The specification supports requests for credit checks and the return of credit scores and credit histories, such as those produced by credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and Trans Union, for example). The CreditResult schema is capable of capturing all the employment-related fields from the major credit bureaus report formats.

The specification is capable of transmitting information required for criminal records searches as well as results.

Data relating to drug-test screening requests and reports can be transmitted. A medical laboratory with an affiliation or trading-partner relationship with the screening service provider typically might conduct the drug tests.

The specification can support requests to verify educational information claimed on a resume or application. The specification also supports the return of education search findings. The BackgroundCheck Requests and BackgroundReport schemas make use of the HR-XML Consortium’s EducationHistory schema.

Information necessary to research or verify current and prior employment can be transmitted and results returned. The BackgroundCheck Requests and BackgroundReport schemas make use of the HR-XML Consortium’s EmploymentHistory schema.

Details on military service can be transmitted for verification and the search results returned. The BackgroundCheck Requests and BackgroundReport schemas make use of the HR-XML Consortium’s MilitaryHistory schema.

The specification supports requests for motor vehicle record searches and the return of reports. Typically, motor vehicle records contain information such as driver’s license status, suspensions and revocations of driving privileges, infractions and violations, and restrictions on licenses.

Professional organizations (for example, bar associations for attorneys or medical boards for physicians) often set guidelines and codes of practice for their profession. Professional organizations may penalize or sanction professionals that violate guidelines and codes of practice. Government agencies also may impose sanctions on professionals that violate government contracting or program requirements. For example, in the United States, physicians and health care providers can face sanctions for abuses under the federal Medicare program. The BackgroundChecking specification provides a flexible mechanism for requesting professional and administrative sanction searches and the return of information regarding any sanctions.

The specification is capable of transmitting information about skills or competencies claimed by a search subject. The specification also is capable of supporting the return of the assessment results. The specification does not address the process or means by which skills are verified or assessed. The specification merely provides a data format for assessment information to be transmitted.

The specification supports taxpayer ID verification. Within the United States, employers often want to verify a new employee’s social security number (SSN). SSN verification results can help ensure payroll tax processing is accurate, is useful in researching questions regarding an employee’s eligibility to work. A so-called "SSN Trace" often amounts to a limited credit history screening that in addition to verifying the SSN also returns an individual's address history, which in turn can be used in a progressive fashion as the basis for other searches (for example, criminal record searches within the region in which the individual currently resides or once resided).

The specification supports professional license searches. Typically, clients would be interested in confirming the type, status, and duration of a license held by the search subject. Enumerations for a wide variety of license types are built-in to the schema. These built-in license types also can be extended with additional types that are applicable to a client’s particular business or industry.

The specification allows the transmission of information necessary for a screening-service provider to conduct checks of a subject’s professional or personal references. As with other types of screenings, the specification allows the referencing of questions sets agreed-to by the client and the screening-service provider. The service provider can use those questions sets to structure interviews with the individuals the subject has provided as references. The specification also supports the return of professional/personal reference check results.

The specification supports the transmission of information necessary to research a subject’s workers compensation claims history. The specification also supports the return of such claims history.

The specfication can flexibly support customized screenings and verifications that a client and background checking service providers may agree upon.