When you begin the search for new employees, there are certain steps that must always be taken, such as publishing the job description online, sifting through the candidates and setting up interviews
Background checks can make the hiring process a little longer, but to give you peace of mind and to protect your business and other employees, they are worth their weight in gold, and here are 5 of the top reasons why they should always be carried out during the recruitment process:
- Brings to light past criminal convictions/history
While some criminal convictions in the history of an applicant, may not be an issue
for the type of work that they are applying for, either because they are minor, out of date or irrelevant to the position, some past convictions should not be ignored. They may give you a clear indication of the applicants’ personality and tendencies – such as if they have committed violent crimes – and show that they may not be suitable for the environment in which they would be working. You may be restricted legally as to whether you can employ certain types of convicted criminals, too, especially if it involves vulnerable sectors of society, such as the young or the elderly.
Either way, whether you choose to go on and employ an ex criminal or not, you should at least have access to the information that allows you to make an informed decision, and background checks give you that.
- Can help you avoid liability
If the person that you’ve hired for a position, goes on to get themselves into trouble with the law while fulfilling it, and it turns out that they have had previous convictions for the same offence, then you could get into a whole lot of trouble for not having checked their past convictions. An example of this would be if you had hired someone with a past conviction for DUI (driving under the influence), and they got arrested for this same offence while driving one of your company vehicles. Conducting a background check would have instantly brought this to light, and you doubtless would not have hired the individual for such a position.
- Helps to protect employees and clients
While you cannot be sure that a person with a clean background check, won’t go on to commit offences, if you’ve been given access to prior offences you can at the very least try to protect your employees and customers from danger. An individual with a past conviction for a dangerous offence such as assault, may not be the type of person you wish to expose your company’s employees to, or your customers, and should he or she go on to commit an offence against either party, you could be held liable because you didn’t conduct a background check.
- Helps you to verify educational background and qualifications
Background checks will enable you to confirm whether the information about qualifications and educational history provided by the applicant, is in fact true. This can prove crucial when the individual should have a degree or certification to legally fulfil the role, and can help keep you on the right side of the law.
- They can help make sure that you take on the right person for the right job
While you can never be certain that you’ve hired the right person for the job (and often only time will tell), a thorough screening of a candidate can at least help make the decision a little easier and certainly, more informed.
Background checks are a vital element of the hiring process, and can help you to not only protect yourself and your business, but your other employees too. Skip them at your peril!