Best Background Check Services for Employers
Updated 11 min read
For HR managers and owners choosing who runs their background checks. Every service here is on PBSA's accredited list, read on October 22, 2026, and each is judged on the steps the Fair Credit Reporting Act puts on the file: a stand-alone disclosure, consent, the two adverse-action notices, disputes and monitoring. Full-service firms and self-serve platforms sit in one table, picked by use case and never by price. For the wider list of accredited firms, see the FCRA-compliant companies compare.
Shows each candidate the disclosures and local notices for the job's location.
Runs inside your ATS or HRIS, or your own app by API; monitors every worker.
The roster
The roster holds 6 services, as their own pages describe them. A word in a cell is what the vendor publishes; “Check with the vendor” means we could not find it on their site.
| Vendor | PBSA accreditation | Pre-adverse and adverse notice workflow | Individualized assessment support | Stand-alone disclosure and consent | Dispute handling | Continuous monitoring | MVR | Drug testing | ATS and HRIS integrations | Data retention controls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CheckrBest for ordering checks yourself | AccreditedUS Accredited | Built inNotices and waiting periods | Built inAdjudication notes per candidate | Built inTemplate disclosure and consent | DocumentedCandidate portal | Add-onCriminal and MVR, sold separately | Add-onIncludes commercial (DOT) | Add-onClinic network, DOT | DocumentedATS, HRIS and API | Check with the vendor |
HireRight | AccreditedUS Accredited | Built inCompliance Workbench | DocumentedFacilitated by compliance services | DocumentedDisclosure and written consent | DocumentedApplicant dispute page | DocumentedMonthly criminal; arrest alerts | DocumentedIncludes DOT | DocumentedLab and rapid; DOT and non-DOT | Documented70+ ATS and HCM | Check with the vendor |
Accurate Background | AccreditedUS and General | Built inNotices sent for you | DocumentedThrough adjudication services | Built inElectronic, with local notices | DocumentedOnline, fax or mail | DocumentedNear real-time alerts | DocumentedAll 50 states | DocumentedCollection-site network, DOT | DocumentedATS and onboarding | Check with the vendor |
Cisive | AccreditedUS Accredited | Add-onAdverse action letters | Check with the vendor | Check with the vendor | DocumentedOnline form, email or phone | DocumentedWorkforce iQ suite | DocumentedDriver iQ and self-service | DocumentedCustom panels, DOT | DocumentedWorkday, iCIMS and more | Check with the vendor |
Protect My Ministry | AccreditedAs Active Screening | Check with the vendor | Check with the vendor | DocumentedOnline application and authorization | DocumentedCompliance portal | DocumentedCriminal and sex offender records | DocumentedInstant state MVR | Via partnerLabCorp, Quest | DocumentedChurch management software | Check with the vendor |
Yardstik | AccreditedUS Accredited | Check with the vendor | Check with the vendorRules-based adjudication documented | Check with the vendor | Check with the vendor | Built inEvery screened worker | Built inPlus ongoing MVR | DocumentedIncludes DOT | Built inBullhorn, Paylocity, Workday | Check with the vendor |
No service on this page publishes its data retention controls, which is why the column reads the same all the way down: ask it as a question before you sign. For the two biggest names head to head, read Checkr vs HireRight.
Full-service or self-serve
Full-service firms assign you a team, build your packages and sell through a contract. Self-serve platforms let you open an account, pick a package and order the same day. Both kinds can be accredited, and both can run the notices for you, so choose by how you hire.
| If this is you | Read first | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You hire every week, in several states, and want to order checks yourself | Checkr, Yardstik | Both publish self-serve ordering, an API and pre-built ATS links. |
| You want Form I-9 and E-Verify run by the same firm as the background check | HireRight, Cisive | Both publish electronic I-9 with E-Verify; HireRight adds remote Section 2. |
| You hire in many cities with their own fair chance notices | Accurate Background | It says its platform shows the notices that match the job and location. |
| You are a bank, a health system or a carrier | Cisive | Its screening, monitoring and driver lines are built around regulated hiring. |
| You screen more volunteers than employees | Protect My Ministry | Volunteer packages, church-software links and child safety training. |
A team of five to fifty that pays per check has its own shortlist in background check services for small business, and the checks a hospital, a trucking firm or a staffing agency must run are sorted sector by sector in employment screening services by industry.
PBSA accreditation means an outside auditor checked the firm against PBSA's U.S. Employment Screening Standard, which centers on FCRA and DPPA compliance. It is renewed every five years. It is not required by law, and it does not certify a firm's accuracy rate. Every firm on this page appears on PBSA's directory; the full list is our accredited screener roster.
The services, one by one
Each card adds three things the roster leaves out: how you buy it, whether it runs Form I-9 and E-Verify, and whether it publishes volunteer screening. Churches comparing more volunteer firms can go to background check companies for churches, and the volunteer screening scope planner sets the search scope per role.
