As they ominously say, “Winter is coming.” Actually, it’s already here! The winter of 2025 is wreaking havoc on employment background checks. More specifically, the winter weather has caused more courts to close in more jurisdictions across the country. And when the courts close, that delays criminal background checks.
It seems like every day at GroupOne Background Screening we’re receiving notices from multiple courts indicating that they are closed due to weather.
Just within the last couple weeks, we were notified of court closings in Oregon, New York, New Jersey and Iowa. And today we are bracing for a brutal cold snap in Texas.
This winter season, even those states in the southern portion of the country have not been immune to inclement weather.
So, other than building a snowman, what can you do? Unfortunately, all that you can do is wait.
If you are requesting employment background checks in any of the affected areas, it is important to be prepared for how you might handle these delays. Do you need to postpone start dates? Should you be reaching out to the candidate so that they don’t feel like they are twisting in the wind? Is the start date so important that you might be willing to allow them to begin working while the background check is still processing? (For the record, GroupOne believes this is not the best option).
The good news is that most of these courts only close for a day or two at most, so hopefully that won’t affect a candidate’s start date. However, when delays do occur, it is important not to deviate from your company’s safety and security policies. GroupOne will keep you informed about these delays so you can plan accordingly.
Further, just because your criminal background check is delayed shouldn’t mean that the other elements of your background check will be. Things like Motor Vehicle Records, Credit Reports, National Criminal Database checks, Employment and Education Verifications should still proceed as usual. It is okay to review these results, just don’t make your final hiring decision until all of the information (especially the criminal background check) is complete.
And with that, please be safe out there!