The Modern Playbook for Employee Screening & Rescreening

The journey to building a strong team, and ensuring a strong quality of hire, begins long before an offer letter is extended. During the pre-employment phase, companies meticulously assess candidates, scrutinizing not only their professional competencies but also conducting essential background checks to safeguard the workplace. From criminal history reviews to employment verifications or even social media background checks, these screenings aim to provide a comprehensive understanding of a candidate's suitability and minimize potential risks.

Yet, despite rigorous interview rounds, thorough background checks, and detailed talent evaluations, there’s a surprising truth that often emerges: once onboarded, organizations can still know remarkably little about their employees. People grow, adapt, and change, both within and outside their professional roles. While this evolution is natural and encouraged, for some, it can unfortunately lead them down paths that introduce new, unforeseen risks to the workplace.

Identifying and proactively addressing these emerging vulnerabilities is precisely why employee screening becomes critical for ongoing protection and maintaining that initial quality of hire over time.

The New Reality of Workplace Risk

It’s no secret that the digital landscape has fundamentally changed the way we navigate the world in almost every capacity. The lines between our personal and professional lives are blurred, exposing everyone to a vast online landscape of ideas, both positive and negative. This constant exposure can subtly shape a person's worldview. Over time, prolonged exposure and engagement with harmful content, from radical ideologies to discriminatory viewpoints or violent rhetoric, can desensitize users. And with this erosion of boundaries, some users are led to believe that behaviors they witness online are acceptable, even within a professional setting.

This shift in online engagement introduces new and evolving risks to the workplace, risks that often extend beyond the scope of initial background checks. While robust pre-employment screening is a critical first step to ensuring quality of hire, the threats to your organization don't simply disappear once an offer letter is signed. An employee who seemed ideal during initial screening might, over time, develop behaviors or encounter circumstances that pose new dangers. The implications of a harmful employee can be devastating, impacting your business in ways that are difficult to recover from.

Compromised Workplace Safety: For any business, the most immediate and critical concern is workplace safety. An employee who develops violent tendencies, engages in harassment, or promotes discrimination can create a hostile and unsafe environment for colleagues, clients, and visitors. And this isn't just about physical harm–it can extend to psychological well-being, leading to reduced morale and lower productivity among teams.
Erosion of Brand Reputation: Your employees are ambassadors of your brand. Misconduct in the workplace, whether it's through inappropriate online behavior uncovered by social media screening, or through actions within the office, can quickly tarnish your hard-earned reputation. Negative press, viral social media complaints, or a loss of public trust can have long-lasting effects on customer loyalty and future talent acquisition.
Significant Legal and Financial Exposure: When a business finds themselves in hot water due to employee actions, the impact can be severe. Beyond direct legal fees, there are the intangible costs of lost productivity, increased insurance premiums, and the diversion of valuable HR and legal resources to address internal issues rather than focusing on business growth.
Damage to Internal Trust and Productivity: When employees witness unchecked problematic behavior or feel unsafe, their trust in leadership and the organization's commitment to their well-being erodes. This breakdown of trust inevitably leads to decreased morale, higher turnover, and a significant dip in overall productivity, as team members become distracted and disengaged. In fact, research shows that just 5% of employees committing misconduct reduces team productivity by 40% and makes top talent 54% more likely to leave.

People change, circumstances evolve, and new information can emerge, all of which provides opportunities for new risks to unveil themselves, despite the steps taken before employment to ensure a candidate meets the conduct standards of a hire who will support ongoing success. An individual's online footprint might expand or new behaviors could develop that weren’t present during their initial employee background screening. With the possibility of new risks emerging at any time, relying solely on a one-time pre-hire check leaves your organization vulnerable.

As part of a comprehensive risk management strategy, post-hire employee screening is a necessity.

What is Employee Screening?

Employee screening refers to a single background screening conducted on an existing employee. Unlike the comprehensive multi-faceted pre-employment screening that aims to assess overall suitability before an individual joins your team, an employee screening is typically performed on an as-needed basis to address specific concerns or meet evolving compliance requirements.

Think of it as a responsive measure, triggered by a particular event or a newly identified risk factor during an employee's tenure. This could range from a promotion to a sensitive role, an internal incident prompting investigation, or a change in industry regulations demanding updated checks.

