在过去的 5 到 10 年中，许多公司已经习惯于制定全面的职前背景筛查计划，以提高工作场所的安全性并降低与不当雇用相关的风险。然而，越来越多的公司开始意识到，他们制定的原始计划只涵盖了当今就业风险问题的一小部分。他们目前的政策是否使他们面临潜在的诉讼，甚至更糟的是，工作场所的暴力行为？
筛查计划的评估应始终考虑到风险缓解。如果您最近还没有花点时间重新评估筛选计划的深度和广度，那么可能是时候重新了解组织的一些最大筛选陷阱了。以下是公司可以在其计划中解决的一些最大风险领域：
• 地域——直到最近，许多公司还认为，仅对具有美国背景的国内员工进行背景调查就足够了。然而，在过去几年中，出现了许多事件，虚假的国际背景导致招聘不良和潜在的危险情况。
要真正声称拥有公平的招聘实践，公司必须对所有招聘人员（包括具有国际背景的人员）执行一致的背景筛选标准。为保持一致性，建议在整个员工队伍中强制执行背景屏幕，即使是在国外办公室。
• 扩展劳动力——平均而言，临时工、承包商和供应商员工占公司劳动力的三分之一。虽然大多数公司确保所有直接员工都接受背景调查，但其他可以物理和虚拟访问设施的人可能没有接受过背景调查。扩展劳动力筛查的概念在今天变得越来越普遍和被接受，因为人们认识到来自直接劳动力之外的人的危险风险。
最近对 观火客户的一项研究显示，与同一家公司的长期雇员相比，接受筛选的供应商员工重罪定罪率高 92%。这是否为更多不受欢迎的人在通常不会筛选其员工的外部机构工作奠定了基础？虽然没有人确切知道，但像这样的统计数据可以让人相信逆向选择的概念是真实的。
• 时间框架——虽然许多人希望在入职前或刚开始加入组织时进行背景调查，但许多人可以在一家公司工作多年而无需进行任何进一步的调查。随着因疏忽保留而引发的一系列诉讼的发生，公司再也不能自在地说他们对长期员工进行了单一的招聘前背景审查。
重要的是要认识到，员工可能会因盗窃或暴力行为而被捕，并通过假释或其他选择继续工作，因此会受到关注。通过定期执行重复的背景屏幕，您可以减轻您的组织的额外风险和不确定性。
• 药物和酒精筛查——正如最近 SHRM 的一篇文章所述，“根据《研究杂志》(Journal of Studies on酒精。” 牢记这一点，仅凭受伤的风险和不可避免的生产力损害就应该鼓励您维持一个偶然的药物和酒精筛查计划。任何时候都应该有合理的理由进行药物和酒精筛查。
• 搜索范围——随着世界继续变平和工人更频繁地流动，人们更有可能在他们今天生活和工作的地方以外犯罪。虽然县级刑事搜查是确定发生在美国的大多数犯罪的必要条件，但撒播更广泛的网络以确保在其他地区找不到犯罪历史的必要性正在成为必要。通过使用全国和全球搜索以及其他可用的广泛数据库搜索，公司可以显着降低招聘不良的风险。
如果您今天进行背景筛查，您已经迈出了确保工作场所安全的第一步。下一步是系统地评估您的程序是否存在任何漏洞，并评估这些区域的风险。由您的组织决定它可以承受的风险承受能力并采取相应的行动。但是，了解可能存在风险的这些共同领域最终可以帮助您进行评估。
pre-employment background screening programs to improve workplace safety and reduce the risk associated with a bad hire. However, more and more, companies are beginning to realize that the original programs they set in place only cover a small sliver of today’s employment risk concerns. Are their current policies setting them up for potential litigation, or even worse, violence in the workplace?
Evaluation of screening programs should always be performed with risk mitigation in mind. If you haven’t recently taken a moment to re-evaluate the depth and breadth of your screening program, it may be time to get reacquainted with some of the biggest screening pitfalls for organizations. Below are some of the areas of greatest risk that companies can address in their programs:
• Geography – Until recently, many companies believed that performing background checks on only their domestic hires with U.S.-only backgrounds was sufficient. However, in the past several years, many incidents have arisen where false international backgrounds have led to bad hires and potentially dangerous situations.
To truly claim to have fair hiring practices, companies must execute a consistent background screening standard across all hires, including those with international backgrounds. For consistency, it is recommended that background screens be enforced throughout your entire workforce, even in foreign offices.
• Extended Workforce – On average, temps, contractors and vendor employees make up one-third of a company’s workforce. While most companies ensure that all of their direct employees receive a background check, other people with both physical and virtual access to facilities may not have undergone one. The concept of extended workforce screening is becoming more prevalent and accepted today, as the risk of danger from those outside your direct labor force is recognized.
One recent study of a HireRight client revealed that vendor employees screened had 92% more felony convictions than permanent hires from the same company. Does this set the stage for more undesirables going to work at outside agencies that do not typically screen their employees? While no one knows for certain, statistics like these can lead one to believe that the concept of adverse selection is real.
• Time Frame – While many people expect to have a background check performed pre-hire or when they initially begin with an organization, many people can work at a company for years without any further checks being performed. With a rash of litigation for negligent retention occurring, companies can no longer be comfortable saying that they have performed a single pre-hire background screen on a long-term employee.
It is important to recognize that employees can be arrested for theft or violent acts and remain available for work through parole or other options, and therefore fall under the radar. By performing recurring background screens in regular increments, you can alleviate your organization from additional risk and uncertainty.
• Drug and Alcohol Screening – As presented in a recent SHRM article, “about 15 percent of U.S. workers, or 19.2 million people, are on the job under the influence of alcohol at least occasionally, according to an article in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol.” Keeping that in mind, the risk of injury and the inevitable productivity damages alone should encourage you to maintain a contingent drug and alcohol screening program. Drug and alcohol screening should be available for reasonable cause at any time.
• Search Spectrum – As the world continues to flatten and workers move around more frequently, people are more likely to have committed crimes outside of where they live and work today. While county criminal searches are a necessity to identify the majority of crimes that take place in the U.S., the need to cast a wider net to ensure that criminal histories are not found in other areas is becoming a necessity. By using national and global searches, and other available broad database searches, companies can significantly reduce risk of a bad hire.
If you are performing background screening today, you have taken the first step to ensuring a safe workplace. The next step is systematically evaluating your program for any holes that may exist and assessing those areas for risk. It is up to your organization to determine what risk tolerance it can bear and to act accordingly. But, being cognizant of these common areas where risk may exist can ultimately help you make that assessment.
