Negligent Hiring

Deciding Whether To Drug Screen Employees

August 26, 2008 By Chris Miller

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.

Free Drug-Free Workplace Toolkit

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4 Tips For Preventing Workplace Violence

August 22, 2008 By Chris Miller

Guns 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 By Chris Miller

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.