At a glance, employee screening is:

A one-time screening of an employee
Conducted on an as-needed basis, such as for promotion, change in compliance requirements, or a reaction to a workplace misconduct incident
Crucial for addressing real-time risks

What is Employee Rescreening?

While an individual employee screening addresses specific, immediate concerns, employee rescreening displays an ongoing commitment to a secure and compliant workplace. Employee rescreening refers to the proactive, periodic re-evaluation of an existing employee's background, performed on a scheduled, recurring basis throughout their employment.

Employee rescreening acknowledges that risk is not static. Just as a business evolves, so too can an employee's circumstances, behaviors, or public profile. Rescreening ensures that your organization maintains an up-to-date understanding of its workforce, continuously verifying integrity and alignment with company standards.

Here’s a quick snapshot of employee rescreening:

Ongoing, periodic rescreening of an employee
Helps stay ahead of potential issues and protects against emerging risks
Proactive focus

5 Factors to Look for In Employee Screenings and Rescreenings

For 8 hours a day, employees are expected to be professional and get their work done. Outside of the office, however, it can be harder to hold employees accountable, though at all hours of the day, they’re still representatives of your brand and can still cause legal issues for your organization.

When conducting employee screenings and rescreens, organizations should look for specific risk factors that, while potentially occurring off-duty, have direct implications for the workplace:

1. Violence and Threats

Disturbingly, workplace violence is an ever-present concern, and statistics reveal that 26% of workplace violence incidents occur from current employees. Online screening can reveal patterns of aggressive behavior, violent ideation, or direct threats made on public platforms. Identifying these indicators early allows for proactive intervention, safeguarding your team from potential harm.

2. Illegal Activities

Engagement in illegal activities, even if unrelated to their direct job functions, reflects poor judgment and can expose your organization to significant risk. This includes drug use, participation in criminal enterprises, or other illicit behaviors. Discovering such activities through online screening can prevent legal complications, reputational damage, and maintain a high standard of employee conduct.

3. Harassment and Trolling

The line between personal and professional conduct can blur online. Individuals engaging in harassment, cyberbullying, or aggressive trolling behaviors on public platforms demonstrate a disregard for respectful interaction that can easily spill over into the workplace. In fact, the 2024 Okonowsky v. Garland case found that employers are liable when employee harassment occurs outside of work.

Risk extends beyond the front door of the building. Now, those risks are present in online formats, and it’s an employer’s duty to address and prevent risks through employee rescreening.

4. Sexual Misconduct

Instances of sexual harassment or inappropriate sexual content shared publicly by an employee can cause profound damage to your company culture and public image. Proactive employee rescreening helps identify such problematic material, allowing employers to address the issue before it escalates into a full-blown crisis, protecting both employees and the brand.

5. Hate Speech and Discrimination

Any public display of hate speech, discriminatory remarks, or intolerance signals a profound misalignment with core company values. Allowing these employees to remain unchecked can lead to internal conflicts, alienate employees and customers, and expose the organization to significant legal and reputational backlash.

By integrating robust online screening into both targeted employee screenings and systematic employee rescreening protocols, businesses gain invaluable insights into behaviors that traditional checks might miss. This vigilance ensures HR and leadership teams can mitigate risks proactively, fostering a truly safe, respectful, and productive work environment.

The Playbook: How to Build an Employee Rescreening Program

Implementing a successful employee rescreening program requires more than just knowing what to look for; it demands a structured, compliant, and efficient approach. Leveraging HR technology is crucial to streamline this process. Beyond that, establishing a blueprint for effective screening and rescreening can ensure that these programs are conducted compliantly, efficiently, and implemented appropriately depending on unique business needs.

Policy

A well-defined policy is the bedrock of any compliant employee rescreening program. This document should clearly articulate your organization's stance and procedures regarding ongoing background checks.

