When Background Checks Are Necessary

The practice of using background checks and employment screening when hiring an applicant often varies among companies. Some businesses background check all of their employees, some only check lower level positions, and some don’t check an applicant’s background at all. Most companies know the advantages to checking an employees background before they hire, but few know how much this process could save their budget costs. 

If you have a large number of employees in one level of your business, it makes sense to use background checks as a way of managing applicants when you most likely wont have the time to give attention to every individual on their own. In recent studies, financial advisers have found that more than 40% of resumes come up as fraudulent when checked by an employment screening system, and many companies could not handle the cost of firing so many employees later on. 

Corporate executives are some of the most highly paid individuals in the world, yet their credentials and backgrounds are checked much less often than an employee in a starter position. An executive or a CEO are always under the scrutiny of a corporate board to perform to a certain standard, so it may make sense to some that their credentials and employment history don’t need to be checked as closely as other employees through an education or employment verification. This may be true in theory, yet the low percentage of CEO firings suggests otherwise. Severance fees and other costs could cost companies millions, even billions, with just one firing. With so much of a business’s budget on the line, it should be a priority for every employer to perform a background check every time they begin to hire, no matter what pay grade the position is.