A Good Employee.com (which begins at $49.95 for the Plus edition, which we tested) is an online employment background check service that got its start in the early 1990s when it began as a screening service for real estate property management companies.
It has since expanded to corporate and staffing agency employee background checking services.
Most of its searches deliver immediate reports, with a few exceptions, but all at inexpensive rates.
While it's a solid contender, a dated user interface (UI) and a slight lag in competitive data features, such as multlingual support and social media analysis, keep it behind Checkr and GoodHire, our Editors' Choice winners in our employment background check service review roundup.
Employer setup and onboarding is quick and simple.
Managers can input a company credit card, add or edit users, and establish user permissions.
Packages range from $29.95 to $199.95 per background check, with the least expensive package offering just a basic sex offender check and criminal check.
More expensive packages include a range of other services, such as address history check verification, a nationwide and country-specific criminal report, lien searches, as well as verification of everything from references to education and employment history.
If all you want is to check verification or run a sex offender or terrorist search, then those will only cost you $4.95 each, and can be added a la carte to any package.
Using the Application
It's easy to jump into A Good Employee.com's UI.
Those needing to brush up on compliance requirements can click the Training icon to find a long list of links for studying up.
Since the company originally served landlords looking to screen tenants, some of the UI language refers to applicants, tenants, and co-tenants.
Hopefully, this part of the UI will see an update soon.
The platform prompts users to designate a "Location," which is also a holdover from the platform's real estate days.
However, in other corporate settings, this feature allows multi-location corporations to identify appropriate branch locations.
If you're a real estate management firm, then these are terrific features meant specifically for you.
However, these features can also be easily adapted for corporate staffing purposes.
Test Results
We requested a Basic Package on an individual that was immediately available, which is good for hiring officers who don't need another step bogging down the process.
In our test report, there were no red flags.
However, had there been any potential issues, the company would have included free Pre-Adverse Decision and Adverse Decision Letters.
These are readily available by clicking "Forms" in the vertical menu on the left-hand side of the page.
The Disclosure statement that applicants are required to sign prior to the start of any screening can be found there as well.
Employers simply input their applicants' email addresses and that prompts the website to send the candidates a form they can complete and return.
These forms can also be found in the "Forms" drop-down menu across the top of the page.
If you do not input a social security number, then the system cannot complete an address search.
Although we did include a driver's license number, it didn't register and, therefore, didn't provide background check verification.
Employment, education, and reference verification can take up to three business days if you select an option that includes these.
Since most employee background checking services provide similar screens, companies can distinguish themselves by providing good service.
A Good Employee.com did just that, with representatives who readily explained reports.
Employers using the service can talk to real people when they have questions.
For instance, we had an inaccuracy caused by how the user input the information and the customer service representatives quicktly dealt with it and got it corrected.
Though the service's UI design is welcoming and easy to navigate, the overall design seems dated and reflects the fact the company was launched in the 1990s.
(By comparison, Checkr and GoodHire (29.99 For the Basic Edition at GoodHire) were launched more recently and their designs reflect that.)
A Solid Service
A Good Employee.com was one of several services (such as GoodHire) that doesn't perform social media checks because of the controversy surrounding hiring practices based on that information.
A Good Employee.com also doesn't do self-checks so you can't try to get visibility into what your check might reveal when you're prepping for a job search.
A multilingual functionality, such as the ones offered by Checkr ($35.00 at Checkr) and SterlingOne ($25.00 at Sterling) , would have been a plus, even if it just supported one other commonly used language for US workforces, such as Spanish.
A Good Employee.com is also very much oriented as a standalone service rather than an online app.
That's a good thing when it comes to its customer service but, if you're looking to integrate employment background checks into another app or an online workflow, then you're likely better off with a service that focuses more on data manipulation, such as Accio Data .
Overall, A Good Employee.com was a solid employment background check service, though the company could do a little more to distinguish this service from its real estate-oriented predecessor.
Customer service was good, but the dated UI and lack of attention paid to social media data reflects older technology that the company would do well to update if it wants to remain competitive.
The Bottom Line
A Good Employee.com was founded nearly 30 years ago and knows the ropes.
Though its roots are in real estate management, the solution also works for corporate HR purposes, with solid customer service and reasonable, a la carte pricing.
