Employee Screening Articles For October
October 31, 2008
In case you missed any of our employee screening articles for October, here’s a quick recap:
Sex Offenders and Halloween Safety Tips- Part 2
Sex Offenders and Halloween Safety Tips
Pre-Employment Drug Testing For Teachers
Background Checks For The Education Industry
Background Checks For Temporary Employees
Do You Have a Sex Offender Working For You?
Immigration Crackdown - HR Director Indicted
Drug-Free Work Week
Why Gaps In Employment Are A Red Flag
Hiring For Hotels: Why Screening Is Essential
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Background Checks For Temporary Employees
October 21, 2008
Companies are becoming more aware of how a lack of employee screening increases their exposure to liability. As a result, they are taking measures to conduct background checks on all permanent staff. Oddly, many firms don’t use the same caution when bringing temp hires aboard. The main reason cited by many employers is that screening and background checks take valuable time. They slow the placement process, which is an important factor for short-term projects. But, sacrificing caution for expediency when hiring temporary staff can be catastrophic.
Screening Temporary Employees
A temporary hire can expose your firm to just as much risk as a permanent employee. After all, once they are on your premises, they will usually have the same level of access to computer files, customer databases, and other resources. The fact that a temp employee is only working on a short-term assignment is irrelevant. If you neglect to perform background checks, they still pose a significant risk.
Many employers think that since a temp hire receives a paycheck from a staffing firm, the employer cannot be held liable for that hire’s actions. So, they decide against screening temporary employees. That’s a mistake. And it can potentially cost an employer millions of dollars. In truth, employers can be held liable for the actions of a temp hire. If they disrupt the workplace and harm your staff or customers, your firm can be sued.
How To Avoid Unnecessary Risk
Hiring an employee always carries an inherent risk, regardless of whether that employee is hired on a temporary or permanent basis. You should take preventative measures to protect your staff, your workplace, and the core assets upon which your business relies. At the very least, screen temporary employees as carefully as you screen your permanent staff.
To further reduce your company’s liability, perform comprehensive background checks that search county court records for past criminal convictions. Studies show that temp hires often have criminal records and other issues that can lead to problems if you hire them. Remember, one bad temporary employee can lead to a million-dollar negligent hiring lawsuit. Insulate your business by screening them.
Related Posts:
Does Your Company Do Employment Background Checks On Outside Vendors?
4 Tips on How to Avoid Negligent Hiring Lawsuits
5 Reasons To Do Employee Background Checks
4 Questions Employers Have About Employee Screening
Photo Credit: Bludgeoner86
Can You Tell If Your Applicant Is Lying?
September 26, 2008
It’s estimated that nearly 30% of job applicants lie on their resumes. Millions of candidates misrepresent their education, work history, and qualifications. Even worse, they might be hiding a criminal past. According to ADP Screening and Selection, out of over 2 million background checks performed in 2001, over 40% of applicants lied about their past employment or education.
Some HR executives are confident that their interviewing skills can help them identify liars. But, studies show that visual clues are often misleading. And the cost of hiring a bad employee can be enormous.
When Visual Clues Are Unreliable
HR professionals often think that a lack of eye contact or excessive squirming is evidence that a potential hire is lying. But, such visual clues are unreliable. A candidate who doesn’t maintain eye contact and fidgets during an interview may be well-qualified, yet simply nervous. Eliminating him from the applicant pool can be a lost opportunity for an organization. What’s more, millions of people are adept at lying. Lacking visual evidence of dishonesty, an HR executive may hire a candidate who has misrepresented himself.
The True Cost Of A Bad Hire
Hiring someone who has lied on his resume can create a number of costly problems for a business. For example, if a new employee lied about his qualifications, a business might be forced to waste time training that employee or looking for another candidate. If a criminal history remains hidden, the costs can be much higher. Employee theft, workplace violence, and substance abuse can lead to expensive negligent hiring lawsuits. The true cost of hiring a bad employee can be unfathomable.
Background Checks Are Essential
Because employers and HR professionals can’t depend upon visual clues to identify lying applicants, they must perform comprehensive background checks. Checking references, calling past employers, and looking for hidden criminal records is the only reliable way to reveal whether an applicant is misrepresenting himself. If your business is hiring employees without conducting background checks, you are exposing your company to unnecessary risk.
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Deciding Whether To Drug Screen Employees
August 26, 2008
As a hiring manager, you may initially feel uncomfortable with the thought of requiring drug tests from job applicants. Some human resources personnel feel that doing so encroaches upon applicants’ privacy. In truth, drug screening prospective hires can protect your company and your employees. Here are a few reasons why you should drug screen job candidates…
Drug Screening Protects Your Business
If you hire an employee who has a history of drug abuse, you could be held partially or fully liable for his actions while on the job. By drug screening applicants, you can eliminate those who have had a drug problem in the past. If something drug-related were to happen in the workplace and an employee is injured, prior drug screening would help insulate your company from a negligent hiring claim.
