The Cost of Not Running a Pre-Employment Background Check 3 Jan 2020

It’s nothing new that running your own business is expensive. If you’re in the process of hiring a new employee, you may be wondering, “Is it really worth running a background check on a potential candidate?” While you might be able to save some money initially, not running a pre-employment background check can end up costing you a whole lot more. How so?

Believe it or not, not running a pre-employment background check comes with many costs. When we think of the word “cost”, our minds usually go straight to money. However, costs mean much more than that. If a business decides to not run a pre-employment background check, it can cost risking their safety, harming their business, and fraud. Let’s look into each of these points.

Keeping Your Employees Safe Increases Company Productivity

When you skip the background check, you could be letting anyone into your business. Don’t risk the safety of your business and your employees.

Making a safe hire and contributing to the safety of your workplace has many benefits. According to Maine’s Department of Labor website, one benefit of keeping your workplace safe is that workers will be happier and more productive. If your employees don’t feel safe, it can result in them performing poorly at their job.

So, by running a background check, you can potentially avoid the cost of putting your employees and business in danger. But let’s see how it can also help you avoid the cost of harming your company’s reputation, too.

Making a Safe Hire Can Protect Your Company’s Reputation

Every company wants a good reputation. An additional cost to not running a pre-employment background check is that you risk harming your company’s reputation. Not knowing who you’re hiring and the potential threats they pose can bring serious harm.

In 2018, Uber decided to start running more intensive background checks due to a stream of sexual misconduct allegations within the company. More than 100 Uber drivers were allegedly accused of assaulting or abusing passengers. One of the victims of assault sued Uber for $10 million to compensate for the physical and emotional damages she retained.

This is just one of many customers who have been abused by an Uber driver. As a result, people have begun to question Uber’s reputation as a safe ridesharing company. If Uber had decided to run more extensive background checks, they may have been able to avoid this tragic situation in the first place.

If you think foregoing a background check is only harmful to your wallet, think again. All it takes is one bad hire to negatively impact your brand reputation. By not running background checks, you put your name and reputation at risk. Now let’s consider a third risk — fraud.

Proper Pre-Employment Screening Can Protect Your Company From Fraud

Fraud costs organizations lots of money. According to a report conducted in 2018 by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), CFEs projected that organizations lose around 5% of their revenue each year due to fraud. It’s even worse for small businesses as their median fraud losses per scheme are almost 50% higher than bigger businesses. By running a pre-employment background check, you can avoid the cost of fraud and save your company thousands.

When you don’t check the criminal history of potential hires, you risk letting people into your company that may have committed crimes such as fraud in the past. This is especially dangerous if you’re hiring someone in the financial sector or to handle your organization’s money.

Running Pre-Employment Background Checks Is Beneficial to All

As we’ve seen, skipping the background check can be costly. These costs include risking your business’ safety, harming your business’s reputation, and losing revenue to fraud.

When you don’t know who you’re hiring, you may be letting someone into your business that could put your employees and business in danger — you risk their safety. When employees commit a crime, they harm your business and your reputation. Lawsuits can also cost your company millions. Not knowing your employees’ history also puts you at risk for fraud, which one report says accounts for about 5% of companies’ revenue loss.

Running pre-employment background checks can protect your employees and brand and help you avoid the costs of risking safety, harming your business, and fraud. Try our background check service today and make hiring smart, safe, and easy.