Pre-Employment / Background Checks
Negligent hiring is a term used when an employer hires an
individual without conducting a proper or effective investigation
of that person's history and later it's discovered that the
employee's background contains something that would indicate
a propensity for misconduct that is job related.
AN EXAMPLE: A 93-year-old female was raped by an employee
of the nursing home where she was a patient. The plaintiff
contended the employer was negligent for failing to adequately
screen the employee's background prior to hiring him, which
would have revealed a long police record that included sexual
misconduct. Attorneys for the woman brought action
against the nursing home for negligent hiring and retention
of an employee who had a prior criminal record that included
several offenses of sexual predation. RESULT: A Settlement for $680,000.
Liability issues and litigation involving negligent hiring
are becoming commonplace. More and more companies are being
held liable for property damages, personal injury and death
arising from a negligent hiring situation. The courts are no
longer accepting a defense of ignorance for a negligent hiring
liability when reasonable pre-employment background checks
were not performed. The ripple effects of enormous monetary
awards and negative publicity can devastate even the most successful
of businesses. Ironically, a simple act of "due diligence" by
the company could easily protect hard earned assets and a time-stamped
reputation.
Competition demands quality service and products. Careful
pre-employment screening will produce employees who are leaders
with the character and solid background that your company demands.
Also, hiring the right person for the job reduces turn-over
as well as training expenses and helps keep employee moral
at a peak.
"Bad hires" bring excessive baggage with them: sullen
attitudes, a lackadaisical, often unfriendly approach to doing
the job, no team spirit and in many instances, a propensity
to "create" their own perks. One such perk is theft,
which costs our nation more than 400 million dollars a year.
Compounding this problem are former employers who, out of
fear of civil litigation, are reluctant to say "why" an
employee was terminated. This allows a bad employee to bounce
from job-to-job, leaving a trail of deceit and deception in
his wake that in most instances is never discovered because
administrators are afraid to ask the right questions of applicants.
This only contributes to the millions of applications that
are falsified annually.
An article in the New York Times reported that more than 40%
of resumes and applications submitted for employment in today's
marketplace have either untruths or misrepresentations of previous
employment, education, criminal history and other misstated
qualifications. Conducting a thorough pre-employment screening
investigation may reveal some unforeseen facts:
- Falsification;
- Poor Driving Record;
- Criminal History;
- Behavioral Problems;
- Instabilities;
- Overstated Academics;
- Exaggerated Abilities.
By employing our Pre-employment Screening service,
we can assist in separating the "silver-tongue" applicant
with an impressive resume from the truly exceptional candidates.
Hiring the right person the first time will pay huge dividends
down the road. |
