Kumon Learning Centers: a SafestHires case study

The Challenge: Screening Employees Who Work Around Children

Employees working in supplemental education environments may interact directly with children and teenagers throughout the workday. For independently operated learning centers, employee screening can therefore represent an important component of a broader child-safety and risk-management program.

Several Kumon franchise operators selected SafestHires to help screen their existing adult workforce and conduct background checks on new adult hires.

The participating centers had several important objectives: protecting children and maintaining a safe environment, supporting risk management by identifying potentially relevant criminal-history information before placement, supporting franchise and organizational screening standards, reinforcing parent confidence, and managing compliance with the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act and applicable state and local employment laws.

The SafestHires Solution

SafestHires was initially selected by Kumon of Milpitas and Evergreen to provide employment background-screening services. The engagement included screening members of the centers' existing adult workforce and establishing background-screening capabilities for new adult hires.

SafestHires provided the centers with an employment-focused screening process designed to help franchise operators consistently evaluate candidates and employees while supporting their hiring and workforce-safety procedures.

Rather than treating background screening as simply a database search, SafestHires approaches employment screening as a combination of identity verification, appropriate record research, source-level verification when required, and compliance-focused reporting.

Expansion to Additional Kumon Centers

Following the initial engagement, additional independently operated Kumon Learning Centers began using SafestHires for employment background screening. Participating locations included Kumon of Milpitas and Evergreen, Kumon of Union City – Alvarado, Kumon of Livermore – West, and Kumon of Berryessa – Piedmont.

The expansion demonstrated how a screening program implemented for individual franchise operators could be extended to other independently operated locations seeking a reliable background-screening resource.

Why Background Screening Matters in Child-Focused Education

Organizations serving children face a different risk environment than many traditional workplaces. Employees may routinely interact with minors, supervise learning sessions, communicate with students and work in environments in which parents are not continuously present.

For these organizations, employment background screening can support several important objectives: child safety, risk reduction, consistent hiring procedures, compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act and applicable state and local requirements, and parent confidence that screening is part of the organization's broader approach to student safety.

The Result

SafestHires provided participating Kumon franchise operators with a centralized employment background-screening resource for both existing adult employees and new hires.

The relationship that began with Kumon of Milpitas and Evergreen subsequently expanded to additional Kumon locations in Northern California, allowing multiple independently operated centers to use SafestHires for their employment-screening needs.

For organizations whose employees work directly with children, background screening is more than an administrative hiring step. It is one component of a broader system of responsible hiring, risk management and child protection.