Background Checks and Employee Promotions or Retention

If your company conducts employee screening, including criminal background checks on all your potential new hires, you might not see the value in duplicating the process for an employee you are considering for promotion. But if you think about it, there may be several reasons to consider doing just that.

Some of the reasons:

An increase or change in the scope of responsibility. Perhaps the new position exposes the employee to more sensitive information, larger amounts of cash, or interaction with more or higher level clientele. Think about whether a credit check is now more important than before. You promote a warehouse worker to delivery driver. Did you check his driving record previously?
The employee had a clean criminal record when he was hired a year ago. Is that still the case, or has he since had trouble with the law? And if so, would it be enough for the employer to have second thoughts about promoting or even retaining the employee?
Is the new position one that requires a certain level of education? This may have been overlooked or left unverified at the time of hire, but could cause a loss of confidence on the part of your clients in the new position. Verifying education is not difficult to do.
If the new position requires licensure or certification by a state or local agency, this can be verified through a fresh background check as well.
As another example, a driver’s route has changed so that he now delivers to a school or day care facility. Checking the State Sex Offender Database might now be called for, or even required by the facility.

At the time that you consider promoting your next employee, you might want to think about the new responsibilities and liabilities associated with the position and conduct a new background check.

It is important to be fair and consistent with all employees and applicants who are subject to employee screening and background checks and develop the depth of the investigation based on the relevance of the position.

To discuss these and other background related issues go to Background Checks or call 770-426-0547.