As a small business owner who likely has few employees, you probably find background checks on potential hires to be costly and unnecessary. The opposite is actually true, as background checks can potentially save you a lot of money and protect your business in the long run. Here are a few reasons you absolutely should do background checks on all of your potential employees.
Employer Liability
Would you believe that your small business could be held liable if one of your employees committed a crime while on the clock? In fact, you could be if you don’t perform background checks on your potential employees. You may be sued for “negligent hiring” if an employee does something at work that you should have known was a risk.
For example, if an employee with multiple DUIs on record drives under the influence in a delivery truck or if an employee with a history of violent crime assaults a customer, you could be held liable. The law takes the view that had you done a background check on the offender, you would have likely found previous DUIs or other evidence of the past poor behavior.
This and other issues can be avoided by simply performing a background check. A background check protects you by proving you had no prior knowledge of a criminal history of any of your employees.
In the event you do get sued for negligent hiring, you can simply show evidence that the employee passed a background check with fingerprinting successfully, so you had no reason to believe that person was a threat to your business, other employees, or customers.
Application Deceit
If an application sounds too good to be true, it probably is. In one survey, over half of hiring managers said they had caught applicants lying on their resumes.
Some lies are small, such as a lie about how long a person worked at a previous job. However, other lies are more concerning, including those regarding previous convictions or even information about whether the applicant went to college. Doing a background check that includes fingerprinting can eliminate all speculation about a person’s resume and give you peace of mind when hiring.
Theft Reduction
Employee fraud and theft is as much as 28 percent more prevalent in small businesses than in larger ones. Theft costs you a lot of money in lost income, inventory, and time investigating suspicions in the workplace.
Even if an employee has a clean criminal record, you can be confident in doing a fingerprint background check to show them how serious your small business is about its rules and regulations. An employee may be less likely to steal from your small business when they know you are keeping a watchful eye on your company, your company’s resources, and your employees.
Applicant Weeding
When you state on a job advertisement that all applicants must pass a background check and possibly a drug test, the applications you receive are likely to be more promising. Potential employees who know they will fail will likely not apply at all, allowing you to focus more on the applicants who will be a better fit for your company overall.
To find out how much background checks with fingerprinting cost, what they include, and other information, talk with the experienced staff at Live Scan. We can recommend the best protective measures for your small business to prevent employee theft, situations in which you are held liable, and more.
To schedule an appointment with our service or to find out more about us, call our friendly associates. We’ll be happy to help you.