Setup Guide
Checkr Background Screening Guide
Checkr helps teams run fast, accurate background checks without turning hiring into a paperwork maze. Use it to screen employees, contractors, gig workers, and high-volume roles with configurable packages, ATS integrations, automated adjudication, and a mobile-first candidate flow.
Best for startups, retail and marketplace operators, staffing teams, HR leaders, and founders who need reliable screening wired into the systems they already use. Start through the Skowers Checkr link.
What Checkr Replaces in the Hiring Stack
Traditional screening often means emailing candidates, chasing paperwork, waiting on slow vendors, and reviewing inconsistent reports by hand. Checkr is positioned as a modern screening layer that fits inside ATS and HR workflows. Your team still owns the hiring policy, role requirements, and final decision.
- Order criminal, identity, employment, and related screening packages from one system.
- Invite candidates through a mobile-friendly flow instead of fragmented forms.
- Connect screening to ATS and HRIS tools so recruiters do not re-enter candidate data.
- Apply adjudication rules so review stays consistent across locations and hiring managers.
- Monitor workforce risk after hire when continuous monitoring fits your policy.
Strong Fit
- Companies hiring across multiple states or locations.
- Retail, logistics, marketplaces, and gig-style high-volume roles.
- Startups that need screening without building a custom compliance desk.
- Teams already using Greenhouse, Workday, Rippling, or similar ATS/HRIS tools.
- Operators who need API or workflow automation for candidate invitations.
Fix This Before Scaling
- There is no written screening package by role type.
- Adjudication criteria are informal and change by manager.
- Candidates are asked for checks before a clear offer stage.
- Nobody owns adverse-action notices or candidate support questions.
- ATS fields, job codes, and billing centers are not mapped cleanly.
Core Capabilities
Criminal and identity screening
Run national, county, state, and federal searches while confirming candidates are who they claim to be.
Employment and workforce verification
Validate work history and related credentials so hiring decisions are based on more than a resume claim.
Automated adjudication
Apply consistent filters to reports so teams spend less time interpreting the same charge language by hand.
ATS and HRIS integrations
Order and track checks inside hiring systems instead of bouncing between email threads and vendor portals.
API and custom workflows
Trigger invitations, retrieve report status, and embed screening into product or internal hiring flows.
Continuous monitoring
Stay aware of relevant post-hire record changes when your workforce model requires ongoing visibility.
Set Up Your First Screening Workflow
1. Define packages by role family
Create clear packages for office hires, drivers, contractors, retail associates, and any role with higher trust requirements. Do not use one package for every job.
2. Write adjudication rules before the first invite
Decide what is auto-clear, what needs human review, and what requires escalation. Consistency protects candidates and reduces hiring-manager improvisation.
3. Connect the ATS or HRIS
Map candidate identity fields, job codes, hiring stages, and report destinations so recruiters can order checks without retyping data.
4. Place screening at the right stage
Most teams screen after a conditional offer or late-stage interview. Earlier checks create drop-off and unnecessary spend.
5. Pilot one role family
Run a controlled batch for one location or department. Measure turnaround time, candidate completion, report clarity, and reviewer hours before expanding.
6. Document adverse-action ownership
Assign who sends notices, who answers candidate questions, and how disputes are tracked. Screening is not finished when the report appears.
Useful First Workflows
- Screen all conditional offers for one high-volume role package.
- Connect Greenhouse, Rippling, Workday, or your ATS and order from the candidate record.
- Build adjudication filters for one state cluster before expanding nationally.
- Add employment verification for roles where resume fraud creates real risk.
- Enable continuous monitoring only for roles where post-hire visibility is justified.
Fast Wins in Week One
- Publish role-to-package mapping in one shared hiring doc.
- Measure average hours from invite to completed report.
- Track candidate completion rate and common drop-off points.
- Reduce manual review volume with a first adjudication rule set.
- Confirm billing codes and location ownership before volume rises.
Compliance and Candidate Experience Controls
Background screening sits at the intersection of speed, fairness, and legal process. Faster checks help only when disclosures, permissions, notices, and decision rules are handled carefully.
- Use the correct consent and disclosure flow for each jurisdiction.
- Keep package selection tied to the job, not to manager preference.
- Give candidates a clear path to complete forms on mobile.
- Train reviewers on what automated adjudication can and cannot decide.
- Store report access with least privilege and an audit trail.
- Follow applicable FCRA, equal employment, privacy, and local screening rules.
Metrics That Matter
Speed
Invite-to-complete time, time to clear, and hours saved versus the previous vendor.
Candidate completion
Invitation open rate, form completion rate, and drop-off after the conditional offer.
Review efficiency
Percentage auto-adjudicated, average reviewer minutes per report, and escalation quality.
Hiring impact
Days-to-fill improvement, no-show reduction after offer, and cost per completed check.
Raw report count is not the goal. Optimize toward completed, fair, role-appropriate checks that keep hiring moving.
How to Evaluate Checkr
- Compare turnaround time on the same role package against your current vendor.
- Test ATS order flow, status visibility, and report retrieval with real recruiters.
- Review whether adjudication rules reduce manual work without hiding edge cases.
- Ask candidates whether the invite and mobile experience were clear.
- Estimate total cost including package price, court fees, and reviewer time.
- Confirm support ownership for candidate disputes and employer escalations.
Next Step
Create your Checkr account, define one role package, connect your ATS if you have one, and run a small pilot. The first goal is not maximum volume. It is proving that screening can stay fast, consistent, and candidate-friendly inside your existing hiring flow.
Start With Checkr