Reference checking policies for new hires are inconsistent across Department of Justice components and clear guidance and more certainty are needed among hiring officials, the Justice inspector general has said.
It said that just three out of 39 DoJ components it reviewed provided hiring officials with clear, written reference check guidance that included position-specific questions for officials to ask references and addressed documentation requirements for reference checks.
Reference checks generally are not required for new law enforcement applicants. Managers at the FBI and the Federal Bureau of Prisons reportedly told the IG they rely more on background investigations, performance assessments of applicants during training at a federal law enforcement training center, polygraph examinations, logic, cognitive, and behavior tests, panel interviews and other tests to vet candidates.
Reference check practices vary among components and not all practices are consistent with OPM and Merit Systems Protection Board guidance, creating risk that components are not uniformly and thoroughly screening applicants and that some hiring officials are not collecting information useful in hiring decisions or otherwise simply not bothering to check references, the IG said.
It said many new employees hired into law enforcement and correctional officer positions at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the DEA, the FBI and the US Marshals Service never had references checked when they were hired.
Among the IG’s recommendations are for the Justice Management Division to clarify in guidance the difference between a suitability determination and a reference check, reiterate that reference checks are required for attorney applicants, create a central location on the department’s intranet where general reference check guidance for components and hiring managers is posted and regularly updated, including sample reference check questions, and to provide periodic training on reference checks, or include it as a part of broader HR training.
