Employers looking to fill a position take the risk that the candidate might not be qualified or even harm the workplace. Carrying out an in-depth background check is the best insurance for making good hires and avoiding a person with a criminal record.
A company avoids hiring people with job-relevant criminal histories by thoroughly researching their past. Financial crimes such as embezzlement, theft, and fraud can reflect on current and future employment. Companies also reduce the risk of hiring someone who has a history of violent or threatening behavior.
You improve overall hire quality when you screen candidates thoroughly. What’s more, you can reduce the liability and losses from employee theft. Employers are legally obligated to hire with reasonable care.
Avoid Bringing the Wrong Person on Board
Having an ill-fitting employee joins your team can damage your business reputation. By avoiding this risk, you spare costly efforts to save face.
Hiring quality staff can help grow profit, advance your business, and increase its success. You can be certain you’ll get in-depth, accurate criminal background information about candidates by partnering with a professional background screening company.
Background Checks: What to Expect
A professional background check company can help you save money and time in the process of ascertaining applicants’ suitability. Screening providers perform criminal background checks and verification of previous employment to protect you from negligent hiring claims.
The best services include instant, comprehensive records searches of criminal history. If someone was convicted of a drug-related offense, assault, or fraud, you’d learn immediately. You’ll also find out if any of the convictions were for misdemeanors or felonies.
Beyond basic background screening services, a thorough records search can give you access to the information you might otherwise not get. A detailed check can be crucial for the company’s reputation and workplace safety, especially if the new employee will interact with older people, children, disabled people, and other vulnerable groups.
No one is more certain of the importance of criminal records than legitimate background check providers. They will search at the county as well as state level and maybe perform a national search. If your candidate has lived in several states, they will check the records in all of the databases.
Should You Ever Hire Someone With Criminal Records?
Every business wants to protect itself from risk. At the same time, the Great Resignation is going full speed, and Americans are leaving their jobs in droves.
Companies are desperate to fill open positions, trying to attract applicants with bonuses and even resorting to paying new employees to go on vacation.
However, people with criminal records remain a largely untapped group. Some experts are expressing the controversial opinion that hiring such people can help address the labor shortage by building a new talent pool of workers. It also gives them a second chance.
This approach could present an opportunity to improve workplace inclusiveness and strengthen businesses. This benefits the company and the employee because evidence suggests employment decreases recidivism, which is the likelihood of individuals with a past record committing another offense.
More Inclusive Hiring Practices
One cannot argue society shouldn’t turn its back on this disenfranchised demographic as businesses shift to more inclusive hiring practices and work environments. The fact that a number of states have adopted “Ban the Box” provisions reflects this.
These provisions limit questions about past convictions in order to increase job opportunities. They guarantee the hiring manager takes an applicant’s qualifications into account before finding out the person has a record. “Ban the Box” does not exclude background checks.
Businesses looking to embed inclusion and diversity into their culture must begin with continuous support for their employees and diverse leadership.