It Maintains Employees’ Safety
Some jobs require employees to operate machinery or potentially-harmful devices. If an employee who is operating this machinery under the influence of drugs makes a mistake, other workers can be injured. Not only will a drug screen prevent drug abuse in the workplace from endangering your staff in the first place, but it’s often a legal requirement for employers.
Drug Abuse Can Have A Massive Cost
If your workplace or your staff is exposed to an employee with a drug problem, the costs can be enormous. It can lead to employees becoming hurt, expenses related to negligent hiring lawsuits and damage to computers, machinery and other company assets. In some cases, the actions of employees who are under the influence of drugs have resulted in businesses having to close.
Drug screening job candidates plays a key role in finding high-quality employees for your company. Doing so protects your current staff from injury and insulates the workplace from damage and disruption. Finally, it helps shield your company from negligent hiring lawsuits. If you’ve been reluctant to conduct drug screening on new hires, consider the above reasons. The sooner you include it in your employee screening program, the better.
Related Posts:
Free Drug-Free Workplace Toolkit
4 Tips on How to Avoid Negligent Hiring Lawsuits
5 Smart Hiring Tips To Implement Today
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4 Tips For Preventing Workplace Violence
August 22, 2008
As stress and frustration in the workplace reach an all-time high, employers have begun to cast a wary glance at their hiring practices. Violence in the workplace is not new. Most of us can remember the incidents that led to the term “going postal.” Today, many hiring managers are aware that companies are often held liable for the actions of their employees. Below, I’m going to give you 4 quick tips to reduce that liability and prevent workplace violence.
Tip #1: Do A Background Check
An extensive background check on a job applicant should reveal any workplace violence in her past. In many cases, companies that have witnessed one (or more) of their employees becoming violent failed to conduct a proper background check. Don’t make the same mistake.
Tip #2: Call Past Employers
Often, violent incidents in the workplace aren’t formally reported. Sometimes, filing a report simply falls through the cracks. Other times, an employer may feel that reporting the incident would be troublesome. However, a quick phone call to past employers can help uncover such episodes.
Tip #3: Create A Strict Policy
You should communicate to workers that violence or threats of violence will lead to termination. Often, this type of zero-tolerance procedure is enough to dissuade employees from losing control.
Tip #4: Watch For Red Flags During Interviews
Even if a potential employee does not have a history of workplace violence, your company could witness the first incident. However, interviewers can be trained to note certain mannerisms that manifest when confrontational questions are asked.
Protecting Your Staff And Your Company
In the end, preventing workplace violence means protecting your employees from injury and protecting your company from disruption and lawsuits. While it’s impossible to guarantee that an employee will never act violently in the workplace, you can use the 4 tips above to dramatically lower the likelihood of it happening.
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5 Reasons To Do Employee Background Checks
August 7, 2008
If you’ve been reading my blog for long, you’ll already understand how important it is to conduct an extensive background check on any person whom you’re considering hiring. That said, let’s review. Use the 5 reasons below as a reminder of why it’s essential to do employee background checks.
#1 - Avoid Legal Liability
If you fail to check the background and history of an employee and that employee hurts someone in the workplace, your company could be held liable. Negligent hiring lawsuits happen all the time and employers pay the price.
#2 - Validate Skills
Just because a job applicant claims that he’s adept at something or has experience in a certain field doesn’t mean that it’s true. You need to do a background check to validate his claims.
#3 - Prevent Office Violence
Violence in the workplace can carry an enormous cost. Not only does it potentially expose your staff to physical harm, but it disrupts your company’s operations. While doing an extensive background check doesn’t guarantee a new employee won’t act violently, it’s one of the most effective preventative measures you can take.
#4 - Avoid Employee Theft
A large percentage of the people who steal items from the companies for which they work have a history of doing so. Checking an employee’s background can reveal whether a prospective hire has been fired or convicted of theft in the past.
#5 - Avoid Nuisance Lawsuits
There are people who apply for jobs, secure a position and then sue the company that has hired them. It may take the form of a frivolous worker’s compensation claim or a sexual harassment suit. You can uncover whether a job candidate has a history of filing these types of lawsuits.
Conducting employee background checks is an important part of protecting your staff and your company. They help maintain the safety of your employees. Plus, they can shield your business from a host of potential problems that can result from hiring an undesirable worker.
