Government Employee Background Check: How it Works

The federal government oversees a workforce of nearly 3 million people. The jobs performed by these employees are diverse—for example, presidential aides and White House staffers, butlers, cooks, and valets. There are hundreds of thousands of people working across departments and minor agencies. Yet the government can’t – and doesn’t – hire just anyone. A government employee background check is central to the process of government employment.

Government jobs expose employees to a wide range of potentially sensitive information, and opportunities for fraud abound. Consider the many ways someone with access may misuse it. Unethical individuals could misappropriate government funds or exploit taxpayer information. They could expose private data or even create national security risks. There are serious potential consequences for failing to make informed hiring decisions in government.

Private Sector vs. Public Sector Background Checks

Unlike a regular background check, federal laws make vetting for government work more painstaking. For an admin employee in the Commerce Department, the experience can be rudimentary. There may only be a few additional steps beyond the private sector. However, employment verification is much more multifaceted and extensive for positions requiring a security clearance. These checks are in addition to ability or skills tests.

If you’ve been asked to complete a federal background check, you’ve already cleared an initial hurdle. The federal Fair Chance Act (FCA) requires conditional job offers before employment screening. Knowing what to expect next can ease concerns.

The federal background check looks at far more than criminal histories. The procedure can even vary between departments. Understanding what agencies will consider can simplify the process. The extensive nature of government screening can be daunting at first. Let’s explore what you must know about government expectations when hiring new employees.

Assessments of Applicant Suitability

Let’s begin with a broad overview of how government agencies determine suitability. Agencies must assess whether someone can act with the integrity and responsibility demanded by the position. These assessments funnel applicants into a more specific background check process.

The job’s sensitivity level is the primary determination. Is the position you’ve been offered sensitive or non-sensitive? Will you have potentially privileged access to agency systems or data? Will you engage with controlled processes where misuse could lead to harm? These are sensitive roles.

Non-sensitive roles fall into one of three categories:

• Low risk
• Moderate risk
• High risk

Risk levels relate to the level of damage that wrongdoing by an employee could cause to the agency’s work and reputation. The sensitivity level of your role will determine the type of background check you’ll experience. Those checks break down as such:

• Low-risk roles must submit to a National Agency Check with Inquiries (NACI). An NACI considers criminal records first. It also involves checking credit reports and written responses for information from prior employers and educators. Previous landlords and personal references may also receive requests.
  
  
• Moderate-risk roles undergo an MBI (Minimum Background Investigation). This check involves the essential elements of the NACI. An MBI also includes an in-person interview between the background investigator and the job applicant. Investigators may conduct reference checks directly over the phone instead of mailing letters.
  
  
• High-risk positions receive a complete Background Investigation (BI). The lookback period for all records extends to five years in a BI. These also include an in-depth review of your past jobs and education. All references must agree to in-person interviews with the investigator.

Remember, these steps are only for non-sensitive roles. If you apply for a sensitive role, a separate process is involved. Sensitive roles typically require security clearances.

Determining Security Clearance

Some government jobs necessarily involve using classified information. If this information were to leak to the media or foreign powers, it could pose a national security risk. Exposure to classified information can do irreparable harm to governments.

Because of such risks, applicants for sensitive roles must undergo a distinct and rigorous vetting process. Once you receive a conditional offer, you must submit Standard Forms. The complete process ensues. How does it work?

The agency hiring the applicant is the sponsoring agency. They review the position in question and determine the clearance level of the role in question. Higher clearance requirements demand a more in-depth background check. The three clearance levels to know include:

• Confidential—when disclosure could cause potential harm to US national security.
• Secret—when disclosure would cause serious harm.
• Top Secret—when disclosure would result in exceptionally grave harm.

There are subclasses to the top secret clearances at the highest levels of government secrecy. One such level is known as Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI). Access to TS-SCI information requires additional vetting beyond regular Top-Secret clearance.

Once the sponsoring agency classifies the role, the Top-Secrete investigation to the relevant government agency. Most often, the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA).

The Process for Adjudicating Security Clearances

Even at the Confidential level, a security clearance investigation involves abundant detail. A government investigator will perform a comprehensive overview of an individual’s past. Top-secret background investigations go even further.

Confidential and Secret clearances examine five years of an applicant’s life and employment history. They require passing the National Agency Check with Law and Credit, which includes criminal record checks and a credit check.

Top Secret clearance requires a Single-Scope Background Investigation (SSBI), which scrutinizes the last ten years of an individual’s life. These approaches aim to determine whether someone is stable and trustworthy enough to keep secrets safe.

These reviews are highly subjective, far more so than private sector background checks. What disqualifies you from federal employment with clearance requirements? The answer can vary. Investigators may disqualify applicants for several reasons across many categories.

