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As the following examples illustrate, employers who fail to thoroughly screen employees often pay a high price.
Thorough check would have revealed janitor’s criminal history. By the time school officials of a district in a suburb of Austin, Texas, found out about the criminal past of a janitor, it was too late. The truth came out only after the recently hired employee and his brother were arrested for the attempted sexual assault of two students. It turns out that the man had moved to Texas from Arkansas — a state where he was a convicted felon.
The district’s statewide background check through the Texas Department of Public Safety failed in the sense that it did not provide a complete picture of the prospective employee. The school said it did not check with Arkansas authorities because it did not know the man had lived in the state.
Academic fraud all too common in universities and the corporate world. A top admissions official at a prestigious university resigned after admitting that she had lied about her educational background. The Dean, who first applied for an administrative assistant position nearly 30 years before, claimed that she had degrees that she had never earned. Even as she rose through the ranks of the university, she continued to rely on those false credentials. For nearly 10 years, she served as the Dean of Admissions, a position where she helped decide the academic future of thousands of applicants to the school.
Company pays the price for improper checks. A poor hiring decision based on an incomplete background check ended up costing a furniture retail business a significant amount of money. The company lost a negligent hiring case after one of its employees raped and murdered a woman in her home. The man had been to the home earlier that day to deliver a couch.
Professor failed to disclose murderous past. Regardless of the number of years that pass or miles we travel, the truth always has a way of catching up to us. A professor of a major university was fired for non-disclosure of a criminal record after it was revealed that he had been convicted of a triple homicide as a teenager. The crime occurred in another state and the professor had done his time, serving the maximum sentence. For its part, the university received a flood of bad press for not performing a background check on the professor.
Background checks necessary for hotel security. A hotel manager entered a guest room as she slept. He tortured and strangled the guest to death. His criminal past, which would have been uncovered in a background check, was revealed in the subsequent murder investigation. The victim’s parents won a $4.6 million settlement against the operator who had hired the manager.
Protect your business, your employees and the general public with proper employee background checks. Click here for more information on our Employment Screening Services.
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For every dollar a company invests in personnel screening, it saves $5 to $16.|
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38% of managers say they have fired an employee for stealing.|
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In 2007, the annual employee turnover rate was 24%.|
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53% of employment applications contain some fabrication, ranging from minor embellishments to fraud. |
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A third of the workers who steal from their employers have a prior criminal record.|
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More than 50% of workplace violence offenders had a prior criminal record. |
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Employers lose 79% of all negligent hiring suits. The average jury plaintiff award in employment law cases is more than $1.6 million.|
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Each week, an average of 20 people are murdered and 18,000 people are assaulted while working in the United States. 
Employment Screening Service Helps Employers Make Informed Hiring Decisions
Employee background screening is no longer just a good idea or recommended practice. It’s a necessity for all businesses.
Newspapers, business journals and websites frequently carry cautionary tales about employers who skipped background checks or failed to adequately screen prospective hires. Such lax practices often cost the employer much, much more than the small background check fees. Common consequences of poor hiring decisions include everything from lost productivity to a tarnished company reputation to negligent hiring lawsuits.
There are many good reasons why employers of all sizes should thoroughly screen each and every employee. Employees, especially those who have something to hide, may not be completely honest during an interview or in resumes and applications. Often what they don’t share is exactly what the prospective employer needs to know to make a hiring decision. In fact, recent studies have shown that 10 to 20 percent of all applicants have a criminal background history and approximately 43 percent of resumes contain significant inaccuracies about experience, education or job abilities.
5 Good Reasons for Employee Background Checks
There’s a great deal of uncertainty in the business world today, and the hiring process is no exception. A candidate who looks perfect on paper and interviews well does not necessarily make an exceptional, or even adequate, employee.
Thorough background screening is one of the cheapest and easiest ways to ensure that you are making the best possible hiring decision. Employers who count on background checks during the hiring process say there are many good reasons for employee background screening. Here are the five most common.
Violence is a constant threat in the U.S. workplace. According to one recent study, each week one person is killed and 25 are seriously injured in assaults by current or former co-workers. The estimated national cost of workplace violence totals many billions of dollars. These costs include lost work time and wages, reduced productivity, medical costs, worker’s compensation payments as well as legal and security expenses.
Background checks not only keep dangerous individuals out of your company, they demonstrate a good-faith effort to provide a safe workplace.
With negligent hiring cases on the rise, employers need all the protection they can get from legal backlash. According to a recent newspaper report, employers lose 79 percent of all negligent hiring lawsuits. In such suits, the average jury plaintiff award is more than $1.6 million.
The costs of running an effective background screening program are small in comparison. Not only do background checks lead to a safer and more productive workplace, they also demonstrate a pattern of due diligence while offering protection from negligent hiring claims.
Employee theft is a major problem that is on the rise in businesses across the country. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, employee theft costs U.S. employers nearly $40 billion each year. Worse yet, that cost is growing by 15 percent each year.
There are many systems and procedures that employers can use to protect themselves against the growing problem of employee theft. However, one of the best ways to prevent employee theft is to keep potential thieves off the payroll. An effective background screening program will reveal criminal histories, and the mere mention that you have a program sends the message that would-be thieves need not apply.
Sometimes employee background checks are required by law. Such checks may be 
required by Federal, State or local jurisdictions. For example, motor carriers regulated by the Department of Transportation must perform certain background checks on prospective commercial motor vehicle drivers. Background checks are often required for individuals who work in safety-sensitive positions such as truck driving. In addition, they are often mandatory for individuals working in the healthcare industry or those working with vulnerable populations, such as children or the elderly.
It’s important to be aware of your background screening requirements. If you have any questions about Federal, State or local laws impacting your company, please contact a competent background screening program administrator, such as Foley Services.
If you prefer not to make decision based on false or misleading information, then never hire prospective employees based solely on their resume and interview. Take the time to verify the facts or hire someone to run the proper background checks. You’ll discover that applicants lie at an astounding rate. The Society for Human Resources Managers recently reported that 53 percent of resumes contained inaccurate information, ranging from minor embellishments to outright fraud.
Use background screening to cut through applicant lies and find individuals with the skills, experience and ability to do the job. As a starting point, always verify resume information and check references.