Background verification process | Need for court records checks
Date Published
A thorough employee background verification process underscores the need to carry out Court Record Checks for your potential employees.
Think about it…
Would you hire a stock thief to guard your inventory? Or would you want a convicted felon dealing with your clients?
Why not?
Simply put – This constitutes ‘Negligent Hiring’.
Negligent hiring is a legal term that describes an employer’s liability for an incident caused by an employee when the employer knew (or should have known) that the employee posed a risk.
A large part of this due diligence is owed to Background Verification. However, there’s still an elephant in the room – the candidate’s criminal history. The easiest way to go about this is through checking court records.
Court Record Checks are part of the comprehensive background verification conducted prior to the hiring of a candidate. It reveals the criminal history, if any, of the candidate by checking various records released by courts available in the public domain.
The two main categories of crimes include serious crimes and minor crimes. Serious crimes imply criminal liabilities, whereas minor crimes imply civil liabilities.
A person’s criminal history influences an organization’s wellbeing as well as its performance and capability. Therefore, Human Resources is further tasked with understanding where a candidate comes from and whether they are a good fit for the organization.
Here are four reasons why every company should implement court records checks as part of their employee background verification process
Create a safe business environment
Organizations have a legal obligation to create a safe workplace for employees, vendors, and clients. Workplace violence incidents usually result in physical or emotional harm to employees and customers as well as negative repercussions to the company. Court record checks act as a preventive measure to curb such mishaps.
Improve the quality of hires
Candidates having a criminal history tend to show negligence in their work as well. This goes on to affect the team’s work and organizational productivity. On the contrary, a candidate with no litigation exposure works in the interest of their organization.
Prevent malpractice
If he has done it once, what’s to stop a thief from stealing again? Running court records checks saves you the loss of having to deal with a toxic hire who is prone to cause trouble again.
Protect the company’s reputation
A company’s reputation and status in the market depends on how well it is projected in the light of day. Hiring candidates with a clean past ensures productive behavior and a seamless experience for all. Such candidates generally gel well with all parties involved, be it, employees, vendors, or clients.
To know more about it, please write to shivani@idfy.com
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