Why should I be using applicant screening services?

It is no secret that your employees are the critical front line of your business. Every business owner strives to employ a team of individuals who will best represent the company’s values. Unfortunately, in today’s society, picking the best person at face value from a stack of applications can place you, your staff and your clientele at risk. Don’t end up asking yourselves, “How did we end up in this mess?”

Do you remember a time when background checks were not a routine part of the hiring process? In times past, an employer would take a job application from a prospective employee, conduct a job interview and maybe talk to a few references. That was it. No in-depth checking of history such as criminal records, credit or motor vehicle records was conducted except for very high-level executive positions. Over the past decade, this has changed with a series of landmark cases that are setting precedence and routinely putting employers against the courts in defense of their hiring decisions. It clearly has been decided that employers must exercise a reasonable amount of due diligence in their hiring practices to avoid negligent hiring lawsuits.

So what does all this mean? In a nutshell, each employer has the duty to make an adequate and reasonable determination of the applicant’s suitability prior to hiring. This is accomplished by conducting a thorough background check on each and every applicant.