You are an employer who needs employees. You have, or may not have, an adequately trained HR service to do it for you. You want to hire new people in the company – but you also want to be sure who you are dealing with. Scams have unfortunately become very common in 2024 – so you’ve decided not to allow yourself to fall victim to some charming and sweet-spoken job candidate. Therefore, it is necessary to thoroughly check the candidates you intend to hire. We bring you the 5 benefits of employee background checks.
Checking Is A Necessary Thing
Violence, theft, and crime have become risks in the workplace – and for these reasons more and more employers are checking the criminal past of employees. If the employer does not check the employee – it is possible to end up in court if he harms someone. Does this mean that employees with a criminal file will never find a good job, and employers will certainly not hire a former criminal? The answer to both questions is – no.
Difference Between Private Companies And Civil Service
In most countries, the civil service has an obligation for the candidate to issue a certificate of impunity. However, private companies do not have the right to do so – and usually do not check it. There is a statute of limitations for each criminal offense. This means that if the candidate has not committed a criminal offense after the expiry of that period – it is considered that it has not happened. For example, in case the employer finds out that the candidate has robbed a store ten years ago, and the statute of limitations is three years – he shouldn’t consider that information. Companies that use official vehicles must inquire about the driving ability of the candidate. If it turns out that the candidate has traffic violations – the employer can decide on that basis who to hire and who not. Although this belongs to a certain type of discrimination – the employer in this case has set employment conditions.
How Is That Working In The USA?
Private employers do not have access to the state database on citizens’ criminal activity – except in cases where the job requires it, such as teachers or social workers. The only thing they can do is check the courts to see if the person has a file. With more than 10,000 courts in the United States – a national search is impractical. Even to inquire about the previous residences of employees, and to check their credit identification numbers associated with social security numbers – it will be difficult to find files. Fortunately, companies today make extensive use of services to perform these types of searches, which can help them significantly. If a criminal record is found, the job candidate should be allowed to examine its accuracy – and must be given a copy of his or her rights before a rejection decision can be made.
Benefits Of Employee Background Checks
1. Check-Up Reduces Costs And Potential Loses
The check-up of job candidates aims to confirm the authenticity of the data stated in the application. Checks range from checking personal data, education, and legal requirements – to contacting the persons listed by the candidates in the recommendation segment and colleagues from the previous firm. Hiring professionals to screen potential job candidates can significantly reduce a company’s costs and losses – as screening job applicants can provide information that can significantly impact the business. It is not a rare case that job candidates present untruths about data, such as university education, previous work experience, etc.
2. Security Check-Up Of The Candidate
The practice has shown that often, even in managing positions, there are people with questionable diplomas, criminal history, history of incidents and abuse with the previous employer, abuse of psychoactive substances, etc. For this reason, the security clearance can in no way be considered a fad – but a necessary precaution in doing business in a market that is overwhelmed by challenges and risks of a personal nature, such as some of the above. In other words, the security check-up aims to identify the candidate’s security breaches that could endanger the company in any way.
3. Verification Of Biography Data
Verification of data from the candidate’s biography includes checks with the previous employer, position, work performance, recommendations, security check, verification of the authenticity of the data stated in the biography – as well as verification of the submitted documents. The security check aims to reveal possible characteristics of the candidate that in the future may endanger the employer, that is, the company, its reputation, property – but also the safety, reputation, and productivity of the rest of the team.
4. Check Candidate References
If you hire professionals, they can provide accurate and reliable information related to job candidate references. In addition to checking your candidate’s CV – you can also request a reference check, which is a check on the recommendations of previous employers. This includes checking the HR department – to determine the type of employment, the time during which the employee was hired, etc. Also, such services may sometimes include checking certain required skills that the employee has demonstrated in a previous job. Such information may be collected in contact with immediate supervisors – as well as close associates.
5. Check-Up Of A Possible Abuse Of Social Networks
Employers have business interests and can explore the social media activities of their employees – to make sure potential employees are committed to growing the company. Evidence gathered in this area, as well as the candidate’s criminal and civil history – may indicate if potential new employees will, or will not attempt to file lawsuits against the company for financial gain.
Conclusion
Because of the way public data is processed, mistakes are always possible, and cases of misidentifications often occur. There are also legal restrictions on how far into the past a search may go. Despite these limitations, employers still hold these searches useful. However, even if there is a criminal record, there are legal restrictions about the information an employer may know. The employer must not obtain information on arrests and detentions that have not resulted in convictions. Only convictions and lawsuits come into play. Furthermore, the employer is not concerned with criminal acts that have been sealed and erased. There are also restrictions regarding violations. Most employers will ask the candidate for a misdemeanor – but he or she should not be considered if the suspended sentence is over or in case it is out of date.