Currently, the law requires 13 areas of investigation for clearances. Red flags in any one of these areas could end an application, such as:

• Loyalty and allegiance to the United States
• Impact of foreign influences
• Existence of any foreign preferences
• Sexual behavior
• Personal conduct and manner
• Finances and debts
• Alcohol consumption
• Misuse of substances and drugs
• Mental health concerns and psychological conditions
• Past criminal conduct, including court records of any felonies and misdemeanors
• Conduct with protected information
• Evaluation of personal activities beyond work
• Consideration of prior misuse of information technology.

Honesty and active disclosure of issues by the applicant can simplify the process—however, no definitive guide guarantees who will or won’t pass this check. Without the approval of a security clearance, an application for a sensitive position will be denied.

Which Agencies Conduct Background Checks for Government Employees?

Who is responsible for completing a government employee background check? For many years, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) was the lead agency on the process. Its National Background Investigations Bureau (NBIB) handled government screening.

However, OPM no longer oversees this duty as of 2019. The Department of Defense now administers the process through a new agency. The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) has additional resources to fast-track hiring. At a time of staffing shortfalls, additional speed was a must-have.

Although the DCSA performs most government background checks, there are exceptions. For example, the DCSA does not have jurisdiction over specific Executive Branch roles, which is valid for both sensitive and non-sensitive roles.

The Director of National Intelligence (DNI) is the screening agency in such cases. Other government agencies may also have independence in screening. The FBI and CIA, for example, have agency-specific hiring pipelines.

Standard Forms To Expect

When the government makes a conditional job offer, applicants have some actions to take. The screening and clearance process can only begin after applicants provide specific information. The government calls these questionnaires the Standard Forms, which you must complete – and will vary by job role and include:

• SF-85. Formally known as the Questionnaire for Non-Sensitive Positions. This short document initiates an NACI background check—used only for low-risk, non-sensitive positions.
  
  
• SF-85P. Formally known as the Questionnaire for Public Trust Positions, it initiates the Minimum Background Investigation for Moderate Risk positions. A supplementary form with additional questions, SF-85P-S, may be necessary in some departments.
  
  
• SF-86. Formally known as the Questionnaire for National Security Positions. Initiates a full Background Investigation for High-Risk positions and Confidential, Secret, and Top Secret clearances.

These questionnaires ask you to disclose a wide range of information voluntarily. An investigating agent will use this information for follow-up questions and research.

Assessing Potential Drug Use or Burdensome Personal Debt

Applicants filling out the SF-85 or the SF-86 may not expect the level of detail required in their answers. These forms ask questions far more personal than a private sector job would. Some may even find these questions surprising. For example, it has questions about any current or prior drug use in your life. You often have to disclose financial details, including how much debt you have. This data can determine if an applicant is trustworthy enough for clearance.

Applicants should expect questions about whether they have used illegal drugs in the past year. The question may demand clarity for an extended period. You will have to disclose if you ever supplied or even possessed drugs. Credit checks may occur to assess financial risk levels.

Note that past drug use or prior bankruptcy aren’t necessarily disqualifiers. Investigators consider individual circumstances in each case. They may also discuss the issue directly with the applicant to learn more. Lower-level and less sensitive positions are more flexible.

The Importance of Honesty in Your Application

Being forthcoming and honest on the Standard Forms can be intimidating since they report your personal information to the government. Even those applying for low-risk positions may be concerned. However, it is vital to be as open and honest as possible. Sharing the truth may complicate the process, but consider the alternative. Dishonesty, once uncovered, will assuredly result in the rejection of an application. Lying during this process could be grounds for criminal charges in high-security roles.

Government background checks are exhaustive. Investigators will search for inconsistencies between standard-form answers and factual records. Omitting an event is more often the reason for a rejection than the event itself. Demonstrating openness and honesty demonstrates integrity.

Citizenship Requirements for Government Work

You must verify your citizenship status as part of the hiring process. In nearly every case of federal employment, United States citizenship is mandatory. Naturalized citizenship is acceptable. Non-citizens typically may only apply when no other qualified applicants exist. Non-citizens must obtain a separate work authorization.

What About Individuals With Dual Citizenship?

Many people hold dual citizenship with legal status in the United States and a foreign country. Dual citizenship creates unique considerations during the vetting process. All dual citizens applying for federal employment undergo an individualized review. This revision may cause delays and prolong the hiring process. Specific considerations often include:

• Whether you have a foreign nation’s passport.
• Whether you’ve served in a foreign nation’s armed forces.
• Whether you have been living in another country as a condition of citizenship.
• What kind of ties you have to the other nation.

If you are a dual citizen applying to the federal government, you may need to renounce your non-US citizenship and surrender your foreign passport.

The Impacts of Prior Foreign Residency

Applicants may not have spent more than two of the last five years living outside the United States. Federal but narrow exceptions exist. Military members, government contractors, and students are exempt.

