5 Reasons You Should Get an Employment Background Check 13 Jul 2018

As an employer, you’re always busy finding new employees, keeping your existing employees happy, and doing the daily tasks that keep your business running smoothly. Having to worry about a background check can seem like too much at times, but that doesn’t mean you should skip it.

This article will discuss the most important reasons for you to run a background check on potential hires.

1. It Keeps Your Workplace Safe

Running a criminal background check can keep your workplace safe by determining if job applicants have a history of violent crime. Hiring someone that has committed serious crimes could jeopardize the safety of your employees and your clients.

For example, if you hire someone that has a conviction for aggravated assault and they assault one of your employees, you would feel responsible for putting your employee in danger. You could also be at risk for a negligence lawsuit depending on the circumstances. A criminal background check on a potential hire will protect your team from harm.

2. It Keeps Your New Employees from Being a Liability

Negligent hiring is when an injured person makes a claim against your company saying that you should have known about an employee’s dangerous background. When you hire someone without running a background check on them, you can be legally responsible for crimes they commit against employees or others on company property.

Another way an employee could be a liability is when they handle money or sensitive company information. If you hire someone to be a financial advisor and they steal money or don’t have the expertise to manage those funds you could be responsible. Even if you aren’t legally liable for their actions, it will hurt your brand and client relationships. Avoid taking chances with your company’s future; run a background check and reduce company liability.

3. It Confirms Their Education Level and Licenses

For specialized job positions, your company may expect that job applicants have a high level of education. However, many people lie about what college they went to, what courses they took, and even if they graduated. A background check that confirms their educational history helps your company ensure they’re the right person for the job.

Some jobs legally require applicants to have a license or certificate. Imagine you hire someone for a teaching position, and they have no teaching license, or their license is expired. You will be in serious legal trouble because of the strict laws regarding teachers’ licenses.

4. It Will Save You Money

Studies have shown that the average cost of hiring a salaried employee is 6 to 9 months of that employee’s salary. And the average cost is only going to go up in the future. What if you hire someone and they don’t have the skills needed for the job? You then have to put all those resources toward hiring another person for the same position. Running a background check beforehand will save your company all the time and money that a bad hire would waste.

5. It Helps You Know Your Job Applicant

When interviewing someone for a job, they try to emphasize the positives and minimize the negatives. This can cause you to hire someone without knowing who they are. For instance, a prospective hire may have worked at a factory in the packaging department. But to sound more impressive in an interview, they say they worked in management.

This tricky wording will make you think they have experience in a job they didn’t have. Running a background check on a prospective hire gives you a complete picture of your applicants.

How Can I Find the Best Company to Run My Company’s Background Checks?

Now that you know why you should run a background check on all your new hires, how can you find the best company to perform them? Look for a company that understands the laws for background checks, knows your industry, and offers all the kinds of background checks you need.

At Trusted Employees, we know the laws that apply to background checks at the state and federal level. We can adapt to the needs of your industry by creating background check packages tailored to your needs. Talk to one of our customer service reps to get started today.