Candidate/Applicant FAQs

Click FCRA Summary of Rights to access the most up-to-date information. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our offices at operations@occuscreen.com or 888-833-5304.

Occuscreen makes the safety and security of your personal information our top priority. We employ many methods of protection, encryption and security to ensure the safety of your data at every stage of the screening process. These methods include a minimum of 128-bit SSL encryption, Transport Layer Security (TLS) and data hosting through Amazon Web Services. Additionally, Occuscreen will never sell your information to third parties.

Please see Occuscreen’s privacy policy for detailed information on how we protect your security.

It depends on the types of searches your employer is running. However, the most common searches conducted are a Social Security Trace/Person Search, National Criminal Database Search, Sex Offender Search, and County Criminal and/or State Criminal Records searches.

Common Searches

• Person Search – Database searches using your social security number to find names and addresses currently and previously used
• National Criminal Database Search – Database search used as a tool to find criminal records nationwide
• Sex Offender Search – Search of the National Sex Offender Registry
• County Criminal/State Criminal Searches – A thorough investigation of criminal records at the county level
• Additional employer searches may also include: Federal Court Database Search, Motor Vehicle Report, Terrorist Watch List, Employment Credit Report, Education Verification, Employment Verification, and other job specific searches.

If you have further questions regarding what is included in your background check, feel free to give us a call at 888-833-5304, or email operations@occuscreen.com.

If you believe the information reported on your background check may be incorrect or incomplete, please give us a call at 888-833-5304. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) states your employer must give you reasonable time to dispute any information being returned on your background check if adverse action is being taken against you. Since our main priority is to report accurate and up-to-date information, if you think something was reported incorrectly, we want to know about it!

We will need to verify your identity so be prepared to provide some personal information. We will also ask specific details about the information you are disputing so we can conduct a recheck. Once this process is complete, you and your employer will receive a notice regarding the results of the reinvestigation.

You have a right to a copy of a background check run through a Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA) which is a background check provider. You can ask the employer, or the CRA for a free copy of your report.

If Occuscreen was the CRA, you can call us at 888-833-5304 or email operations@occuscreen.com.

If the employer is using a Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA), such as a background screening provider, to perform a background check, the employer must first have you sign a Disclosure and Authorization form which is separate from the application, per the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

The drug testing results will take approximately 24 hours for negative results (from receipt at the lab), and an additional 24-72 hours for non-negative results. (Non-negative results are sent through an additional screen to confirm negative or positive results.)

If positive results are sent through the Medical Review process, an additional 24-72 hours will be required for the MRO to contact you to confirm the result as positive or negative (due to a valid medical explanation.)

Occuscreen only reports the negative or positive results, we have no influence or participation in the response of the employer.

MRO is a process for reviewing and confirming a positive drug screen result. A trained Medical Review Officer will contact the applicant and give them the opportunity to provide a valid prescription. If prescriptions are submitted for review, the MRO will evaluate the drug type and dosage compared to the substance and levels which presented in the applicant’s drug screen. If everything matches, the result will be marked “Negative – valid medical explanation for positive” and we will submit a negative result back to the employer.

If the information does not match, the positive result will stand. Some states require a medical review for every drug screen, positive and negative, or just for positive results. If you do not live in an MRO – required state, you have the option to send positive results through review. Standard turnaround time for an MRO is 24-72 hours. For additional information, go to our Medical Review Officer page.

Marijuana is still federally illegal, so employers who are federal contractors must comply with federal law regarding drug testing. At this writing, if employers are not federal contractors, they still have the right (except in NV) to test prior to (and during) employment for marijuana. Currently, employers are allowed to test and make hiring decisions in conjunction with their drug testing policies.

The legal landscape surrounding medical and recreational marijuana is experiencing a lot of change at this time. For specific questions or updated information, please contact us at info@occuscreen.com.