The University System of New Hampshire strives to provide a safe work environment. A pre-employment review of a candidate for employment is done to comply with pertinent laws, promote a safe work environment, and to protect USNH's assets, including its employees, students, property, and information.
Who is required to have a background check?
- Budgeted Benefits Eligible Positions
- Faculty and Staff
- Adjunct Faculty
- Adjunct Staff
- Graduate Appointments
- Student Hourly / Work Study Students with Safety / Security Sensitive Duties
Other
- Current Benefits Eligible Employees: a background review will be required if the job requires a higher level of review.
- Rehired Employees: If a background check was completed within the past year or the break in service was less than 120 days, a new background review will not be required, unless there are areas of review required by the job that were not covered in the previous review.
- UNH Youth Programs: Employees and volunteers working with UNH Youth Programs or Youth Skill Camps are required to undergo a background check before interacting with minors. Frequency and level of check depends upon whether the program meets the State of New Hampshire definition of a Youth Skill Camp and/or that of a UNH Youth Program.
- Volunteers: Full-time volunteers and part-time volunteers with safety/security sensitive duties. The cost of volunteer background checks is the responsibility of the home department.
- Anyone for whom driving a USNH owned or rented vehicle is part of their job or role must undergo a MVR Search before driving a USNH vehicle, or to continue authorization to drive if an MVR Search has not been checked in the last three years for employees and every year for students.
This service should be used to request background checks and/or motor vehicle record searches for the following:
- Graduate Assistantships (GA/TA/RA)
- Volunteers
- Rechecks/Annual Requirements for Youth Programs (every 3 years) or Youth Skills Camps (annual) for current employees
- Motor Vehicle Searches for required current employees (every 3 years) and students (annual)
Background checks for hires processed through PeopleAdmin and TeamDynamix (Adjunct Staff, Adjunct Faculty and Students) do not require a separate background check request ticket. Requests submitted for these hires will be cancelled as they are automatically initiated by HR during the hiring process.
Once submitted, requests are routed to HR for approval. Accepted requests are then submitted electronically to the background check vendor, HireRight. The individual will receive an email from HireRight describing how to access their website to provide the information necessary for the background check to be processed. Background checks take an average of 10 business days to be completed from the time the applicant submits their information to HireRight.
- Human Resources reviews all requests. Approved requests will be submitted to the background check vendor.
- The applicant is sent an email from the vendor with a link to submit the information required to process the background check request.
- Refusal on the part of a finalist to authorize a background review will make the individual ineligible for employment.
- The vendor will send the completed reports to Human Resources upon the completion of the verification process.
- If there is no record of criminal convictions, the HR coordinator will move the request/hire through the workflow which will send a notification to the hiring department that the process has been successfully completed. Please note: This does not indicate that the candidate may begin working.
- If there is potentially disqualifying information the HR Business Partner will communicate results to the hiring department on set criteria as according to policy. The candidate will receive a Pre-Adverse Action Notice from the background check vendor with additional details on disputing results, FCRA Summary of Right, and a copy of the background check report.
