Corporate vs. Personal Background Check

September 24, 2007 12:08 PM

If I do my work through my corporate entity, should I expect to submit to a personal background check?

Corporate Background Check: I do my design work through my corporate entity. Twice in the past two years (awhile ago on a job I turned down because of this requirement, and on a current potential job) I've been asked to submit info for a background check.

I've always replied that you're welcome to check out the corporation using its tax ID, as that's who you're contracting with, but no check using my SSN. (I have no idea if you can even do a "background check" on a corporation.)

I don't mind walking away from jobs that don't accept this condition, but I'm just curious if I'm "in the right." I might add I have nothing to hide, but my clients have no need to know what my personal Visa balance is or who I send my mortgage payments to.

This has only happened when Very Large Corporate Entity, Inc. is the client.

posted by maxwelton to Work & Money (11 answers total)

I think you can be expected to submit to whatever the other side thinks is neccssary in order to feel comfortable doing business with you. Of course, if you are not comfortable with that, you can continue to turn down these jobs.
posted by dcjd at 12:16 PM on September 24, 2007

Response by poster: I guess I was really curious if I was 50-Person Design Heroes, Inc., would the same big corporate client expect to run personal background checks on the people in the firm working on its project?
posted by maxwelton at 12:21 PM on September 24, 2007

At my job, customers have occasionally wanted to perform a personal background check on me as a condition of access to their systems.
posted by enn at 12:27 PM on September 24, 2007

If you're the sole owner and employee of your corporation, I think it's reasonable for your potential client to recognize that your corporation's trustworthiness and solvency is going to depend a great deal on your own trustworthiness and solvency.

No, a similar check wouldn't necessarily be done for "50-Person Design Heroes, Inc.," but it would be much harder for a large corporation to stay thinly capitalized to avoid paying its obligations.
posted by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America at 12:36 PM on September 24, 2007

Instead of flat-out refusing, why not try to get some testimonials from existing customers and give them those. They're probably worried that sole-proprietor corporation = flying-by-the-seat-of-its-pants attempt at a business. Showing a history of completing past jobs may alleviate this concern.
posted by fogster at 12:49 PM on September 24, 2007

Response by poster: fogster, my impression from the last time was this is on a checklist and cannot be bypassed.

I'm fairly curious as to what they actually review. I'm not using their equipment, working at their facility, or interacting in-person with any of their employees except one admin and one art director (and even then only by phone or occasional meetings). I've signed an NDA and don't get paid unless I produce work product.

I guess I'm just being a whiny dork, but I don't see how my personal life affects their decision to hire my firm professionally. Oh, well.
posted by maxwelton at 1:48 PM on September 24, 2007

This is a bit of conjecture- you're essentially a one-person corporation, right? That's common in the design world- your clients probably understand that perfectly well, and want to skip the charade.

I doubt there's anything sinister- they want to make sure you're not criminal, litigious, or (not sure if employment history would show up on a background check) violating a potential non-compete from a former employer.
posted by mkultra at 1:58 PM on September 24, 2007

maxwelton: I guess I'm just being a whiny dork, but I don't see how my personal life affects their decision to hire my firm professionally. Oh, well.


Ha! Well for what it's worth, I would be put off by this request and wouldn't comply even if it meant refusing the job.

(I must note that I don't know what exactly is meant by "background check" though -- I'm assuming you mean credit and criminal records.)
posted by loiseau at 6:54 PM on September 24, 2007

oh no, of course not. It's a god given right to be able to pay a few hundred dollars for a piece of paper that renders one immune to having people verify one is what one says one is.
posted by lastobelus at 11:26 PM on September 24, 2007

even if the agreement is to pay only upon satisfactory completion, engaging in the project may require a substantial investment of their resources. If the project is time-sensitive, it may be a 1-shot deal, making it even more important to cover their asses by doing proper discovery on third party contractors.
posted by lastobelus at 11:32 PM on September 24, 2007

Response by poster: Thanks for all the input. We're going to go with a state police report based on my driver's license.

Note, you do not need to do a background check on a design firm to ensure they're going to deliver. That's what references and a client list are for, both of which I'm happy to provide.

This seems to be more a CYA to insure a wanted felon or sex predator isn't being put into proximity with their employees.
posted by maxwelton at 9:02 PM on September 25, 2007