Pre-Employment Background Screening

Do you know who you are hiring? 

It is extremely important today to conduct pre-employment screening as a final part of your hiring process.  Just because an applicant has an impressive resume.  The fact is the majority of applicants stretch the truth on resumes.

Whether you have 1 employee or hundreds. due diligence in hiring is a must to prevent (or defend) yourself from negligent hiring lawsuits.

For example, let's say  you are going to hire a receptionist.  A month or so later another employee is upset because her ID was stolen only to find out the receptionist you hired was the one who stole the ID and that the receptionist had a criminal background of theft.   You, the business owner, can be held liable for damages since due diligence of not performing a background was not conducted.

Are backgrounds 100%?  No.  Any screening company that says otherwise it not being up front. 

A good background would include: Past employment verification, national criminal, the county in which the applicant has lived within the last 7 years, social security and 7 year address verification.  Backgrounds also can include credit, driving records, drug testing, education verification among other areas.

A couple of key factors FCRA Requirements):

1. Anyone you conduct a background on MUST sign a release.  The release must be a page of its own (not part of the application).

2. If you decide not to hire someone based on the background an adverse letter must be sent to the applicant.  This is to give them a chance to request a copy of the results.

It is also important to conduct backgrounds on anyone you hire to work in your home, be it a nanny or care giver.  I did a non scientific study where I called several people advertising they were looking for a live in care giver.  None of them were required, nor did they want to do a background.   I thought that was amazing.

The following can help in your screening process and hiring:

• In your job announcements include the fact that you conduct background checks.
• All applicants will be required to sign a release of the backgrounds that will be performed
• The application should state that any false or misleading information will result in the application being denied.
• Check references and past employment
• Include in the release that future backgrounds can be conducted at random for purposes of relocation or promotions.  It also keeps the door open if backgrounds are needed as part of any investigations where criminal activity is investigated within the company.

You have worked hard in building your business and you want to not only protect your business but you want to protect your employees and customers. 

You may also want to consult your insurance company to see if having a background screening policy will give you a discount on your premiums.

Background screening is not expensive, especially when you realize that the average negligent hiring awards are $600,000.  This would put many businesses out of business.

If you have any questions regarding pre-employment backgrounds please feel free to email me.