Securing Your Business Starting With Your Employees
Employers typically engage in pre-employment screening to:
- Discourage applicants with something to hide.
- Encourage honesty in the hiring process. It is estimated that as many as 33% of all applicants put false information on the application or omit important facts.
- Demonstrate due diligence. An employer has an obligation to take reasonable steps to hire the best person for the job.
- Eliminate uncertainty. Hard facts are needed to make an informed hiring decision.
- Save money. It is not cost effective to recruit, train, and equip a new-hire only to find he/she is not right for the job. Clearly the cost of a screening is considerably less than the cost to litigate a negligent hiring suit.
- Promote productivity. Employees who feel safe and secure in the workplace and enjoy a pleasant environment tend to be more productive.
- Avoid problems such as theft, embezzlement, harassment, unhappy or lost customers, workplace violence and many other problems a "bad hire" can bring.
This is the why, now the how. Of course you could try to do the screening yourself, but that is not the best course. Why?:
- A great deal of time must be spent learning and keeping current with the many federal, state and possibly municipal laws as they apply to employment. Laws such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) the Drivers Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) and HIPPA laws, governing what and how health information can be gathered. In addition, all of the legal paper work must be downloaded.
- Without being a consumer reporting agency (CRA) on your own you can do little but contact former employers without running the risk of having to litigate a civil right violation suit.
- Of course there are many databases on the Internet that claim to do background checks, however these probably are not FCRA, DPPA or HIPPA approved nor is their information as accurate as you would like.
- A database check can only go so far. Now more time (which is money to you) must be spent searching court records for verification, contacting references, past and current employers, education institutions, and so forth often ending in a frustrating game of phone tag.
The solution? Hire a licensed private investigator who has made pre-employment screening their specialty. Most states have strict laws governing the profession, therefore the licensed private investigator is held to a higher standard than those who are not licensed. This is their specialty, their agency is a CRA, and they are well versed in all laws. Being licensed they have access to PRIVATE databases that are FCRA, DPPA and HIPPA approved, know how to search court records especially criminal, civil, sex offender, and driving recprd. Remember, this is what they do, so they want to make the necessary phone calls to make sure you are getting the right person for your company.
