Employee background check refers to a comprehensive checking and cross-checking of facts and personal information pertaining to the information that is furnished by the job seeker at the time of hiring.
The process of employee background check may involve checking and verifying the employee’s address, education, previous employer and whether or not there is any kind of previous criminal record etc.
Growing concerns that reinforce an employee background check
With growing incidents of workplace violence and data theft, the importance of employee background check cannot be underestimated. This has become a powerful tool in pre-employment verification as a number of CVs are populated with inaccuracies and misleading facts on competencies or job history.
The practice of carrying out stringent, employee background checks will help companies, corporate and organizations to evaluate whether the prospective employee is honest or not.
Reasons for conducting an employee background check
Employee background checks are considered essential for current and prospective employees due to several reasons. One reason is that employers do not want to hire any employee who may have a suspicious background, criminal record, or issues relating to credit worthiness. This would reflect badly on a company’s repute and credibility in the market/
Other reasons for employee background check are as follows:
1. Negligent hiring: Nowadays, legal claims against negligent hiring are on the rise. This term ‘negligent hiring’ refers to a situation where due to the misconduct or derogatory actions of a particular employee, the company’s reputation is poised on the verge of ruin.
2. Current events: In recent times, many current events have given way to formulate stricter employee verification policies and application of a mandatory employee background check. These include growing incidents of child abuse history, 9/11 terrorist attacks, corporate scandals etc.
3. False or inflated information: A number of job hiring experts agree that nearly 30% to 40% of job applicants provide false information and inaccurate facts in their applications. This propels companies to invest in stricter implementation of employee background check measures.
4. Easy to conduct procedure: The dawn of the information era makes it easier and more effective to conduct the background checks of employees in a cost-effective and practical way. The availability of a comprehensive criminal database within computers itself has made this an easy-to-conduct procedure.
Social Networking and Employee Background Check
A new concept of employee background verification has been implemented by several employers. It has been observed that employers check out the prospective employee’s profile on popular social networking websites like Orkut, Facebook, MySpace etc.
New and innovative measures will continue to grow as companies turn bolder in implementing employee background checks.