Checkr
A screening platform you order from yourself, in a dashboard or through an API, with the disclosure, adverse-action and assessment steps built into the same workflow. Its continuous checks watch criminal records and driving records after hire.
Employers who hire often, across several states, and want the FCRA steps run from software rather than by email.
- PBSA accreditationAccreditedUS Accredited
- Pre-adverse and adverse notice workflowBuilt inNotices and waiting periods
- Dispute handlingDocumentedCandidate portal
- Continuous monitoringAdd-onCriminal and MVR, sold separately
- How you buy itDocumentedSelf-serve dashboard or API
- Form I-9 and E-VerifyAdd-onSeparate product; partner Tracker I-9
- Volunteer screeningNot published
HireRight
A full-service screening firm sold through its sales team, with a compliance workbench for disclosures, consent, adjudication, individualized assessments and both adverse-action notices. It also runs electronic Form I-9 and E-Verify from the same account.
Larger employers that want screening and Form I-9 under one contract, including remote hires.
- PBSA accreditationAccreditedUS Accredited
- Pre-adverse and adverse notice workflowBuilt inCompliance Workbench
- Dispute handlingDocumentedApplicant dispute page
- Continuous monitoringDocumentedMonthly criminal; arrest alerts
- How you buy itDocumentedThrough sales
- Form I-9 and E-VerifyBuilt inRemote I-9 and video Section 2
- Volunteer screeningNot published
Accurate Background
A full-service screening firm whose platform shows candidates the disclosures and local notices for their job and location, then sends pre-adverse and adverse notices for you. Its candidate portal, ATS integrations and API sit on the same ordering platform.
Mid-size and large employers hiring in many cities who want location-aware notices handled by the platform.
- PBSA accreditationAccreditedUS and General
- Pre-adverse and adverse notice workflowBuilt inNotices sent for you
- Dispute handlingDocumentedOnline, fax or mail
- Continuous monitoringDocumentedNear real-time alerts
- How you buy itDocumentedThrough sales; API available
- Form I-9 and E-VerifyVia partnerGryphonHR
- Volunteer screeningNot published
Cisive
A screening firm built around regulated industries, with a separate driver-screening line (Driver iQ) and a self-service ordering option. Its electronic Form I-9 handles E-Verify cases, mismatches and referrals with an audit trail.
Banks, healthcare systems and carriers that need screening, post-hire monitoring and Form I-9 from one firm.
- PBSA accreditationAccreditedUS Accredited
- Pre-adverse and adverse notice workflowAdd-onAdverse action letters
- Dispute handlingDocumentedOnline form, email or phone
- Continuous monitoringDocumentedWorkforce iQ suite
- How you buy itDocumentedThrough sales, or self-service
- Form I-9 and E-VerifyBuilt inAudit trail, mismatch handling
- Volunteer screeningNot published
Protect My Ministry
A screening firm for churches and volunteer organizations, listed by PBSA under its parent Active Screening. Volunteers fill in an online application and authorization form, and the reports land in several church management systems.
Churches, youth programs and nonprofits that screen more volunteers than employees.
- PBSA accreditationAccreditedAs Active Screening
- Pre-adverse and adverse notice workflowCheck with the vendor
- Dispute handlingDocumentedCompliance portal
- Continuous monitoringDocumentedCriminal and sex offender records
- How you buy itDocumentedOnline account, packages
- Form I-9 and E-VerifyNot published
- Volunteer screeningBuilt inChild safety training add-on
Yardstik
A screening platform used directly, inside an ATS or HRIS, or built into your own app through its API. Every worker it screens is enrolled in ongoing monitoring, and its adjudication workflows apply your written rules the same way each time.
Staffing firms and app-based employers that want screening inside the software they already run.
- PBSA accreditationAccreditedUS Accredited
- Pre-adverse and adverse notice workflowCheck with the vendor
- Dispute handlingCheck with the vendor
- Continuous monitoringBuilt inEvery screened worker
- How you buy itDocumentedDirect, in your ATS, or API
- Form I-9 and E-VerifyNot published
- Volunteer screeningDocumentedNonprofit page
What a service does, and what stays yours
A background check service is a consumer reporting agency, so the Fair Credit Reporting Act gives it duties of its own (see what a consumer reporting agency is). It does not take yours. The table splits the file step by step; the third column is what a good platform does to help.
| Step | Whose duty | What the service can do | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Disclose on a page of its own and get written permission | You | Hosts the form and collects the signature | 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)(2)(A) |
| Certify that you disclosed, got permission and will follow the adverse-action steps | You | Cannot release an employment report without it | 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)(1) |
| Tell you, in writing, your duties as a user of reports | Screening firm | Sends its notice of user responsibilities | 15 U.S.C. § 1681e(d)(1) |
| Follow reasonable procedures for maximum possible accuracy | Screening firm | Its own duty, whatever you buy | 15 U.S.C. § 1681e(b) |
| Before deciding against someone, send the report and the Summary of Rights | You | Sends the pre-adverse notice, where the workflow is built in | 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)(3)(A) |
| Let a reasonable period pass | You | Holds the final notice until the date you set | FTC staff; no number in the statute |
| Send the final adverse action notice | You | Fills in the firm's contact details and dispute rights | 15 U.S.C. § 1681m(a) |
| Reinvestigate a dispute | Screening firm | 30 days, up to 15 more if new information arrives | 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(1) |
| Dispose of the report securely | You | Ask whether it purges on a schedule | FTC guidance for employers |
The pre-adverse duty sits on “the person intending to take such adverse action”: you. A platform that sends the letter is doing your step on your instructions, so check its templates against your state and city before you switch them on. Our disclosure form builder and adverse action notice guide show what each letter must hold.
