Minnesota Background Checks
What Minnesota Background Checks can I order through Health Street?
Why Health Street for Minnesota Background Checks?
Health Street combines industry knowledge, a committed approach to accuracy and fairness and affordability in all levels of Minnesota background checks. Knowing the legal requirements of background checks in Minnesota keeps you and your business from stumbling into legal problems. Conducting thorough, factual background screens ensures peace-of-mind that your new hires are qualified and law-abiding.
Due diligence is critical to ensure your background checks in Minnesota are done right. Background check companies, known as Credit Reporting Agencies or CRAs, must stay abreast with the latest employment laws to know what they can and cannot do in background screens in Minnesota. Companies that use poorly qualified CRAs who perform simple database searches of public records and fail to analyze the criminal history data can pay a severe penalty.
Unqualified background check companies can expose you in the following ways::
In either case, you could be held legally liable for the CRA’s mistake. Go with a CRA with a proven track record, commitment to transparent compliance with background check laws in Minnesota, and a thorough approach to scrubbing the data and reporting accurate background checks. Let Health Street’s expertise conduct your background checks in Minnesota so you’ll know that your candidates have been fully and properly vetted before hiring.
Background Check Laws Specific to the State of Minnesota
In Minnesota, the agency responsible for criminal records and background checks is the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA). The BCA is responsible for maintaining records for 15 years. Minnesota has specific statutes and background check criteria for employees in specific occupations, which include mandatory checks for the following positions which are involved in working with children:
Other positions with mandatory background checks include positions related to court-ordered guardianship or conservatorship of adults, government agency employees, public safety employees, private detectives, and individuals involved in mortgage and banking professions.
Minnesota’s statutes advise employers to comply with state regulations for background checks for specific jobs, along with the state’s “Ban the Box” criminal rehabilitation initiative. The “Ban the Box” initiative in Minnesota specifies that employers may not disqualify applicants based on a prior criminal conviction unless the specific crime relates directly to the job category or professional license being sought or used.
The majority of Minnesota’s background check statutes relate to government agencies or organizations contracting with state or local government.
Cities that have specific “Ban the Box” statutes which prohibit employers from using information on prior arrests or misdemeanor convictions until employers have verified that applicants are qualified for a job include Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester, and Duluth. If a criminal background check shows that an applicant who is being considered for a position has been convicted of a disqualifying felony, the employer has the option of allowing the applicant to present information that they have been rehabilitated.
Statistics on Crime in the State of Minnesota
Minnesota’s Department of Public Safety prepares reports on crime within the state each year. In 2018, the Uniform Crime Report showed the following crime statistics:
Violent crimes in Minnesota comprised 10.1% of all reported crimes in 2018. Violent crimes in Minnesota include murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, and human trafficking.
Most of the crimes reported in Minnesota in 2018 were property crimes. Minnesotans reported a total of 111,999 property crimes in 2018, including burglary, theft, auto theft, and arson.