Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Why You Should Do A Background Check on Potential Employees

Background checks play a crucial part in the selection process of candidates by employers. Through background checks, employers can gain more information about potential hires and ensure that they get people who will provide a great level of work and ensure that their reputation is protected. Don’t forget, that employees will always reflect back on your business. It’s employees who will be communicating and interacting with customers, and as such, they will shape the perception of the company. Thus, you should make sure you have as much information about them as possible before you commit to a hire. This can save you from identity issues, criminal trouble and liability further down the line.

There are a wide list of background checks employers can complete before committing to a hire. Some of these will only be relevant to certain roles while others will be universally appropriate. Indeed, even if the check doesn’t specifically apply, you might still want to complete it as part of an investigation. It will, at the very least, give further insight into the character of the individual you are considering hiring.

Address And Social Security

Checking the address and social security of a candidate can prove that they are not committing identity fraud. If an employee is committing identity fraud, it could severely damage the revenue levels of your business. Research has shown that small businesses are particularly at risk with the median loss being somewhere around six thousand dollars every year. It might not seem like a lot of money, but for a small business, this could be huge. With an address and social security check, you can make sure that the information provided is entirely accurate.

Criminal Checks

From Federal criminal records to county and statewide records, all information on criminal charges against a candidate can be accessed by an employer. With thorough checks, you may even be able to see whether an individual has been considered a person of interest in a crime or investigated but not charged. This will include sex offenses and employees can also discover whether a candidate is on a sex offender register. Obviously, this will affect the liability of a company. If for instance, a company knowingly hires a criminal, they could be held accountable for any related crime they commit while working there. They could also be seen as negligent if they did not complete this check. Particularly, if the employee in question was working with vulnerable individuals such as children or the disabled.

Employers are also able to complete checks involving civil records. These records of law cases the employee may have been involved in that are not criminal. For instance, you will be able to discover whether an employee has previously sued someone that they worked for. Again, this about ensuring that you have protection as an employer and ensure you know exactly who you’re hiring.

Credit History

This is going to be particularly important for any job involving the handling of finances. A credit history will show whether there is a history of the candidate not paying back debt and whether they have ever been in debt. If they have, it might be considered risky to put them in a role that involves handling any capital. It might also make you reconsider hiring them for any job. Someone who has repeatedly failed to pay back money owed could be considered unreliable.

Accurate Resume

Perhaps one of the reasons why you decided to consider a candidate was due to their CV. The information was noteworthy, impressive and reflected someone you would certainly want on your team. However, one report has suggested that fifty-five percent of candidates lie on their CV. If you want to be sure the information is accurate you need to complete education checks, employment checks as well as license and certificate confirmation. All of these checks will ensure that you are hiring the person who is reflected on the page. By checking on things like employment records you may also find some warning signs of a bad candidate. Perhaps they have poor references from previous employers that are not present anywhere on their CV.

Drug Testing

Finally, you may want to check for previous drug convictions as well as whether they are clean when completing the interview. Drug addicts are always going to be dangerous hires for employers. They can be considered untrustworthy, and if they are intoxicated on the job, they could even put others in danger. It is an essential check that all employers should be completing.

As you can see then, there are lots of reasons why you need to complete all of these background checks. Although, perhaps the most obvious is that someone could be lying through their teeth. This happened several years ago with the former CEO of Yahoo. He was asked to step down when it was revealed he had lied about having a degree in computer science. It’s best to find out now and avoid embarrassment or disaster later on.  



from
https://drugtestsinbulk.com/blog/why-you-should-do-a-background-check-on-potential-employees/

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