Archives for August 2015

Screening each potential new hire offers a range of benefits including fraud/theft reduction, better compliance, a safer workplace, the creation of a higher quality workforce, and fewer lawsuits due to negligent hiring. Before hiring that new applicant, employers should know who they’re bringing on board. Here are six reasons to background-check each potential new hire:

1. Assists in Screening for Qualified Employees

Background screening can assist in verifying that an applicant truly has the experience, education, credentials, achievements and job history claimed on a resume and/or during an interview.

2. Increased Workplace Safety

Despite how they might seem on paper, disruptive or even violent behavior is a risk with some workers. A criminal background check as part of an employment screening background checks process can help with reducing workplace hazards by avoid hiring those with a violent past.

3. Reduced Risk of Theft and Fraud by Staff Members

Theft and fraud committed internally by staff members results in huge financial losses for many businesses. Employment background checks can help companies to avoid hiring workers with a criminal past and reduce incidents of fraud and inventory or monetary theft in the workplace.

4. Fewer Negligent Hiring Lawsuits

Negligent hiring lawsuits are expensive, damaging to a brand name, debilitating to a business reputation, and toxic for a workplace environment. Screening every potential new hire helps to lower the risk of such lawsuits and the resultant bad press that can be generated.

5. Assistance with Meeting Compliance

Whether it’s from the state or federal government, clients, vendors or business partners, most businesses have compliance requirements they must meet related to hiring. Performing professional background screening on each potential new employee will help to ensure due diligence and provide documentation that the rules were followed for each new hire.

6. A Stronger Workforce

Background checks assist employers in finding and hiring the highest quality applicants possible while screening out those with less integrity. This means that in the long term, the workplace will attract and maintain better quality employees and ultimately a stronger business.

Employment screening offers a multitude of benefits that both improve the workplace climate and reduce liability for companies. To reap these six key benefits (and more), employers should strongly consider performing a background check for every potential new hire. Keeping checks for each applicant consistent will also help to ensure each new employee is a positive addition to the workforce.

Disclaimer: The information on InstantCriminalChecks.com is governed by our Terms of Use and is never intended as legal advice.

Source: https://www.sba.gov/content/pre-employment-background-checks

The job market is really fierce right now. There are often many people vying for good jobs, and when that occurs, sometimes people will lie to gain an advantage in the hiring process. One important way to keep from getting taken advantage of is to run an employment history check. However, the process isn’t really as easy as just finding out if the person has the employment background they claim, or if they have a criminal history.

The potential employee has a right to privacy in certain personal matters and is protected by federal law and many states have additional laws. Employers must follow the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) which is federal law and requires you to get consent, in writing, before conducting an employment history check or a criminal history check. Even after acquiring written consent, the future employer in most cases is limited to information that is relevant to the position being filled.

A job that requires a specific license, certification, or degree would require proof that the candidate has earned those credentials and a professional license verification or education verification would be appropriate. However, if you’re hiring a custodian, proof of a college degree may not be necessary, and it could be violation of a job candidate’s privacy if a future employer seeks to find that information.

Credit checks are another sticky situation that everyone may not understand where the limits are. As previously mentioned, under the FCRA, an employee, or job candidate must give consent for an employee’s credit check. Running a credit check is important for certain jobs and industries, like banking.

States and some cities also have laws about how much criminal history information an employer has the right to know. In some states, certain types of jobs are not allowed to know about crimes in the past; whether they were found guilty or not. However, in other jobs, such as teaching positions, a criminal history is deemed to be relevant to the job. In many states, it doesn’t matter how far in the past the crimes occurred.

Because knowing many of these things is very important to an employer to have the peace of mind in knowing they have hired someone they can trust, hiring a professional screening company to do an employment history check is a smart course of action. A professional screening company should ensure that they find out the proper employment history check information without violating any FCRA laws.

Disclaimer: The information on InstantCriminalChecks.com is governed by our Terms of Use and is never intended as legal advice.

Source: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/running-background-checks-job-applicants-29623.html

Small business owners are often tasked with doing it all. Some sole proprietors must become the R&D department, the marketing department, accountant and the human resources staff, all rolled into one person. It can be daunting, to say the least; but here are four tips for making at least the human resources and hiring portion of your job easier:

1. Brand Yourself as a Desirable Employer

Many small business owners are already using social media to promote their business and product/service. If you are one of these small business owners, consider working in some posts that showcase the desirability of your business as a place to work. Vignettes of your company culture in the form of essays from current employees or videos showing what you do and how you do it can paint your workplace and business in a positive light. You’ll naturally draw in desirable candidates, making the screening process easier.

2. Small business owners should create a Hiring Process, Document It, and Use It

As your staff grows, you’ll begin to get a sense of which interview questions and training programs yield the most valuable results and effective hiring. Document these practices and refine them over time to systematize your screening, hiring and new staff onboarding as much as possible. Create job-specific interview questions and processes to maximize your hiring success, and put them into practice.

3. Small business owners need to do Background Checks

A quality employment screening service can eliminate the guesswork in candidate variables such as a criminal history and past credit history. Make use of a professional employment screening service to help you eliminate candidates who may be a security risk to your organization. You can also outsource your education and employment verification needs. Be sure to inform applicants that there will be a background check and comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act when looking into their past.

4. Consider Pre-Employment Testing

Pre-employment testing is another effective way to determine if a candidate will be a fit for the job and for your business. Create an assessment that will assist you in weeding out candidates who are not a fit and help you to determine the most talented and qualified applicants.

Small business owners must often wear many hats, from sparking innovation to keeping tabs on bookkeeping to screening and hiring new talent. Use these four tips to make the human resources portion of your job easier so that you can hire reliable, quality staff for your growing enterprise.

Disclaimer: The information on InstantCriminalChecks.com is governed by our Terms of Use and is never intended as legal advice.

According to a survey from the Society of Human Resources as reported from Forbes, 69 percent of companies state that they conduct criminal background checks on all potential candidates. Only 14 percent of companies surveyed do not perform employment background checks at all. A thorough employment check helps to protect companies from liability in the case of issues stemming from individuals that were not properly vetted. There are some important considerations to keep in mind when running an employment check.

Review all of the information.

Look at a candidate’s education, criminal history, employment, driving records, social media when appropriate. Avoid becoming part of an Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) investigation for the exclusion of applicants with criminal records. Employers should note the type of charge and length of time that has lapsed since the charge took place.

Follow the law.

Applicants must sign a legal release form, be informed of their rights and receive a copy of the report and any associated communications.

Stay current on how the laws apply in an area.

Rules can change based on federal, state, local and employer-specific demands. An organization’s legal counsel can offer direction and create a consistent process.

Keep processes consistent.

Applicants for the same job title should have the exact same employment check and investigations run. Prevent any possible charges of discrimination.

Locate patterns.

Look for patterns of behavior. A one-off act of either positive or negative behavior is not indicative of a person’s character or their ability to perform a job. A pattern of actions are a better indicator of an individual’s decision-making process over time. Positives found on an employment check can also help employers choose between well-qualified candidates.

Be familiar with anti-discrimination and privacy laws.

The information that can be easily found on an Internet search may be illegal to use for vetting candidates. Under federal anti-discrimination laws, employment discrimination about an applicant’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin is prohibited. There are also many other state and local laws including marital status or health conditions that are often prohibited to use.

Review the sources that can be used for employment check as they apply within your organization and area. Stay consistent and objective when reviewing all of the pieces of data available.

Disclaimer: The information on InstantCriminalChecks.com is governed by our Terms of Use and is never intended as legal advice.