Avoid Negligent Hiring Through Pre Employment Background Checks

August 6, 2010 by

One of the most undervalued benefits of conducting  pre employment  background checks is that the fact that a company performs employment screening can be a defense against a negligent hiring lawsuit.

Imagine that an employee who has customer contact on a regular basis suddenly loses his temper and attacks and injures one of your customers.  A suit is filed against the employee, your company, and you for damages suffered by the customer, now known as “Plaintiff”.

Now imagine that plaintiff’s attorney introduces evidence that his client, your former customer, had numerous previous arrests and convictions for aggressive behavior, including assault and battery.  Plaintiff’s attorney contends that you, as the employer knew, or should have known, that the employee would assault someone based on his prior history.

If you don’t conduct pre employment background checks on all your new hires, then you may as well go ahead and write a large check ot to the plaintiff.

Now, even if you had done a background check and it came back clean, at least you made an effort to weed out the bad hires, and you have made an attempt at due diligence.

Employers should make an effort to hire honest, productive employees, a process that should include  employee background checks.

Go to: employee background checks to learn more about how to improve your pre employment screening process.

Filed Under: Pre-employment screening Tagged With: , , ,

Use a Background Check Company To Reduce Your Losses

August 5, 2010 by

Many retail loss prevention experts agree, and numerous studies confirm, that the largest percentage of shrink – unexplained inventory losses – and cash shortages are caused by employee theft, which is why so many use a background check company for pre hire screening.

The question retailers having a problem with employee theft might ask themselves is: Did I hire a thief or did my policies and procedures encourage an honest person to steal?

An employer can’t know for certain what is in the mind of his potential employee. But he can check into the employee’s past to determine if there is a propensity for property crimes like theft, or crimes of violence such as assault and/or battery through a search conducted by a background check company.

The past of an applicant can be revealed by a criminal history check in the jurisdiction where the applicant resides by an examination of public records relating to arrests, convictions, and sentences handed down by the courts. Although a past record is not an absolute indicator of future actions, it can be argued that a person with multiple arrests for similar types of crimes might be expected to revert to that behavior at some point.

A person’s history of drug or alcohol abuse might also be revealed.

If your employees have access to your property and cash, or have contact with the public, a background investigation can reduce a business owner’s losses as well as his possible liability for an employee’s actions.

It makes sense to start with an honest employee.

Go to Background Screening to learn more about incorporating a background check company into your pre hire screening.

Filed Under: Background Screening, Criminal Histories, Pre-employment screening, Preventing Theft Tagged With: , ,

Employment Screening and Credit Reports

August 5, 2010 by

There are many employers that obtain an individual’s credit report as part of the employment screening process, while many others do not.

There have been several attempts at both the state and national levels to prohibit an employer from using the credit report of an applicant or employee for employment purposes. The most recent is HR 3149, the Equal Employment for All Act, sponsored by Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN).

As of today, the FCRA allows the procurement of a consumer report, including a credit report, as permissible for employment purposes.

Employers and businesses generally maintain that a credit report is useful in screening applicants for certain sensitive positions, those that have responsibility for cash or assets. The report is considered only as part of a comprehensive background screening process that includes verification of employment, education, criminal history, identity, reference checks, and interviews, among other factors. Employers feel that they can legitimately use this information to make the best possible choice among candidates.

What is the value of an individual’s credit report for an employer?

Since there is no lending involved, a credit score is not provided on an report for employment purposes, and therefore has no effect on the decision to hire. What is included may determine if the applicant has excessive debt, pays bill responsibly, has debts in collection, or has an extravagant lifestyle based on overuse of credit cards. The employer may consider the amount of pressure that may be put on a potential employer by collectors as a factor, or whether the applicant has shown good judgment in his own financial dealings.

The wise employer will consider extenuating circumstances in assessing the credit report of an applicant. Certainly today’s economy and unexpected job loss are factors to consider, as well as unavoidable medical bills which can have a tendency to pile up, even on those who have medical insurance.

For more information go to: Employment Screening

Filed Under: Credit Histories, Pre-employment screening Tagged With: ,

Why Get A Criminal Background Check On Potential Hires

August 4, 2010 by

What results can an employer expect to find in a pre-employment criminal background check?

The first decision an employer must make in requesting a criminal background check is to determine how broad the search should be: national, statewide, or at the county level.  There is currently no national criminal record search available, except in very limited situations when an FBI fingerprint check is required.  The results of such a check take from 4 to 6 weeks to be returned to the inquirer.

A statewide search is broad, but can miss some crimes, as the statewide repository information is made up of arrests and dispositions reported by the various courts in the state, some of which may not report regularly if at all.  A county check is thorough and detailed, but will not uncover crimes committed in other counties or jurisdictions.  Not all statewide repositories are equal: some are limited as to years reported, severity of the crimes reported, and whether there has been a conviction or not.  Some do not report pending cases.  It pays to be aware of the limitations of the repositories that are used for the criminal check.

The FCRA, the agency that regulates the background industry, allows background screening companies to report all convictions revealed by the check; arrests with dispositions other than convictions may only be reported back seven years.

For further information, go to: criminal background check

Filed Under: Background checks, Background Screening, Criminal Histories, Pre-employment screening Tagged With: , ,

What Is A Background Check

July 27, 2010 by

Wikipedia defines background check or background investigation as the following: “A background check or background investigation is the process of looking up and compiling criminal records, commercial records and financial records (in certain instances such as employment screening) of an individual.”

Before you hire, be sure to do your homework on the candidate with a thorough background check or pre-employment screening.   You can learn about how the candidate manages their finances, what their driving record and criminal history all have to say about the individual.

Pre-employment screening has become much more sophisticated, efficient and effective with the use of online tools.  You can obtain your pre-employment screening/ background check by contacting Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. your Background Check Experts at 1-770-426-0547.

Filed Under: Credit Histories, Criminal Histories, Education Verification, Pre-employment screening Tagged With: , ,