Should I say my employees are background checked on my website?

If your crew works inside customers' homes, and every person you send has actually been checked, yes. For house cleaners, handymen, interior painters, HVAC and plumbing techs, pet sitters and anyone else who will be alone in a house with a homeowner's things, the question of who is coming to the door is a real part of the hiring decision, especially for older customers and for people who will not be home during the job. A short, specific line answers it before they have to ask. If the work is mostly outdoors, such as lawn care, gutters or exterior painting, the line matters less and you can keep it to one sentence. The one hard rule is that the claim has to be true for every person who shows up, including new hires and helpers, or it is worse than saying nothing.

How should I word a background check claim on my website?

Say exactly what you do and nothing more. A good line names who gets checked and when, for example: every technician who enters your home passed a criminal background check before their first job with us. Avoid words you cannot back up, such as fully vetted, bonded or guaranteed safe, unless you can show what they mean. If you rerun checks every year, say so. If the check is done through a background screening company, you can say that too. Vague claims like trusted, vetted pros read as filler, while a specific sentence reads as a policy, which is what the customer is actually looking for.

Do I need my employee's permission to run a background check?

If you use a background screening company, generally yes. Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act an employer that gets a background report from a screening company has to give the applicant a written disclosure, in a document of its own, and get their written permission before running it, and has to follow notice steps before turning someone down based on the report. Many states and cities add their own rules, including limits on when in the hiring process you can ask about criminal history. Reputable screening companies build the disclosure and consent forms into their process. This is general information, not legal advice, so check your state's rules or ask the screening company before you start.

What if I use subcontractors or I work alone?

If subcontractors ever go into customers' homes, your website claim has to cover them or say clearly that it does not. A line that says every person we send has been checked is only true if you require it of your subs too, which you can do in your subcontractor agreement. If you work alone, a background-check line about a crew does not apply, and the stronger move is a real photo of you, your name and a sentence saying you do every job yourself, so the customer knows exactly who will be at the door. Some solo owners also run a check on themselves and say so, which is honest as long as they word it as a check on the owner.

RunCabin Blog · For working contractors

Should I say my crew is background checked on my website?

November 11, 2026 · 7 min read

Picture the customer before they call you. She is 74, she lives alone, and the bathroom faucet has been dripping for a month. Or he travels for work and wants the house cleaned every other Thursday while nobody is home. Or they have two small kids and the painter will be in the hallway all week. Each of them is on your website deciding one thing before they decide anything about price: who is this company going to send into my house?

Most trade websites never answer that question. They list services, show a gallery, and say "trusted professionals" in the footer. The customer is left to guess, and the ones who guess nervously call somebody else, or they never call at all.

If your people go inside customers' homes, and you actually check them, say so on your website, in one specific sentence, close to the button that books the job. Here is when it helps, how to word it so it stays true, and the mistakes that turn a trust line into a liability.

Who this matters for, and who can skip it

The line earns its keep when three things are true: your people work inside the house, the customer may not be home or may be alone with them, and the customer is choosing between companies they have never met.

It matters a lot for: house cleaners, handymen, interior painters, plumbers, electricians, HVAC techs, appliance repair, carpet cleaners, flooring installers, pest control, home organizers, pet sitters and dog walkers who hold keys, and anyone doing recurring work while the homeowner is at the office.
It matters some for: trades that come inside briefly, like a roofer checking the attic or a window installer, and anyone whose customers skew older.
It matters little for: work that stays outside, like mowing, gutters, fencing, concrete or exterior painting. One sentence on your About page is plenty, and nobody will miss it if it is not there.

If you also chase commercial work, it stops being a nice-to-have. Property managers and offices often require checks for anyone holding keys, which we covered in getting work from property managers and GCs. And Google's own Local Services Ads put the owner through a background check as part of the Google Verified badge, which tells you how much weight the industry already puts on it (more in do I need a website for Google Local Services Ads).

The one rule: it has to be true for everyone who shows up

This is where owners get into trouble. The line goes on the website the year you have two employees, both checked. Three years later you have seven people, a summer helper, and a sub who covers your Fridays, and nobody remembers which of them went through the check. The website still says "every technician is background checked," and now it is a promise you are not keeping.

A false trust claim is worse than none. If something goes wrong in a customer's home and your website said everyone was checked when they were not, that sentence is the first thing anyone will point to. Advertising claims also have to be truthful under federal and state consumer protection law, and "we check everyone" is a factual claim, not a slogan.

So before you write the line, make it a policy:

Everyone who enters a home gets checked before their first job. Not after the first month, not when you get around to it.
Helpers, seasonal hires and family count. If they go inside, they are covered by the sentence.
Subs are in or clearly out. Either your subcontractor agreement requires their crew to be checked, or your website says the claim covers your own employees. There is more on being upfront about subs in should I say on my website that I use subcontractors.
Somebody keeps a list. Name, date checked, who ran it. A spreadsheet is fine. It is what lets you answer a customer who asks, and what lets you keep the website honest.

