First Advantage Report Highlights Employers Remain at Risk for Employment Applicant Discrepancies in the U.S. and Asia Pacific

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., April 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- First Advantage Corporation, a global risk mitigation and business solutions provider, today announced the release of its Global Screening Benchmark Report. The report provides employers with an overview of the employment screening results for Q3-Q4 2009 and Q3-Q4 2010 for many of the world's top employers and helps them evaluate their employment screening programs.

With many economic indicators pointing to employment gains across most industries, employers are again stepping up their hiring programs and, in turn, their risk mitigation programs.  "We're seeing growth across manufacturing, professional and business services, healthcare, IT and other industries globally," said Todd Mavis, chief executive officer for First Advantage. "Our screening volumes are increasing and employers are turning to us for innovative screening programs to help hire the right applicants and enable them to become productive as quickly as possible."

Key findings of the report include:

• Applicant discrepancy rates in the U.S. are up in all screening categories except for the national criminal database search.

• Hit rates for county criminal searches, the most common criminal check, are at 6.82% for 2010, up from 5.49% in 2009.

• Substance abuse testing results showed a positivity rate of 3.0% in 2010, up from 2.8% in 2009.

• Previous employment discrepancies continue to be the most common in Asia Pacific, making up 62% of all discrepancies for the region.

• Asia Pacific has seen a decline in criminal record hits (down to 0.02% in 2010) and an increase in address discrepancies (8.9% in 2010).

The report is based on a subset of checks conducted by First Advantage for their clients.  It includes results from more than three million U.S. background checks, 130,000 substance abuse tests and 600,000 background checks in Asia Pacific, covering the periods Q3-Q4 2009 and Q3-Q4 2010. A copy of the report can be found at www.fadv.com/trendsq3q4_20092010.

About First Advantage

First Advantage combines industry expertise with information to create products and services that organizations worldwide use to make smarter business decisions. First Advantage is a leading provider of talent acquisition solutions including employment background screening, occupational health services, applicant tracking systems, recruiting solutions, skills and behavioral assessments, employment tax consulting services and e-discovery. First Advantage is headquartered in St. Petersburg, Fl., and has offices throughout the United States and abroad. More information about First Advantage can be found at www.FADV.com.

Media Contact:
Paige Vesuvio
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727.290.1000 X2274
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SOURCE First Advantage Corporation