A background check is common when most employers are hiring a new employee. The process shows detailed information on an applicant in order to make sure he or she is a reliable and safe hire.
While it’s a common practice, not every company does background checks, even though there are a number of benefits.
Maintain Quality of Employees.
Employers should have standards when it comes to hiring decisions in order to keep the workplace safer. If an applicant has something to hide then he or she will likely not apply to a position that needs a background check. There are a lot fewer misstatements and discrepancies in job applications. When there are background checks, employers get better quality applicants to make hiring decisions a lot easier.
Workplace Safety.
Your workplace needs to be a safe environment for every employee and, whether you are following up with current employees or hiring someone new, background checks can help you make sure that individuals who are working for you are maintaining safety and compliance standards. Ongoing background checks can help make sure your company maintains safety by ensuring employees still follow company policies even after being hired. Industries where this is important include accounting, transportation, education, medical, industrial, and engineering. Background checks can help reduce workplace violence since you know if your potential employee has a criminal record.
Lower Costs.
If you aren’t hiring the right candidate the first time then you will have a higher employee turnover rate and this increases your costs. Recruiting, hiring, training, wages, and benefits are all things that are costly to employers and have to be done all over again if the first hire doesn’t work out. Background checks can also prevent employers from hiring a dishonest employee who has a criminal history, which can be expensive to the company since it leads to higher insurance premiums, absenteeism, an increase in accidents, an increase in theft, and an increase in workers comp claims.
Reduce Liability and Hiring Risks.
As the employer, it is your duty to make sure that the working environment is in compliance. Depending on your industry, employees that hold certain positions may not only pose a risk to themselves but also others around them. Employers need to take reasonable care when hiring an employee to reduce the risk and liability that come with negligent hiring standards.
Reduced Turnover.
One major way that background checks reduce costs is by reducing turnover. Employers can verify if an applicant is truthful and get information that helps with safer hiring decisions. This reduces the costs and risk associated with hiring a bad employee. Reducing the turnover rate means that employers don’t have to waste valuable resources retraining new hires and this helps the company work with a team that is motivated to grow and work.
Maintain Compliance.
When you perform background checks, your company is preventing potential fines, risks, lawsuits, and fees. Doing this can make sure your employees and company remain safe. Even though background checks ensure that you are maintaining compliance, you still need to follow rules when implementing these practices as well. You need to get written authorization from the candidate in order to perform a background check and follow any adverse action process before you deny employment based on what is found in the background check.
Performing the Right Background Check.
There are different kinds of background checks and it helps to know the difference between a comprehensive background check and an instant background check so you can make sure you are getting what you need to make a smart and safe hiring decision. An instant check is often cheaper and will have an immediate turnaround time. These types of checks have general information that is pulled from available databases. These aren’t verified with any official records so there can be errors. Employers should be using a comprehensive background check that pulls information from database searches and then pairs it with services and products to verify the data. Instant checks can make you believe you are creating a safe working environment and this can be just as bad as not implementing background checks at all. Cheaper options may not follow state and federal requirements, which can lead to a number of legal issues.
