If you do a lot of hiring like we do here at Snelling Staffing, you've seen it all. During your recruiting, you look for ways to qualify applicants and determine if they will fit in well with your current team.  There are a number of sources that a company can objectively use to evaluate a candidate's qualifications and skills and identify potential hiring risks for safety and security reasons. A background check, which should also be a part of your process, is simple to do because of the many vendors that provide the service.  All of our field employees have a background check conducted which includes a national database search and a sex offender registry search. It is important to realize that all counties in every state do not report information that is contained in this database. As a result, many of our clients request more extensive checks for their specific company needs. 

Consider this advice from Michael Wenger, Executive Account Manager of Applicant Safe:
 
"Criminal behavior is not the only threat to your business. Substance abuse can also lead to significant damages and monetary loss. The National Clearinghouse for Drug and Alcohol Abuse reports, “No business regardless of size is immune to the countless problems that alcohol and drug abuse can cause. Workplace alcohol, tobacco, and other drug related problems cost U.S. companies over $100 billion each year".
 
You can protect your company, employees and customers by performing pre-employment and random drug screening tests.
 
As the filing of lawsuits continues to increase, it could be fair to say that the issue of negligent hiring requires the attention of every employer. Now, more than ever, employers must understand what defines negligent hiring and retention, and how they can create a safe environment through proper hiring practices.
 
Reduce Costs By Conducting Background Checks

• It costs $7,000 to replace a salaried employee, $10,000 to replace a mid-level employee, and $40,000 to replace a senior executive. - Recruiting Times
• The average organization loses more than $9 per day, per employee, and 6% of its annual revenue to fraud and abuse. - Association of Certified Fraud Examiners 

The American Management Association reported losses to U.S. Business due to:

• Employee pilferage over $10 billion.
• Commercial bribery over $10 billion. 
• Embezzlement over $4 billion
• Vandalism over $2.5 billion
• Burglary over $2.5 billion
• Insurance/Workers Compensation fraud over $2 billion.
• Arson over $1.3 billion.
• Computer Fraud over $1 billion. 

Real Negligent Hiring Cases

• A furniture company was found liable for $2.5 million for negligent hiring and retention of a deliveryman who savagely attacked a woman customer in her home. -Tallahassee Furniture Co., Inc. v. Harrison
• An employee with a criminal record sexually assaulted a child; $1.75 million awarded for negligent hiring and retention. -Doe v. MCLO
• A nursing home was found liable for $235,000 for negligent hiring of an unlicensed nurse with 56 prior criminal convictions, who assaulted an 80-year-old visitor. -Deerings West Nursing Center v. Scott
• An employer settled for a $2.5 million suit seeking to hold it liable for negligent hiring, and entrustment of an intoxicated security guard. The guard had an on-duty traffic accident in a company car which killed him and another motorist. -Butler v. Hertz Corp
• A store customer detained by security guard as a suspected shoplifter and injured while being restrained was awarded $10 million in damages in a suit against the store, claiming negligent hiring. -Porter v. Proffitt's, Inc
• A $5 million settlement was awarded to the family of a deceased female tenant against the apartment complex owner and management; the suit claimed that the tenant was killed by the brother of the complex's assistant manager, and that it was negligent hiring to hire an assistant manager without a criminal background check. -Liebman v. Hall Fin. Group, Inc
• A vacuum cleaner manufacturer was liable for $45,000 because one of its distributors hired a door-to-door salesperson with a criminal record, who then raped a female customer in her home; (manufacturer should have required its distributors to do pre-hiring screening of door-to-door salespersons to prevent hiring of persons with criminal histories). -McLean v. Kirby Co.

Other Interesting Facts

• A recent study found that 53% of job applications contained false information. - The Society for Human Resource Managers
• If recent incarceration rates remain unchanged, an estimated 1 of every 20 persons (5.1%) will serve time in a prison during their lifetime. - Bureau of Justice Statistics
• 30% of business failures are due to poor hiring practices. - Department of Commerce
• On average in U.S. businesses, at least half of all new hires don't work out. - Fortune Magazine, Feb. 7, 2000, page 52

Using a background check as a part of your qualifying process can you help you detect issues and make the right hiring decision."

That’s some very interesting information to read, thanks Michael!

To learn more about how background checks can help filter your potential new-hires, check out these helpful facts: http://www.amof.info/statistics.htm