People always ask me if I believe that employee background checks are really necessary and I always reply with the same story: A couple of years ago I interviewed a young man who was absolutely perfect for the position. He was professional, knowledgeable and eager to get to work. So I had him fill out all the necessary paperwork and sent him for a drug screening.
Several days later my GM walks into my office wearing a huge grin, he could hardly contain himself. He slid a single sheet of paper across the desk to me; drug screening results. Before I could read it he blurted out “There were so many drugs in his system he nearly burnt a hole in the cup!” I was slightly embarrassed to have advocated such an obviously bad choice, but extremely relieved to find out about his history prior to hiring him.
Employee background checks include background and criminal checks, psychometric testing and, of course, the afore mentioned drug screenings. Due to a sharp increase in security concerns, corporate scandals and workplace violence the use of a criminal background check has gone up from 66% in 1996 to over 96% today according to The Society for Human Resource Management Workplace Violence Survey. Unfortunately we no longer live in a society where a couple of phone calls to someone’s previous employer is enough to determine their suitability for employment in your organization.
Today a company can be held liable for the actions of an employee and risk a potential negligent-hiring lawsuit, especially if they did not perform employee background checks . Additionally you may learn vital information such as a history of mental instability or numerous previous worker’s compensation claims that may influence your decision on bringing an individual into your organization. Whether we like it or not, the world is changing and in the present job climate a pre employment screening should be a mandatory part of your hiring practices.
For more information about our background check company contact us: employee background checks or call 1.770.426.0547
