Policy Configuration Series: Name The Background Check (Step 1)

Note: If you have never created a policy before, first read this article. If you do not know what a policy is, read this article. 

This article outlines the first step of Policy Configuration, which is naming the background check. 

How does policy configuration work?

Configuring your policy consists of six (6) distinct steps. Five (5) of these steps are required and the final step is optional. When you are creating a policy for the first time, you will need to complete the steps in the consecutive order they are listed below.

1. Step 1: Name the policy (that's the step this article is about).
2. Step 2: Configure the elements of a background check.
3. Step 3: Select the background check product associated with this policy.*
4. Step 4: Create the first offense group of the policy & define the criteria that will result in a policy violation.
5. Step 5: Identify which crimes will belong to this offense group.
6. Step 6: (Optional) Create additional offense groups to allow further configuration of the policy.

*Once you have created the policy, you may go back and edit the policy and you may do so in whatever order you wish. However, the background check product cannot be changed after creation of the policy. Therefore, if you want to run a different background check product after the policy has already been saved, you will need to configure a new policy. 

Creating a Background Check

If you've navigated to the Criminal History Section of the Administration tab, you're ready to create and configure your policy. You should see the screen below that will allow you to create your first policy. 

First, click the "Create A Criminal History Policy" button.

The Configurable Elements of a Background Check

Immediately, you will be presented with a page that allows you to name your policy and toggle the 3 basic elements of an Evident background check that may be turned ON or OFF. The three elements that can be toggled are: 

• Criminal Monitoring
• Wait for Identity Verification 
• PreAdverse & Adverse Action

These three elements will not be covered in this article. They are part of Step 2 and are covered in the next article in this series. 

Name the Policy

Standard naming convention is to choose a name that aligns with the type of background check product you are using and some indicator of how you plan to use the policy.  For example, you might choose "Applicant Pro Policy" if  you plan to run this policy as a Pro Background Check on new applicants to your business or platform. Another option might be to use the name "Employee Basic Policy" if you plan to run this policy as a Basic Background Check on your internal employees only.

Perfect naming isn't required at this point since you can always come back and edit this later, but best practice is to give the policy name some indication of its function to you as a business so that it's easy to remember which policies contain which elements. 

Once you've picked a name, you can move to Step 2: Configure the elements of a background check that are able to be toggled on and off.