HELP DESK

900 Number

A pay for, automated phone system used by some educational institutions and companies to verify attendance or employment records.

Adverse Action

A letter an employer sends to applicants advising they will not be considered for employment. This occurs after the pre-adverse action letter has been sent and the applicant did not dispute and resolve the findings of a background screen. This is required by FCRA regulations.

Applicant Tracking System (ATS)

Any paper or computerized system that tracks data such as resumes, applications and job posting information.

Chain of Custody Form

In drug testing, the five-part form given to donors. The form must be taken to the collection site and completed in the presence of a collector. The form requests the donor's personal information and signature, and the signature of the collector.

Chain of Custody Number

A unique 7-to-10 digit number assigned to each specimen by drug screening laboratories. The number appears on top of every drug screening form.

Collection

A status appearing on a credit report designating the account has been turned over to an independent firm for collection.

Consent and Disclosure Form

Notification advising applicants that a consumer report will be obtained and used for employment purposes. Applicant provides a signed authorization acknowledging the employer will procure an investigative consumer report for consideration of employment or continued employment.

Conviction

Appears on criminal records when a judge or jury declares a person guilty of a crime.

DOT Drug Test

A required Department of Transportation compliant drug test given to safety-sensitive transportation employees in the aviation, trucking, railroad, mass transit, pipeline and other transportation industries.

Drug Panel

A panel identifies the number and type of substances tested during a drug screen.

FCRA

Fair Credit Reporting Act passed by Congress in 1996 outlining legal requirements for obtaining consumer and investigative consumer reports, and individual rights relating to accuracy and fairness of reporting.

Full Verification of Employment

A process confirming all candidate information including: work performance, dates of employment and position.

HR-XML

A standardized data language established by voluntary members of the HR community. HR-XML uses common definitions to automate exchange of HR-related data between organizations.

Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS)

A computer database used to gather, store, maintain and retrieve employee and HR related information. Typically includes employment demographics, benefits and compensation management, training, payroll and reporting.

Installment Account

Credit account in which debt is divided into specified amounts to be paid successively at specified intervals.

Judgment

An official court decision that appears on the credit report and involves an action or suit.

Match

The result of a social security trace exactly matching the applicant's name and SSN.

Medical Review

A process to determine if a drug test result has a legitimate medical explanation.

No Match

A note that appears when the result of a social security trace fails to match the applicant's name and SSN.

Open Account

A type of account where the balance is paid off in full at the end of every month, such as a utility account. This is different from an account labeled open because of outstanding payments.

Outsourced Verification

An external or automated process to verify applicant information. Many large educational institutions and corporations use outsourced verification. (E.g. 900 Number)

Personal Reference

A reference providing character information, in addition to dates of employment and position.

Pre-Adverse Action

Notification given to individuals they may be disqualified from employment based on results of background screening. Documentation includes a copy of the report, summary of rights and a specified time to dispute the report.

Public Record

Any and all information obtained by the Credit Reporting Agency (CRA) from court records, such as liens, bankruptcy filings and judgments.

Revolving Account

Credit automatically available up to a predetermined limit, as long as a customer makes regular payments. (E.g. Credit Cards)

Specimen ID

A unique 7-to-10 digit number assigned to each specimen by drug screening laboratories. The number appears on top of every drug screening form.

SS Trace Alert

The result of a social security trace containing a name discrepancy.

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) Encryption

A data protocol that encrypts data to be transmitted securely over the Internet.

Summary of Rights

A statement of individual rights, covered by the FCRA, provided to an individual with the consent and disclosure form and if adverse action is taken.

Supervisory References

Candidate information obtained by contacting supervisors directly, rather than a general verification obtained from Human Resources.

Trace No Hit

A social security trace failing to return a record of the applicant.

Verification Through an Automated System

Information verified by an automated, outsourced verification system.

Wage Earner Plan

An agreement, due to outstanding credit, allowing an individual to send monthly payments to a trustee instead of paying creditors directly. The trustee distributes the payments to creditors.

XML

Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a standardized data language designed for Web documents, enabling the exchange of data between applications and between organizations.