Background checks are ever-present in today’s hiring process, but less often is a policy that lays out the details of how they are to be performed. Hiring managers frequently must rely on other company’s criminal records check policies or info they got off the internet to craft a policy that protects the company, its employees and customers. Here is why you should avoid that.
Liability and Lawsuits
Not everyone with a criminal record is a threat to your business, employees or customer, obviously, but not knowing an employee has a criminal background can mean you are exposed to lawsuits if anything every happens. You would not, to use an outrageous example, want to hire the Old West’s Jesse James to oversee your bankroll and find out after he had stolen it that he was an infamous thief.
Reputation
That brings us to your reputation and the public image of your business. If an employee steals from a customer and is caught, it is bad. As a manager or owner, if you did not know about that employee record, you could be held liable in civil court. Depending on the crime committed, your company could also gain a reputation as an unsafe place.
Employee Security
Just because a person served time does not mean they are a menace to your employees. They might be, however, and you will not know it is even a possibility without checking into their background. In fact, understanding what they did can help you better manage them and the employees who work with them.
Customer Security
The same general principle applies to customer security. Your customers expect you will provide them with a space that is free from danger. A criminal background check lets you select the type of employee you want interacting with customers.
Operational Security
Just because someone passed a background check does not mean they are not capable of making bad decisions. By managing more closely who works for you and what they do for the business, you can reduce your risk of internal crime, including embezzlement, theft of service, employee shrink, cyber data security, etc.
Applicant Security
Your applicants have a right to be protected as well. Having a policy in place ensures that their data will be secure and not shared inappropriately. It also ensures that if their background poses a problem for some duties, you can modify their work
to address the issue.
A criminal records check is a vital tool for making good hires. It must, though, have a policy that accomplishes all of the above.
