Background Check Services for Small Businesses

The potential liability involved in hiring the wrong employee can far outweigh the cost for a small business when it comes to conducting a thorough background check. A quality background check is actually a very cost-efficient method of helping a small organization find the right person for the job when compared to making a critical hiring mistake.

In particular, business in several particular industries should always consider conducting background checks. Commercial service industries, hospitality industry businesses and any business whose services include the need for employees to enter homes to perform repairs or maintenance should consider these services an absolute necessity given the potential liability involved. Businesses can be legally liable if they do not properly check out their employees who in turn go on to commit crimes while on the job. Beyond the legal liability, no company needs to experience the embarrassment of finding out an important or high profile employee was hired based on false information they supplied in their resumes or on their application. Do to today’s strained economic conditions, job seekers are more likely to feel increased pressure when searching for employment and are therefor more likely to stretch the truth or lie outright in order to secure a job. According to a recent study conducted by J.J. Keller & Associates, Inc., 55 percent of the human resource professionals that were surveyed stated that they have discovered such blatant lies on applications or resumes when they conducted pre-employment background screening or reference checks.

Employee screening is a proven method of combating the significantly larger costs involved with high employee turnover rates, low productivity of new hires, employee theft (which according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce accounts for 30% of small business failure) and more. Considering all the protection a proper background screening provides against employee related risks, thorough background checks are a positive business investment. Small business must consider these benefits and the direct effects on their organization’s bottom line.

Recruiting, interviewing and training new hires is one of the largest expenses for a small business. Companies that have to replace a bad hire typically spend three times the salary of the vacated position to correct the hiring mistake. Proper background screening pays for itself. According to the U S Small Business Administration, for every dollar an employer invests in employment screening, they can expect a return ranging from $5 to $16 through lower turnover, reduced absenteeism, increased productivity, and overall decreased employer liability. So if your business is looking for ways to cut costs and save money, decreasing employee background checks may actually have the exact opposite effect.

All background checks should be left to qualified professionals, ensuring vendors can be certain to include all relevant information is given to the employer. Qualified professional background check companies can perform thorough searches for not only criminal background checks, but also for prior job references and verifying applicant’s education. Before conducting any such background checks or searches, the employer should fully disclose the nature of the search in the form of a signed legal release. And be aware, employers are limited to only the information going back seven years for non-criminal information.

Relying on qualified professionals to perform these background checks helps employers avoid not only the potential liability of a plaintiff’s lawsuit, but also the potential fines from the Federal Trade Commission for any violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. All too often there are situations where a company does conduct a screen on a job candidate, but tries using a marginally less expensive screening service that is not nearly as accurate as a qualified background screening service. Occasionally, a background check will come back noting the candidate has a felony charge in their past, when in fact the person with the felony is actually not the actual job applicant. Businesses need to be very cautious when choosing a company to screen their job candidates to ensure they are only receiving the most thorough, reliable, and accurate information available. It’s absolutely essential to know what the law is in your state as eighteen states currently have proposed or enacted legislation which puts limits and restrictions on background checks. All of these variables make the use of a professional and qualified background check company a must for many small businesses.

At Advanced Background Check, we use the most cutting-edge technology and resources to get you the results you need, fast. We also employ a number of researchers to personally go into the courts and double check felony and other hit information to guarantee reliable results.

Working with a reputable screening firm that understands the laws governing employment screening and provides accurate, timely and reliable information is imperative to attain the results you’re seeking. To help accredited business gain the benefits of employment screening, your BBB has partnered with Advanced Background Check, a Dayton-based national background check and drug screening leader. Accredited business qualify for substantial savings on all the screening services Advanced Background Check provides, including criminal records, driving records, identity verification tools, credit reports and more. Drug screening and fingerprint checks are available through subsidiary Secure Check of Dayton.