Employment background checks
Posted on July 10, 2008


Employment background screening is a crucial and inescapable part of the hiring process. There are various reasons why an employer must conduct a through background check before hiring or promoting an employee.

Negligent hiring law suits: Negligent hiring lawsuits are at an all-time high as more and more employers are shelling out huge amounts as compensation and damages for crimes committed by their employees. Several court rulings have already established the fact that in the case of an employee’s actions hurting someone, the employer is liable. Thus, a bad hiring decision can wreck havoc on the finances, work culture and productivity of a company. Quite predictably, employers now need to rely on much more than gut instinct while hiring people. Employment background checks are a great way to receive all the data pertinent to a potential employee.

Falsification of data: As more and more cases of child abuse, sexual harassment and crimes related to the workplace surface, both old and new employees face a high degree of scrutiny. Matters are not helped by the fact that many potential employees provide falsified data in their resumes. In fact, surveys indicate that more than 35% of resumes contain falsified or inflated data. Employees lie or embellish details regarding their educational qualifications, posts held in prior jobs, expertise and experience. Employment background screening exposes these lies and helps employers get to the hard facts in a reliable manner.

Statutory requirements: Several federal and state laws make it statutory to conduct employment background screening before hiring employees for certain jobs. For instance, most states require statutory background screening for employees with jobs that necessitate working with children, the disabled and the elderly.

Employment background checks are conducted by companies that specialize in background screening. Private investigators may also conduct background checks. It is important to get background screening reports from a reputed and reliable company or firm. This is because such firms have access to a wide database of information and they will be able to unearth data across state limitations. A complete background screening report may contain extensive data about the employee and will include information pertaining to address, age and educational qualifications, character references, social security number, driving records, property ownership, credit and court reports, bankruptcy records, vehicle registration and past employers references. The sources for most of the information are public records that have been generated by government agencies. Credit reports are provided by one of the three major credit reporting agencies and they throw sufficient light on the credit habits and payment history of potential employees. Screening companies work hard to compile all the pertinent data into one comprehensive report.

Pre-employment background screening plays a crucial part in the hiring procedure. All big companies conduct such checks regularly before they hire. However, small companies, local firms and business run by individuals often skip this all too crucial step. Reasons range from negligence to carelessness or sheer laziness. But skipping this vital step may result in catastrophic results in the long run. That is why it is important to conduct a thorough and reliable pre-employment background screening before hiring.

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