The majority of employers today conduct background checks. The belief is that it is necessary to perform due diligence in order to assure qualified employees and to protect fellow employees and clients from harm or foul play. I would agree with this general belief and add that in these times it is increasingly necessary to run a series of background checks as part of your pre employment screening program. Given the tough economy, it is likely job candidates in desperation will provide misleading and inaccurate information about their resume and even lie about their pasts.
It is all but mandated that employers conduct social security traces and criminal background checks on their employment candidates. This is the bare minimum. These basic background searches are often sufficient for entry level positions. They can work for laborers, clerical workers, and temporary help. If the person also drives for you, you may want to conduct Motor Vehicle Driving Records Searches. The MVR search will not only reveal their driving records but may indicate other behavior pattens, such as substance abuse or desultory lifestyles. DUI’s or failures to appear in court are indications of this sort of behavior.
Credit checks will also reveal sense of fiscal discipline and financial management. Those who are experiencing financial turmoil often have the greatest potential to make desperate moves. The thing you need is for your newest employee to be your silent partner, to steal cash, inventory, or even supplies from you. There is also the added and frightful possibility that a desperate employee could steal your proprietary data and sell it to your competitors. There was a case in Los Angeles, recently, where a healthcare employee for a large hospital stole the financial records of patients and bilked the insurance companies out of $350,000 in false claims he had diverted to his own account.
For mid-management and executive level hires, the employment verification search can be very important. This and the professional reference check will indicate whether someone is looking for work because he was laid off or downsized, or because he was part of the dead wood his past employer could get rid of at an opportune moment. In this case that opportune moment would be the dreadful economy.
The education verification is extremely important. If people lie on their resumes, most often they will lie about either their criminal background or their education. Enough employment candidates claim degrees when they in fact are listed as enrollment only. Some of the more imaginative or desperate souls list a degree when they never attended that college at all.
There are other searches that may service those in the financial industry. The Federal Criminal Searches and Federal Civil Searches are very important, as they research any invovlement in white collar crimes and financially related violations. County Civil Searches will help avoid embarrassment from hiring fund raisers and liaisons to the community that currently have lawsuits against them.
It may behoove an employer to conduct a corporate records search on a key executive. The corporate records search would show if the employment candidate was affiliated with another company where it could reflect a conflict of interest.
Drug searches have become more prevalent. Certain industries, like healthcare, mandate that employment candidates undergo a ten panel drug test. The ten panel drug test is often prevalent in defense industry related companies, as well. Some employers will conduct a five panel drug test, which they feel is appropriate for their needs. Given the liability issues, poor performance, violence, retraining,and related issues in the workplace that are attribuatable to substance abuse, that small deposit of urine may go a long way in keeping employer costs down.
Some employers monitor the social networks to assess a candidate’s behavior and to determine if they are a worthwhile candidate. This, for me, as an option that may or may not prove all that accurate. Candidates who may be “characters” in their private lives may still be valuable and talented members of any working environment. Nevertheless, some employers believe this is a bellwether of performance and pass judgment accordingly. I will leave that up to you.
In all, conducting backgorund checks is a requisite part of our hiring process. I hope this guide sheds some light on what searches to consider when hiring your employment candidates.
