court filings and Department of Corrections records from 45 states." This would cover 94% of the US population. The search can even be extended further with a US offender search that covers a national sex offender registry. Finally, there is USA SecuritySearch, a national security database and antiterrorism database with fourteen sources.
Another point of differentiation of Universal Background Screening is that it is verified information. This means that these are not just the results of a database search, which can often be inaccurate due to unconfirmed results, especially with a common name. Rather, this investigation is an organized result, with confirmed results that can be trusted and "Fully Compliant with Section 613 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)."
Beyond criminal background checks, additional services are also available. The first is the Motor Vehicle Driving Record Search, which captures data dating back 36 months and includes traffic violations and license suspensions. Then there is the work credit report, which is suitable for work purposes. This is a PEER (Pre-Employment Evaluation Report) from TransUnion and provides a complete credit history to identify applicants who are potentially overburdened or not financially stable. It does not include account numbers and does not adversely affect the applicant's credit rating. Finally, there are drug testing, through a network of more than 8.000 SAMHSA-certified laboratory sites, which can even meet the strict requirements of the Department of Transportation (DOT).
Support
We can summarize that the support options with Universal Background Screening are simple, but not overwhelming. A mailing address exists, but it is unlikely that many would want to be supported in this way in our modern, connected times. There are direct phone numbers too, with the added praise of being a toll-free number and dedicated to service, but most people don't really pay for long distance calls these days anyway. We also found a fax number and a direct email address. The last option we found was a support portal, where you enter the required fields, and you can basically send a message for the contact, although we do criticize the failure that there is no option to include an attachment, which can be useful to send. A tagged screenshot detailing the difficulty encountered.
As for the more advanced options, there really aren't any. We did not find a chat box, neither live nor in an automated chatbot. There are also no self-service options like FAQs, predesigned articles, webinars, or a community forum.
Competition
While Universal Background Screening is our top pick for the best employment background check service, it's not a great option if you need to request low-volume exams quickly. GoodHire is a service that offers predefined screening packages and may be worth checking out if you don't want to waste time setting up a custom screening system, as you should with Universal.
Sterling is another background check provider that sells custom solutions for clients in certain industries. Depending on your industry, you may find that Sterling offers services that are better suited to your specific industry than Universal's screenings.
Final verdict
Universal Background Screening is a serious player in the pre-employment candidate search market. We highlight the number of possible searches, the detection of ancillary drugs, and the options for direct support. The lack of smartphone apps is an area for improvement, and the lack of more transparent pricing is frustrating, along with additional hidden costs, such as for some research and the use of an off-network center for testing. laboratory. Nonetheless, it should be on the list to consider for organizations that need a pre-employment screening of their candidates.
We've also highlighted the best background check services.