When developing an employee screening and rescreening policy:

Define Scope and Purpose: Clearly state why you conduct rescreens, such as maintaining workplace safety, ensuring compliance by reflecting any changes in qualifications, mitigating workplace misconduct risks, and protecting brand reputation. Specify who will be rescreened. Will rescreenings be for all employees or employees in specific roles, like those with access to sensitive data or financial responsibilities? Will screening be required for contractors or volunteers?
Outline Types of Checks: Detail the specific types of screenings that may be conducted during a rescreen, such as criminal history checks, vehicle records, credit checks (if role-relevant), and social media background checks. As part of this policy section, include what factors are being considered as part of employee rescreening, such as evidence of illegal activity or updated criminal records. Ensure these are directly relevant to job duties and business needs.
Mandate Actions and Timelines: The policy must clearly outline the actions that will be taken under different circumstances based on rescreening results. This includes the process for reviewing findings, initiating a pre-adverse action notice, allowing time for dispute, and then the final adverse action notice if necessary.
Ensure Transparency and Consent: Your policy must clearly inform employees about the potential for rescreening. Emphasize that continuous consent, typically obtained during the initial onboarding process, is required for ongoing checks. Transparency builds trust and helps navigate legal requirements.
Integrate into Existing Frameworks: Consider whether this employee rescreening policy will be a standalone document or if it can be effectively integrated as a specific section or addendum within a broader HR policy manual, such as an Employee Handbook or a comprehensive Risk Management Policy. This can ensure consistency and easy accessibility for employees.
Follow Compliance Guidelines: Explicitly state adherence to all relevant federal, state, and local laws, including the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidelines, throughout the rescreening process.

Frequency

The "when" of employee rescreening is as critical as the "what." A strategic frequency balances risk mitigation with practicality.

Implement Tiered Frequencies: Not all roles carry the same level of risk. Categorize positions based on their sensitivity and potential impact. For high-risk roles, meaning those working with vulnerable populations, financial oversight, or executive leadership, consider annual or bi-annual rescreens. For other roles, a longer cycle might be appropriate.
Triggered Rescreens: Beyond scheduled intervals, define specific events that trigger an immediate employee screening. This often includes promotions to positions of higher trust or responsibility, suspicion of misconduct in the workplace, or a significant incident such as gross misconduct outside of the professional setting that necessitates re-evaluation.
Align with Industry Standards and Regulations: Some industries, like education, transportation, healthcare, and finance, have regulatory mandates for recurring background checks. Ensure your frequency aligns with these requirements to maintain legal compliance.

Automation

Manual rescreening is time-consuming, prone to error, and unsustainable for most organizations. Automated screening technology not only helps businesses stay compliant but also boosts efficiency.

Integrate with HRIS/ATS: Your employee rescreening solution should seamlessly integrate with your existing Human Resources Information System (HRIS) or Applicant Tracking System (ATS). This ensures that employee data is accurate and up-to-date, and that rescreening schedules can be easily managed.
Automate Scheduling and Notifications: Utilize software features to automatically schedule rescreens based on your defined frequencies and trigger automated notifications to both employees (for consent renewal if needed) and HR teams. This reduces administrative burden and ensures no one falls through the cracks.
Streamline Data Collection and Reporting: Advanced screening platforms automate the collection of data from various sources and compile it into comprehensive, compliant reports. This minimizes manual research, accelerates turnaround times, and improves the consistency and accuracy of findings.
Redact Protected Information Automatically: Crucially, ensure your chosen software automatically redacts protected class information from online screening reports to prevent discriminatory hiring practices and maintain compliance.

Action Plan

Discovering concerning information during a rescreen is possible, and having a clear, compliant adverse action plan is non-negotiable.

Understand FCRA Requirements: The FCRA outlines a specific adverse action process. If you’re considering taking adverse action based on a background check report, you must provide the employee with a "pre-adverse action notice," a copy of the report, and a summary of their rights under the FCRA. This allows the employee an opportunity to dispute inaccuracies.
Establish Review Protocols: Define who within your organization will review screening results and make decisions. Ensure decisions are consistent, non-discriminatory, and directly related to job requirements and workplace safety.
Document Everything: Maintain meticulous records of every step in the rescreening process, including consent, notifications, reports, review decisions, and adverse action procedures. This documentation is critical for demonstrating compliance if needed.

By thoughtfully implementing these features, your organization can establish a proactive, compliant, and highly effective employee rescreening program that continuously safeguards your people, your assets, and your brand against evolving risks.

