Background Checks

Background Check: For The Benefit Of The Company And Employees

You are the boss of your company which is about 200 employees strong and is adding numbers to sales by the day. One day, you find out that one of your employees has fraudulently siphoned off 10,000 US Dollars from one of your customer's account. With a little bit of research, you find out that the employee had criminal background in an area that introduces unacceptable risk to your company. You hand him over the pink slip and thank him for his services. But you could have saved a lot of your brand name if you had done a bit of a background check on this employee. And hence the need for background checks which are extremely critical to determine if an employee is fit to join the company or not.

What started as a practice for recruitment for the Police force, a background check system has slowly but surely found its way to the pre-employment process of small and big sized companies alike. Typically, a background check is done in the following ways:

• Pre-employment screening: Just to check if the facts stated by the candidate is true. This screening allows employers to verify the fact that all the information presented by the candidate is true. The pre-employment screening practice is to ensure that candidates having criminal histories do not join the company.
  
  
• Credit checks: Many companies require that an employee be bondable or handle funds. Many companies like to know when they hire someone if they are under excessive financial pressure, or if they have a tendency to default on bills, declare bankruptcy etc. All candidates being equal, this might tip the balance to hiring the candidate without this potential liability.
  
  
• Criminal Record Check: This is the check where employers check the criminal records of the candidate. Information is gathered on whether the candidate has any criminal cases registered against him.
  
  
• Government Security Clearance Setting: Companies which deal with policies and infrastructure of the government do these checks. The reason for doing this is to ensure that the candidate who is about to fill the job vacancy is not a risk to nation's interests.

Often used as a mechanism to verify if all the facts stated on the curriculum vitae are true or not, background checks are being increasingly used as a tool to check if the candidate is suited for the job requirements. Many background checks require a drug test, check driving license records for jobs that require driving, as well as checking criminal and job histories. Background checks truly are on the way to becoming the best filter for pre-employment frauds.

The intention of background checks are to ensure that an 'unsuitable candidate' does not fill up a job vacancy in a company. At the end of a day, any job is about skills, knowledge and character. If you choose a person who fails the background checks, he may have looked to be the best performer, but companies prefer to limit their risks. Many companies spend thousands in training and benefits on new hires. They want to ensure it is a good hire that leads to fruitful years for company and employee.