Background checks are an essential part of any hiring process. They help to ensure the safety of your staff and customers. They can also help to prevent fraudulent claims by employees and protect your business from negligence liability.
Hiring the right employee can hurt your reputation, client relationships, and sales. A criminal background check conducted by a trusted CRA can help to minimize these risks.
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Saves Time
Employee background checks can save you a lot of time by screening candidates who are unsuitable for your business. For example, if you want to hire drivers, conducting motor vehicle record checks will reveal past driving violations that could lead to accidents or even death. This can help reduce your liability for negligent hiring lawsuits.
Performing comprehensive checks can also save you from hiring criminals who might threaten your employees and customers. These checks are particularly important for positions with special security concerns, such as ports of entry, working with children, the elderly, or government jobs.
By using alias and address history searches in addition to a national background check criminal record, you can ensure that you don’t miss any red flags. It’s also a good idea to create an employment screening policy that specifies what information will be considered in hiring decisions and how the checks will be conducted. Lastly, following federal and state laws governing background checks is important to avoid negligence claims.
Saves Money
A bad hire can cost a company lost productivity, reputational damage, or even liability. Performing criminal background checks can reduce the risk of hiring an employee who has a criminal history, which could make it difficult to trust them with your business’s assets or customers.
When an employer hires someone with a criminal record, it puts the company at risk of negligent hiring lawsuits. Negligent hiring lawsuits can cost a business in litigation fees, settlement costs, or even a judgment against the company. A criminal background check before hiring can save a business from the risks of negligent hiring lawsuits.
A quality criminal background check can include searches of federal, state, and county records, sex offender registries, terrorism watch lists, and other national sources. It can also include searches of motor vehicle records, civil judgments less than seven years old, and drug tests. A reputable CRA, like Reliable Background Screening, can help tailor your background checks to meet your company’s specific needs while remaining FCRA compliant. A quality background check is a smart investment that helps to ensure the safety of employees, customers, and the public.
Prevents Injuries
A criminal record check helps businesses protect their clients and staff by not hiring people who could potentially commit crimes or be a risk to the company. This is especially important for companies in regulated industries and jobs requiring high levels of trust and responsibility, such as health care and driving.
Conducting a background check can help to prevent workplace violence, which is estimated to cost US employers 1.75 million work days and $55 billion each year. A criminal background check can also help prevent employee theft, as it identifies people who have been convicted of a crime related to theft or fraud and may not be trustworthy.
A background screening that includes employment verification can also identify false information on a candidate’s resume, as it checks with past employers to verify job titles and dates of employment. A credit report and consumer reports check can help a business learn more about a candidate’s financial history, including civil judgments, tax liens, bankruptcy records, and unpaid bills in collections, which is important for positions with financial management responsibilities. Routine drug testing also ensures a safe and healthy working environment and is an important part of many background checks.
Prevents Fraud
One of the biggest reasons businesses conduct criminal background checks is to prevent fraud and embezzlement. According to research, employee theft costs companies $50 billion each year. Criminal background checks uncover red flags indicating fraud and embezzlement, such as previous convictions of theft or violent crimes.
Employee theft also causes problems for the business’s reputation. Employees who steal from the company can damage its reputation by tarnishing its brand and image.
A background check typically includes national and state criminal records searches, county criminal record searches, felony and misdemeanor convictions and pending cases, civil judgments less than seven years old, drug testing results, domestic violence watch list data, and expunged and sealed convictions. Some businesses do additional searches, such as driving and financial records.
Depending on the industry, some employers might be required by law to conduct criminal background checks. Others might need to do so to maintain a safe work environment. Performing compliant pre-hire checks and routine background checks can help businesses avoid negligent hiring lawsuits.
Prevents Negligent Hiring
Employees with criminal records are a major threat to business safety and security. Many states and provinces have laws that allow employees to file negligent hiring or negligent retention lawsuits against their employer if the company knew, or should have known, that the employee was a danger and did not take action to prevent it. A background check can help prevent these types of lawsuits.
Running detailed background checks can reveal information about an applicant that is often overlooked on job applications and resumes. This includes driving records involving a company vehicle, civil lawsuits less than seven years old, sex offender data for at-risk jobs, county, state, and federal convictions, and more.
Negligent hiring lawsuits are costly for businesses, and the average claim results in a $1 million settlement for the employer. By making it a standard part of your hiring process to run comprehensive background checks, you can avoid the cost and risk associated with a negligent hire. In addition, you can also reduce the risks of employees committing fraud or acting violently against customers.
