Vetting Your Staff To Protect Yourself

However, it is essential that you vet your employees through a thorough background check if you want to be certain that you are hiring someone trustworthy. Ensuring that your potential employees are who they say they are is an important part of protecting yourself and the business that you have spent so much time and energy building.

Employees who have access to your financial information must be evaluated very thoroughly to be sure that you can be comfortable letting them have signature authority over your company checking account, or just letting them know your banking information. In the hands of someone with a gambling or drug problem, or who has exercised poor financial judgment in the past, doing so could prove fatal to your company.

Background checks include basic information, like whether an employee has ever declared bankruptcy, as well as confirmation of their previous employment. A job applicant who lies about their job experience on an application should be immediately discarded. Vetting your employees, however, goes beyond simple fact checking. It also involves drug testing to ensure that your company is not put at risk of illegal activity. Someone who uses drugs also may be unreliable and erratic.

Vetting your employees is something that should take place not only when you are considering hiring employees, but also throughout their time in your employ. Unfortunately, while an employee may not be using drugs when you hire him or her, he or she may become dependent on illegal substances that can put both the employee and others at risk. If your employees are required to use heavy machinery or drive this can be especially crucial to remaining in compliance with local and federal laws, as well as maintaining a safe working environment for all of your employees.

Companies employing health workers, such as nurses who visit the elderly or other patients who may be unable to defend themselves against an unscrupulous person must guard both themselves and their clients closely. Continual monitoring of your employees' credit scores and bankruptcy notification will let you know if your employees may be in a position where they are likely to commit fraud or another financial crime.

Checking your employees' background for criminal acts or misdemeanors also can alert you to whether applicants or current employees are violent, licensed to drive vehicles, or other red flags that could be problematic. While your employee may be able to drive legally when you hired him, if he then loses his license due to poor driving or drunk driving, then you need to know. Paying him to drive while he cannot legally do so can cause many problems for your company. Your auto insurance policy may not have to pay if he gets into an accident, and you may even be liable for damages caused to others.