The Technology You Need for Detailed Employee Screening

In the past, the idea of continually keeping track of employee behavior might have seemed daunting, if not impossible, due to the sheer volume of information and the risk of human bias. However, modern HR technology and advanced social media screening platforms have revolutionized this process. These tools leverage sophisticated algorithms to analyze vast amounts of publicly available online data, finding relevant risk signals with accuracy and efficiency.

How do these modern platforms work? They go beyond simple keyword searches. Utilizing artificial intelligence and machine learning, these systems are designed to:

Process and Analyze Vast Datasets: Imagine sifting through billions of data points across various social media platforms, news articles, forums, and other public online sources. What would take any analyst countless days, these platforms accomplish in minutes to hours. They can identify patterns, relationships, and anomalies that indicate potential risk factors.
Contextual Understanding: Raw data can be misleading. Modern AI algorithms are trained to understand context, differentiate between genuine threats and sarcasm, and identify the nuances of language. This helps to filter out irrelevant information and focus only on behaviorally-relevant content that could impact workplace safety or reputation.
Automated Scheduling: For employee rescreening, these platforms can be set up for regular, automated screening. This means they are constantly scanning for new, publicly available information that could signal emerging risks and alerting HR teams as needed.

These tools quickly generate objective and actionable reports that identify specific content aligning with predefined risk categories. In turn, HR teams are given the objective evidence needed to make informed decisions and follow adverse action procedures when necessary.

From Reactive to Proactive: Social Media Screening with Fama

The complexities of the modern workforce, coupled with the pervasive nature of online interactions, demand a shift from reactive problem-solving to proactive risk management. While pre-employment screening is undoubtedly crucial, it represents only the beginning of your organization's journey toward a secure workplace. The ongoing threat of workplace misconduct, potential harm to workplace safety, and the ever-present risk to your brand's reputation underscore the need for employee screening and, most significantly, regular employee rescreening.

By consistently conducting rescreens and leveraging cutting-edge online screening tools, employers gain visibility into potential behavioral risks that might emerge or evolve over an employee's time in their position. The proactive nature of employee rescreening identifies issues before they escalate into costly legal battles, reputational damage, or a compromised work environment. This practice fosters a culture of vigilance, integrity, and safety that protects all stakeholders.

To truly master the aspect of risk management, you need more than just a process; you need the right partner and the right technology. This is where Fama Technologies steps in.

Fama’s online screening software combines technological innovation with an unwavering commitment to compliance and accuracy. Our AI-driven platform leverages thousands of publicly available data points across social media platforms and websites to provide you with compliant, objective, actionable insights that traditional background checks can’t.

Workplace risks are constantly changing as online behavior evolves. By partnering with Fama, you’re empowered to build and maintain a team founded on integrity, trust, and safety. Book your demo today to start addressing workplace risks!

Employee Social Media Screening & Rescreening FAQs

What’s the difference between employee social media screening and rescreening?

Employee screening is a single, targeted background check performed post-hire on an existing employee, usually on an as-needed basis due to a specific concern or event. Employee rescreening is the proactive, periodic re-evaluation of an existing employee's background on a scheduled, recurring basis to ensure ongoing safety and compliance.

Who should be screened?

Employee screening and rescreening policies should ideally cover all employees. It's especially critical for those in roles with higher levels of responsibility, access to sensitive data, financial oversight, or positions of trust within your organization.

When should rescreening occur?

Rescreening should occur on a defined, recurring schedule. This is often annually or bi-annually, although employees in positions that handle sensitive information or high responsibility may be screened more frequently. Now that it only takes weeks to months of exposure to misconduct to radicalize people into participation, many organizations are increasing the frequency of employee rescreenings to quarterly.

Additionally, specific events should trigger an immediate employee screening, such as a promotion to a more sensitive role, suspicion of misconduct, or a significant incident that necessitates re-evaluation.

Is employee social media screening legal?

Yes, employee social media screening and rescreening are legal, provided they are conducted compliantly. This means obtaining proper consent from the employee, ensuring the checks are job-relevant, and strictly adhering to federal laws like the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidelines, as well as relevant state and local regulations.