Reasons For Background Checks on Employees


By Jennie Crawford


Do you own a business? Are you responsible for the hiring of firing of employees? Do you also have the responsibility of job assignment and duties and are you the one who is held ultimately responsible for the actions of those working under you? If the buck stops with you, you may want to start doing background checks on your current employee’s as well as future candidates.

The technology is available for us today to find out all kinds of relevant information about the people who work for us as well as those who would like to work for us. This information can be very helpful if deciding if someone is right for the job. For example, a car dealership would not want to hire anyone with a poor driving record because their company car insurance costs would rise dramatically. Most car dealership employees do drive company cars at one time or another. You would also not want to hire anyone with a history of financial problems to handle money. If they have trouble managing their own, they probably won’t be much better at managing yours.

A person who has a history of filing frivolous lawsuits may not be someone you would want working for your company. Although there are lawsuits filed that definitely have merit, if a person is suing someone every chance they get, they may only be interested in easy money. They may not be the best workers or reliable. You may also have concerns about your own companies assets being attacked by a unwarranted lawsuit.

A criminal history or criminal record check is also advised. You would need to be cautious when hiring someone with a history of assault. This could mean an anger management problem. A person who has restraining orders filed against them may also someone whom you would need to use caution in hiring. This could indicate a personality disorder.

All in all, background checks on employee’s ca yield a great deal of very useful information. I believe that current employee’s should be given a chance to explain anything suspicious on their report before any action is taken against them. I also believe that if the offense is minor, and a person is very qualified for a job, you should give them the chance to explain any blemish on their record. A background check should be another tool used in making employment decisions, not the only tool. The old saying that you can’t judge a book by its cover still holds true today. You should only use the information to form a clear picture of who the person is along with every other factor involved, such as work history and the personal interview with the person. I also don’t believe that employee’s with exemplary employment records should be terminated because of a mistake made in their past.

Jennie Crawford is the stay at home mom of two small children. For more information go to http://www.jenniecrawford.com/onlinebackgroundchecks or http://www.jennecrawford.com/workingathome


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