How the check itself works, in plain terms

Most small shops use a background screening company rather than searching court records themselves. You pick a package, the applicant gets an email, they fill in their details and sign, and a report comes back in a few days. Criminal history is the core. Some trades add a driving record check for anyone who drives the company truck, and some add identity verification.

Two things to know before you start, stated plainly and not as legal advice:

Consent comes first. Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, when you get a report from a screening company for hiring, the applicant gets a written disclosure in its own document and gives written permission before the check runs. If you decide not to hire someone because of the report, there are notice steps to follow. Good screening companies build these forms into their process.
Your state and city may add rules. Many places limit when in the hiring process you can ask about criminal records, or how far back you can look. Check before you write your job posting, and ask the screening company what applies where you hire. If you are hiring right now, finding good help for your trade business covers the rest of that process.

The point for your website is simple: you can only say what the check actually covered. If it was a criminal records check, call it a criminal background check. Do not inflate it into something it was not.

Wording that works, and wording that backfires

Specific beats impressive every time. A customer reads "vetted, trusted, top-rated pros" as filler, because every site says it. A plain sentence that sounds like a policy reads as a policy.

Lines that work:

"Every technician who comes into your home passed a criminal background check before their first job with us."
"Same two cleaners every visit. Both are background checked, both have worked with us for over three years." (Only if it is true, and keep it current.)
"We rerun background checks on our whole team every year."
"I do every job myself. I am the owner, and I am the one who shows up." (For a one-person shop.)

Lines that backfire:

"Fully vetted" or "100% safe." Vetted for what? Safe how? The more absolute the word, the bigger the promise you just made in writing.
"Bonded" when you do not have a bond. Bonded is a specific product, often a janitorial or employee dishonesty bond for cleaning companies, and some licenses require one. If you have it, say so plainly. If you do not, do not borrow the word because it sounds trustworthy. The same goes for insurance language, which we went through in how to prove you are licensed and insured on your website.
Copied competitor badges. A "background checked" shield graphic downloaded off the internet looks like every other one and means nothing. If a screening company or a trade association gives you a real badge, use theirs, with their rules.
Details about any individual's record. The website says the policy. It never says anything about what a particular person's report showed.

Where it goes on the page

A trust line hidden on the About page helps the three people who read About pages. Put it where the nervous customer is deciding.

Next to the booking button or contact form. One line, right above "Request an estimate." This is the moment they are deciding whether to let you in.
In the trust strip near the top of the home page, alongside licensed, insured and your review count. Four short items in a row is the most-read real estate on the site.
On the team section, if you have one. A real photo and a first name next to "background checked" is far more reassuring than either one alone. If you are deciding whether to show staff at all, see should I put my employees' names and photos on my website.
In your FAQ. "Who will come to my house?" is a real question customers ask, and answering it in the FAQ also gives Google and AI assistants a clean sentence to quote. More on that in does my website need an FAQ page.
In the confirmation email or text, if your booking tool lets you edit it. "Maria will be there Thursday at 9. She has been with us two years." That is the same promise, delivered when it matters most.

If you work alone

A solo owner does not need a crew policy, but the customer's question does not go away. They still want to know who is coming. The answer that works best is you: a real photo, your first name, and a sentence that says you do every job yourself. That beats any badge, because there is nobody else to wonder about.

Some solo owners run a check on themselves and say so on the site. That is fine as long as the wording is honest, for example "I passed a criminal background check through a screening company in 2026," rather than implying a team policy. The day you hire your first helper, the line has to change, so put it on your list next to updating the team photo. We wrote more about this in how to make a one-person business look professional online.

Keeping it true after the website goes live

The line is easy to write and easy to forget. The website needs to change the day the policy changes:

You hire someone and their check is still pending. They do not go inside a customer's home on their own until it clears, or the line is not true that week.
You bring on a sub for a busy stretch. Either they meet your standard, or the sentence gets narrower.
You stop rerunning annual checks. Take "every year" off the page.
Someone leaves. Their photo and name come off the team section, which matters more than it sounds, because customers expect the person in the photo.

None of these are big edits. They are the kind that sit on a to-do list for six months if changing the website means logging into a builder you have not opened since you made it.

Where RunCabin fits

RunCabin builds and runs the site for you. It is built with AI from your answers to our questionnaire, and a web developer finishes every page. Tell us your crew policy and we put the trust line where it does its job: next to the booking button, in the trust strip near the top, on the team section and in the FAQ, worded to say what you actually do and no more. You see a first version within 24 hours of sending your answers and photos.

When the policy changes, so does the site. A new hire, a sub for the season or a team photo that is out of date gets changed by asking, not by learning a page builder. The build is starting at $499, then $39.99 a month or $479.88 a year for hosting. Optional tools, like an online booking form, are priced in the questionnaire, and you see the total before you pay.

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