Four Reasons Why Companies Conduct Background Checks
Why employers do background checks before hiring a candidate? According to the prnewswire.com article, it is simply to verify a job candidate’s qualifications. Or are there additional benefits? In this post, we reveal some of the key reasons why employers conduct a background check or screening and how it adds value to their organization.
To Improve the Quality of Hiring
Sixty-seven percent of respondents indicated that the quality of hiring has improved as a result of background checking. Also, respondents are discovering false pieces of information more frequently, with 74% of respondents indicating that they find inaccuracies about 10% of the time.
If an applicant misrepresents their employment history, education, certifications, criminal history, or eligibility for a position, it can not only lead to a bad hire, but also financial, regulatory, and legal risks for the hiring company. Background checks can help detect false or misrepresented data early and protect against future threats and increased hiring costs.
To Reduce the Risks of Negligent Hiring
Twenty-nine percent of respondents indicated that background screening helps reduce the risk of negligent hiring. Negligent hiring claims can arise, for example, when an employee injures a co-worker or third party in the course of his or her employment and the victim alleges that the employee had a list of propensities to cause this type of injury and that the employer should have investigated whether he or she had met his or her “duty of care.” If this claim is known, the company may be able to seek damages for the negligent hiring. Along with 24% of respondents in the benchmarking report citing cost containment as a top business challenge, reviewing medical records can help protect against harmful negligent hiring lawsuits.
To Enhance Regulatory Compliance
In the benchmarking report, respondents cited regulatory compliance as the second most important business challenge, with 44% of respondents noting that background checks help improve regulatory compliance. A background screening provider with internal compliance experience, as well as smart, integrated compliance tools, can help a company comply with business regulations and state and national requirements that can vary from state to state and task to task, creating an additional challenge for companies. Without effective employment screening, a company could face costly fines, loss of privileges, or legal liability.
To Ensure Workplace Safety
Forty-two percent of respondents believe background screening is useful because it helps them improve workplace safety. Besides, 16% of companies felt screening reduced employee theft, 14% felt it reduced workplace injuries, and 11% said it reduced workplace violence. An FBI study noted that nearly 355,000 companies experience an incident of workplace violence each calendar year. Employers can conduct background checks to improve the quality of hiring and better protect employees and assets from injury, theft, and workplace violence.