Are Your Background Check Procedures Thorough Enough? 21 Oct 2016

Anyone who uses the old adage, “What you don’t know, can’t hurt you”, has never been a hiring manager and never experienced the fallout from a bad hire.

The fact that more than 50% of applicants lie on their resume barely scratches the surface of the underlying impact caused by cursory new hire reviews and less-than-thorough background checks.

The Society for Human Resources Management recently discovered that:

• Employee theft is the cause of 33% of all business failure
• Replacing a bad employee costs 6-9 months of their salary
• 66% of negligent hiring lawsuits (when a current employee sues you because you hired a bad employee) resulted in damages awards upwards of $600,000

Every smart employer realizes how background checks are the first line of defense for you, your company, and your employees. Not only do they provide you with the intel to hire wisely, they mitigate your risk against criminal activity, embezzlement, abuse, fraud, violence and potential lawsuits.

Still, with the wealth of background checks available, how do you know which your organization needs to maintain compliance?

You may already know that Forbes and SHRM recommend every employer run, at minimum, the Core Six; employment screening, criminal records history check, education verification, employment verification, identity and address verification, and reference verification.

After running the Core Six, see which background checks you think your company should consider running to stay in compliance.

Form I-9 & E-Verify

Under the Immigration and Control Act of 1986 the federal government requires all employers to verify eligibility for employment in the United States. Unless you have a different system for vetting out your employees’ legal status to work within the US, consider adding this background check to your hiring compliance procedures.

Driving & Motor Vehicle Records

Many employers unwisely reserve motor vehicle records checks for those who drive a company vehicle or run heavy machinery, putting their company at unnecessary risk, especially when you consider just how affordable it is to run. If your employee will use their own vehicle, or your vehicle, for any work related reason, including transporting goods, driving to meet with clients or attend conferences, or even running to your local office supply store, you will want to add this background check to your hiring compliance, and yearly review procedures.

Drug Screening

Many hiring managers and compliance officers insist upon random and regular drug testing of all employees, especially if those employees handle finances or money, interface with customers or operate machinery as part of their job duties.

Credential & Licensing

Critical in any industry where credentials and licenses are required or used to bolster reputation and performance, a credential and licensing background check should be performed on any employee claiming to possess them. Make sure any credential and licensure background check you order covers both the verification of the license or certification and whether the candidate is in good standing.