How Long Does a Government Employee Background Check Typically Take?

The government prefers to be thorough rather than swift when selecting candidates. Time is not an issue, especially for more sensitive positions. As such, the federal vetting process can take a long time. Compared to private sector background checks, government vetting can seem very slow. Private employers may need only a few days or weeks for thorough vetting, whereas in the federal government, an investigation may take months.

Hiring for non-sensitive jobs requiring only the NACI check can take up to three months. Granting a Top-Secret clearance can take as many as nine months. A top-secret clearance rarely takes fewer than two months to obtain. Errors or anomalies can add even more time to the process. A federal background check for contractors may take less time. Contacting companies often conduct their own vetting, with exceptions for sensitive work.

Applicants must be entirely accurate when completing the Standard Forms. Know what you expect the government to find. Be ready to explain any unusual circumstances, and choose your references carefully.

When possible, connect with local law enforcement to have a fingerprint card taken. Submit this to your sponsoring agency to assist with their work. Ultimately, the only way to speed up the process is to respond meticulously.

Navigating Conflicts of Interest for Lawyers

The government employs and hires lawyers at an incredible rate. Nearly every agency assembles extensive legal teams. These teams work in litigation, interpret an agency’s duties, and more. Legal professionals applying for government jobs must disclose any potential conflicts of interest early. Otherwise, there may be avoidable delays in the vetting process.

Consider a lawyer whose last job involved representing a primary beef producer. If they apply to work at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), that might be a potential conflict of interest. However, it could be less of a conflict serving within the Department of Justice (DOJ). Lawyers must carefully review their past work and possible connections for potential conflicts. Informing the hiring agency of your disputes in advance can prevent issues later.

Policies Specific to the US Department of Justice (DOJ)

The Department of Justice uses its own suitability and security review processes. However, the DOJ is a unique case. Its agencies see many interns and temporary employees each year. Therefore, a complete background investigation is only necessary for those who have reached six months of service. In the meantime, a less-intensive background check—including a criminal background check, drug test, and other elements—serves as the DOJ's filter.

Understanding Additional Steps for Working With the US Attorney’s Office (UAO)

As a part of the Department of Justice, the US Attorney’s Office uses the same procedures as the DOJ but goes further in some cases. Each US Attorney’s Office may choose how stringent to be when hiring individuals. This screening may include using one of the more in-depth Standard Forms during the vetting process, or a USAO may create their own background questionnaire. If you intend to apply to work in this government area, be prepared to encounter these extra measures.

What To Expect From Other Government Agencies

Some government agencies, such as the CIA, have additional specific vetting procedures, which may include polygraph tests and private interviews. The agency may follow up for more information about answers provided on Standard Forms. A prompt response contributes to expediting the vetting process.

At times, delays beyond the individual’s control may occur. For example, in 2015, a severe hack happened at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Millions of individual applicant questionnaires were leaked to the hackers. In responding to the hack, the OPM put all background checks on hold. Nearly 90% of all federal background check work suddenly stopped. Weeks passed before services were restored to an acceptable level.

The security risks revealed in this incident ultimately led to the disestablishment of the National Background Check Investigation Bureau. The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency took over in 2019. Since then, the DCSA has handled most federal vetting.

Checks of Terrorist and Sanctions Watch Lists

The government checks applicant names and aliases against several screening lists, such as the terror watch lists, sanctions watch lists, and international fugitive registries. As part of post-9/11 security measures, the government also requires watch list checks from employers regulated by the Department of Transportation.

These regulations apply to many who work with airlines and commercial aviation. Efforts to extend these checks to other mass transit workers have not succeeded. However, this type of vetting differs from the pipeline to government work.

What About Government Contractors?

Historically, government contractors have been responsible for screening their own employees. In most cases, these workers don’t need a security clearance, so they don’t need to go through the same process as those directly employed by the federal government. However, some contractors work in sensitive or even secret environments. Contract employees who require a clearance must undergo the same process as everyone else.

Internally, contractors must ensure they have rigorous controls in place. Government contracts often come with many stipulations. Contractors must now abide by the federal Fair Chance Act, for example. That law requires a conditional job offer before you may begin screening an applicant. Contractors should review their requirements and strive for strict compliance to reduce risk.

Know What to Expect From Government Background Checks

As we’ve seen, becoming a government employee means an exhaustive background check process. The federal government uses criminal background checks like private employers but goes much further. Some jobs even require an extensive look into your personal life and history. What disqualifies you can be different from the private sector, too. From excessive debt and poor spending habits to a pattern of criminal behavior, investigators may rescind offers for many reasons. Those planning to apply should review the requirements and plan accordingly. For more information about background check processes and fair hiring laws, visit our Resource Center today.