Criminal background checks: As an employer, you have the duty to make sure that your employees pose no foreseeable risks to others. Adding personnel without performing due diligence can open your firm up to negligent hiring lawsuits. Should the courts determine that your new employee was unqualified, unfit, or dangerous, and it was foreseeable that they could cause injury to others, you could be subject to expensive fines or settlements. An employment screening company is able to look closely at a …show more content…
prospective new hire's background. Their study of a person's prior history can help you to foresee their potential future behavior, especially if the applicant has a record in the court system.
Examination of court records: Employment screening companies understand that not every person is totally truthful, so they look beyond the applicant's claims about their past. They know how to obtain available records to identify any potentially risky job candidates. They find material information about your potential employees that can help you decide whether the applicant will cause you headaches down the road. By relying on their professional expertise, you don't have to worry about litigation that could result in enormous attorney fees or costly jury verdicts.
Compliance with employment screening laws: Some small businesses may think that a background check that consists of a brief web search and then a visit to the applicant's social media page is sufficient.
However, improper use of this information could open that company up to discrimination lawsuits, depending on the information they find. For example, if the employer visits the potential employee's personal page and sees a photo of them in a wheelchair, the prospective new hire could use this as a basis for a discrimination lawsuit claiming their previous disability influenced the hiring process. An employment screening company knows how to get the relevant information, without violating any employment laws. Since their sole job is to follow these hiring laws, they'll know more about what is and isn't allowed than the average person would.
Although hiring an outside employment screening company may at first seem unnecessary, closer examination will reveal that it's actually a good idea for small business owners. Instead of worrying whether or not you're following proper hiring procedure, you can focus on making sure that you pick out the candidate who will be the best fit for the
job.