What You Don't Know Really CAN Hurt You: Know Who You're Hiring - Know it ALL
All you need to do is Google “employee theft” and a multitude of articles will fill the screen. You’ll quickly see that employee theft is still rampant and growing. In fact, $50 billion is stolen annually from U.S. businesses by employees. According to the 2012 Report to the Nation on Occupational Fraud and Abuse, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) reported that the median loss for small businesses was $147,000 and more than one-fifth of the total cases caused losses of at least $1 million.
And unfortunately employee theft isn’t the only issue…..substance abuse and violence are also of major concern. Not to mention negligent hiring liability – which is very much in the forefront of the news today. In addition to the obvious losses, how many companies can survive negative publicity? Many don’t. Are you willing to take the risk?
What is negligent hiring liability?
Employers have a moral and a LEGAL obligation to provide a safe work environment. The court defines negligent hiring as “the failure to investigate a job applicant’s work experience, character, criminal history and other relevant data prior to the hiring of an employee.” It means your company can and will be held liable for the criminal or violent acts of its employees.
In addition, courts have repeatedly affirmed that employers have a duty to exercise REASONABLE CARE in hiring individuals who, because of the nature of employment may pose a threat to the public. This threat doesn’t just mean violence – it could be damages to a client from the services your employee performed.
So actually, you’re in a unique position of not only needing to protect your own firm, but perhaps also giving guidance to your clients about risk management. And a key component of risk management is hiring the right people.
What can you do to ensure that you know who you’re really hiring?
BACKGROUND SCREENING
A comprehensive background check is CRITICAL to ensuring you’re obtaining an applicant’s criminal records, license certifications, former employment history, etc. These are tools that will not only protect your company, but also save time and money in recruiting, training and hiring. And once it becomes known that you’re a company who does background checks, most employers see an almost immediate improvement in the quality of applicant.
Knowing whether a potential employee has been involved in criminal activity (such as substance abuse, reckless behavior, dishonesty, theft or dangerous and violent behaviors) allows an employer to determine if an applicant is suited for the job and work environment and if the applicant poses a potential threat to clients or other employees.
So, almost everyone would agree that thorough & comprehensive background checks are important, but how do you really know if you’re receiving one?
What makes a background check truly comprehensive?
Many background screening firms will try to sell you every report that it can possibly run. Isn’t more better? NO. Many searches contain irrelevant information that may or may not be kept up to date and some even contain records that you aren’t even legally allowed to consider. And the quality of the data used by background screening firms is also ESSENTIAL in obtaining all criminal records and ensuring the information is accurate and up to date.
All employers should include the following checks in their background screening packages:
- A Nationwide Criminal Search
- A Social Security Trace
- MANUAL County Courthouse Searches for 7 years of applicant address history (2 – 3 counties on average). Manual county searches are searches where researches actually go into a courthouse to pull records. They are the only type of search that will show a “pending” charge. “Online instant record data” is available from many providers but is NOT guaranteed to be accurate or up to date – and almost always ISN’T.
- Employment Credit Check (If it’s applicable to the job itself – such as taking payments, handling money, going into a client’s home, handling banking information, etc.)
NOTE: Running employment credit reports in the accounting industry is appropriate, particularly as people with financial difficulties may be more prone to financial fraud.
- Former Employer Verifications/Professional Reference Checks
- License or Education Verifications
All background screening firms are basically the same, right?
NO. Not even close. And they all don’t use the same databases either. Oddly enough, no one regulates what sources are used or not used when searching and passing on criminal records. A background screening firm can buy as little or as much data as it chooses. Sounds crazy doesn’t it? But, it’s true – which makes selecting a superior background screening firm all the more important. And the differences don’t stop there.
Many firms have violated consumer rights and endangered employers by putting them in harm’s way for lawsuits. They’ve also prevented good people from getting much needed jobs by passing on records that didn’t really belong to the correct applicant – as with people with common names. Sadly, this isn’t uncommon in the industry and many firms frequently and knowingly pass on bad data and don’t perform any type of ‘order review’ process to ensure criminal charges belong to the right person.
What does this mean for AAA members?
- If you’re not performing background screens on your employees, you should be.
- And if you are, you still may not be receiving ALL the record information you need!
Ask questions about the data sources. How many records are being searched in a Nationwide Criminal Search? Ask to see a source list! Most firms WON’T provide their source lists to clients. Ask WHY?
- Criminal records may or may not belong to YOUR applicant and the information may not be up to date and actionable.
Ask what type of order review process is completed on each order with a “hit” and by whom? Is that person or team FCRA Certified? If not, ask why!
Ask if real people are going to the courthouse to perform LIVE county searches. If you’re receiving an INSTANT result on a COUNTY SEARCH – the answer is definitely NO and could possibly be no as well because instant county data is CHEAP for the background screening company to buy.
- If your pricing for a background screening package seems too good to be true – IT IS.
Incredibly cheap screening packages are an immediate red flag. If you’re paying $9.99 for a “premier package” (also a red flag), there’s a problem – or – your package is $19.99 and contains “unlimited counties”. “Unlimited counties” = instant online junk data. Instant online junk data = bad information = bad hire/lawsuit.
The key to a comprehensive background check is having a great background screening partner. Look for a partner who is NAPBS accredited, focuses on educating clients on what they do and DON’T need, is honest and forthright about their sources of data, acts as your compliance partner – relieving your burden of staying up to date on the ever changing regulations regarding the use of criminal records in hiring, EEOC issues and hot topics such as Ban the Box and finally, look for a firm that is honest and will treat your business like it’s their own.
AAA Preferred Background Screening Partner – Reference Services, Inc. (RSI)
After much due diligence and consideration, AAA found a background screening firm that they felt truly worthy of calling their partner – Reference Services, Inc.
RSI is one of only 46 background screening firms in the entire U.S. (out of 2000) to be nationally accredited by the National Association of Professional Background Screeners. They’ve earned the business of many national clients by uncovering criminal records that others miss. In fact, they do it often. Their nationwide database alone is made up of almost 500 million records from over a thousand quality sources and their County Search Network covers every jurisdiction in the U.S. They also take great care to ensure that their records are accurate, following diligent order review & compliance procedures on every background check that is performed.
Growing and managing your business should be your focus – not worrying about the quality of your background checks. Let RSI remove that burden and help protect your company. Contact Lisa Corcoran, RSI AAA Partner Manager at 812-474-9000. And even if you’re not ready to become a client, the RSI team will help you by answering your questions about background screening or compliancy. They’re committed to AAA and its members and offer special member only pricing as well.