There is wide a range of reasons that prospects falsify information and why you should screen your applicants. These can be as simple as attempting to hide periods of unemployment or more serious so as to conceal drug abuse or a criminal history. For some, it is simply to get a leg up in today’s economy and the competitive job market.
1. Resume Fraud. Around half of all candidates embellish or outright lie on their resumes. If you can identify which applicants have misstated their credentials, experience, and abilities you can remove them from the beginning without wasting any more time in the process.
2. Limited Access to Information. Companies are reluctant to expose themselves to liability and are extremely hesitant to respond to a referral request. But, at the same time, former employers frequently hold the key to the most relevant insight about the prospect. Many employers also outsource their employment verifications to a third-party clearinghouse. Nationwide Screening Services has the expertise to navigate these employment reference challenges.
3. Expense. Numerous employers use an outside firm to perform background checks on candidates for employment and for good reason. Background checks can be complicated and time-consuming to carry out in-house. Employing a qualified employment screening firm conserves time and money– especially when small companies cannot afford to commit the necessary resources to perform these checks internal.
4. Compliance Issues. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) sets standards for work screening. There is a list of compliance requirements set by the FCRA, consisting of different disclosures a company must make before, throughout, and after the background check has been performed. The FCRA also brings considerable charges for non-compliance.
5. Bad Apples Are Expensive. Hiring is one of the most important decisions an organization will make. Failure to carefully screen and pick applicants can result in employees who are (1) not certified to perform the work hired to do; (2) whose work routines are not in line with the organization’s; (3) whose mindsets and characters create disruption in the workplace (4) hired under false expectations which later develops into bad morale and low efficiency. The U.S. Department of Labor approximates that the average expense of a hiring and subsequently terminating a bad hire can equate to 30% of the staff member’s potential earnings throughout the very first year of work. However, some sources say that estimate is low and is closer to 100% for non-management workers and 150% to 200% for management.
6. Employee Theft. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce approximates that theft by workers costs American companies $20 to $40 billion each year. U.S. customers absorb this cost at the annual rate of $400 per working adult. An employee is 15 times most likely than a non-employee to steal from a company.
7. Claims of Negligent Hiring and Retention. Companies can be at risk and held liable if they fail to exercise reasonable care in the employment-selection procedure. “Reasonable care” is dependent on not simply whether the employer knew about the prospect’s predispositions but whether the company should have known. In other words, failure to screen candidates and to utilize correct care in working with them can result in legal liability.
8. Workplace Violence. Some two million American employees are victims of office violence each year. While not every occurrence of violence could be prevented with applicant screening pre-employment checks can mitigate the risk by screening out candidates with a history of violence.
9. Copyright Concerns. Intellectual property theft is a very genuine concern, costing American employers anywhere from $250 Billion to 600 Billion annually. As the workplace becomes more technology-based and employees end up being more technology-savvy, the risk of stolen trade secrets and other exclusive information will continue to escalate.
10. EEOC Violations. Of course, this is a common concern for many employers– that the person they work with will later become disenchanted with the workplace and file a suit for a perceived or real grievance. And there is an excellent reason to fret. Just ask Wal-Mart, which has been hit with several multi-million-dollar claims brought by workers over the past couple of years.