15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)(3)(A)
The FCRA names no number of days between the two notices; FTC staff ask only that a reasonable period pass. Since a 1997 FTC staff letter called five business days reasonable, that is the common floor, and some states and cities set longer windows of their own: the adverse action timeline lays them out by date.
What to do
- Keep the disclosure on its own page, whichever vendor hosts it.
- Read the vendor's pre-adverse and final templates before turning automation on.
- Set the waiting period yourself, at the longest window that applies to the job's location.
Ask before you sign
The answers to these five questions decide most of the risk in a screening contract. Driving and drug checks bring their own rules: see MVR checks for employers and drug testing for employers.
- How long do you keep reports, and can we set a purge date?
- 0 of 6 publish itFTC: dispose of reports securely
- Do your adverse-action templates follow our state and city rules?
- 4 of 6 publish a workflow15 U.S.C. § 1681m(a)
- Is your disclosure a document of its own?
- Disclosure only; signature may sit on it15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)(2)(A)
- Who answers an applicant's dispute, and how fast?
- 30 days, up to 15 more15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(1)
- Are you on PBSA's accredited list today?
- 6 of 6 on October 22, 2026PBSA Accredited Firms Directory
Method and sources
We read each vendor's own public pages and the lists named below on . A word in the table is what the vendor publishes. Where a vendor does not publish a feature, the table says “Check with the vendor” or “Not published”: ask them before you rely on it. Verdicts are by use case, never by price.
Accreditation comes from PBSA's own Accredited Firms Directory, searched with the name field blank for the full list. The 10 columns are the steps an employer's file needs under the FCRA, plus the checks most employers add. Card facts on Form I-9 and volunteers come from the same vendor pages. A screening firm whose site would not load for us on the read date was left out rather than guessed at.
Verdicts are editorial: no vendor can buy a verdict position or displace another vendor.
Sources read October 22, 2026
- PBSA Accredited Firms Directory
- Checkr compliance tools
- Checkr continuous checks
- Checkr pricing (add-ons)
- Checkr I-9 verification
- HireRight compliance services
- HireRight Form I-9 and E-Verify
- Accurate Background compliance
- Accurate Background Form I-9 and E-Verify
- Cisive electronic I-9
- Cisive ongoing monitoring
- Cisive pre-employment and volunteer packages
- Protect My Ministry all-in-one solution
- Protect My Ministry individual services
- Yardstik home page
- Yardstik continuous monitoring
- 15 U.S.C. § 1681b (Cornell LII)
Questions employers ask
What is the best background check service for employers?
It depends on how you hire. On the vendors' own pages, Checkr documents every roster column except data retention and lets you order without a sales call, HireRight runs screening and Form I-9 with E-Verify on one account, and Protect My Ministry is built for volunteer programs. Read the roster against your own situation rather than a single ranking.
Does the law require a PBSA-accredited background check company?
No. PBSA accreditation is voluntary: an outside auditor checks the firm against PBSA's U.S. Employment Screening Standard, which centers on FCRA and DPPA compliance. What the law requires is that the firm follows the FCRA as a consumer reporting agency, and that you follow your own steps as the employer. The FCRA-compliant companies compare reads more accredited firms side by side.
Can the background check company send the adverse action notices for me?
Many platforms send both letters and hold the waiting period, and Checkr, HireRight and Accurate Background publish that workflow. The duty still sits with the employer that intends to act on the report, so read the templates first. The individualized assessment guide covers the step some cities and states add before the final letter.
How long does a screening firm have to handle a dispute?
If the applicant disputes the report, the screening firm generally has 30 days to reinvestigate, up to 15 more if the applicant sends new information during that time (15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(1)). Every firm on this page except Yardstik publishes how applicants file one.
Do I need new consent to monitor employees after hire?
A report used for promotion, reassignment or retention is an employment-purpose report, so the FCRA rules still apply. FTC staff have said a valid disclosure and consent remain effective throughout the duration of employment, but state rules can be stricter; check yours before enrolling staff in continuous monitoring.
Can one vendor handle the background check and Form I-9?
HireRight and Cisive publish electronic Form I-9 with E-Verify; Accurate Background offers it through GryphonHR. Remote document review under the DHS alternative procedure is open only to employers enrolled in E-Verify in good standing. For I-9 tools judged on their own, see the best I-9 and E-Verify software.