Why Do Background Checks?

The traditional approach to recruiting and hiring a prospective employee is to focus on applications, interviews, resumes, skills tests and other "traditional" screening techniques. An employer who is interviewing applicants for employment has an obvious need to know fundamental facts about an individual's background that may play a major role in their job, or put the company in jeopardy.

The standard source for obtaining information on a job applicant is quickly becoming unavailable. Defamation lawsuits lodged by an applicant against a former employer are on the rise, and have virtually shut off the transference of useful information from former employer to prospective employer. Interviewing also has its limitations.

The solution is a comprehensive legal search of your prospective employees’ background. There are numerous reasons why background checks should be included in your company’s standard practices:

##Over 50% of all resumes contain false or misleading information.

##Turnover cost of hiring, training and dismissal of an unacceptable employee can easily reach 50% of their yearly salary.

##Litigation has become a national past time:

##Negligent hiring lawsuits

##Wrongful discharge lawsuits

##Defamation lawsuits

##Lawsuits by injured 3rd parties

##Employee lawsuits for unsafe environment, violent behavior and sexual harassment

The courts view criminal history and derogatory information as: if you could have known, you should have known. The consequences of hiring an unacceptable employee far outweigh the cost of checking the potential employee's background. A background check reduces the risk of hiring someone who could pose a threat to your business, and typically costs less than 1% of your hiring expense.