Do you consistently find yourself evaluating resumes that contain exaggerated or falsified information? Are you constantly feeling that your job candidates are claiming erroneous education credentials, inflated salary information and/or exaggerated job titles? Have you become skeptical about most of the information that is in your candidates’ resumes?

As a hiring manager, you do not want to find yourself having to fire an underqualified employee who has duped your organization. Or even worse, you do not want to have to contend with a more threatening situation that has been triggered by a deleterious employee. These types of situations can become a drain on your organization’s resources, manpower and budget.

2012 research from the Society of Human Resource Managers (SHRM), Accu-Screen Inc. and ADP found “53 percent of job applicants commit some form of resume fraud.” The study also showed that 31 percent of people confessed to lying on their resumes.

That same year, the SHRM also surmised “job seekers who had committed deviant acts in the past were more likely to have fraudulent resumes.” The organization found that a correlation does exist between the type of people who lied on their resumes and their unscrupulous backgrounds.

The SHRM’s research reaffirmed certain common assumptions about the cause-and-effect relationship of the hiring process. By unknowingly hiring candidates who deceitfully provide false resumes, you will increase your odds of bringing nefarious people into your organization. The financial consequences can be devastating.

In 2002, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) reported employers lose about $600 billion a year, or about $4,500 per employee, due to occupational fraud and abuse. Within their study, ACFE assigned each of the 663 occupational fraud cases that they examined into one of three categories — asset misappropriations, corruption, or fraudulent statements. ACFE designated falsified “employment credentials” under the “non-financial fraudulent statements” category of their study. It accounted for a large share of annual losses to employers.

Hence, you need to be aware of the potential financial costs associated with accidentally hiring and training someone with a fraudulent resume.

You can reduce your chances of running into these arduous problems by digging deeper into your candidates’ backgrounds. You need to properly and thoroughly verify the employment credentials of all of your candidates. Lots of HR managers try delegating verifications to their in-house staff. However, they often end up finding the process to be a lot more time-consuming and laborious than they originally anticipated.

In most cases, HR departments do not possess the in-house expertise required to efficiently navigate through the typical challenges of the verifications process. All too often, employers end up realizing they need the assistance of outside experts to implement and operate an employment screening program.

So how do you know who to outsource your verifications to? Many organizations have chosen to work with an outside verification solutions provider, and this is a good start, but this often brings inconvenience and exorbitant costs. There are certain key attributes you want to look for in a verification solutions provider. You need a provider that offers an efficient and cost-effective solution for verifying your candidates’ employment histories, educational backgrounds and professional credentials.

Luckily, HRemp’s team of background screening experts and software engineers have worked on this problem and created a new type of efficient verification services. Our customized reports will allow you to easily assess your candidates’ qualifications and identify inconsistencies on their applications. You will not have to expend a lot of effort trying to interpret confusing data. We will equip you with the accurate information that you need to select the best candidate for any of your open positions.

You will quickly realize the benefits of HRemp’s user-friendly reports, and witness your hiring process become much quicker and more precise. Unlike some other more challenging and complicated verification solutions, our efficient verification services will save you valuable time. And we will empower you to make the right hiring decisions based on accurate information about your candidates’ records of employment, education and professional references.

Provide yourself some further confidence going into every hiring decision by using HRemp’s verification solutions. You will feel that much more secure knowing that you have the accurate intelligence needed to choose the best candidate for your job opening.

Disclaimer Statement: All information presented is for information purposes only and is not intended to provide professional or legal advice regarding actions to take in any situation.

Quality employees are a staple of every successful organization and applicant screening software can help organizations screen for quality employees. Dream candidates include those who care about themselves and their community, who demonstrate leadership qualities early-on, and who bring with them a proven track record of accomplishment. Sadly, anyone can make themselves look good on paper, and not all applicants are 100-percent truthful when it comes time to type up a resume or fill out a job application.

Employees who regularly abuse drugs or alcohol can cost a company up to $7000 a year in lost productivity and excessive medical claims, says Business Insider. This is the worker who reports for work late, becomes ill halfway through the workday, and who has more on-the-job accidents than other employees. Even worse, once this worker is interviewed, hired, and trained, the cost of replacing him or her can run as high as $3,500.

This is why organizations should ensure that their employment screening company uses a strong, reliable applicant screening software to vet candidates successfully. The best software is one that gathers information from a variety of sources, including the following, and compiles the data into easy-to-read reports:

• Sex Offender Registry
• County Criminal Records
• Federal Court Records
• FBI and Interpol
• OIG HHS Exclusions

By searching these databases, companies can discover valuable information that may help avert future workplace tragedies and prevent workplace violence. And while a human resources representative could perform these pre-employment checks without the aid of an employment screening organization, there are many benefits to partnering with an employment screening company. The legalities of employment screening vary from state to state — which is why it’s advisable to outsource applicant screening to professional organizations who understand the federal and state laws.

Applicant screening can be time-consuming and it requires a certain level of accuracy to be worthwhile. And once the information has been gathered, there’s still the job of compiling it into something legible. This is where applicant screening software becomes a necessity. Good applicant screening software is accurate and thorough. It compiles the information into user-friendly reports that are easy to understand. It takes the burden of responsibility off the shoulders of the HR Department, freeing human resource employees to concentrate on the needs of employees already hired.

Employers may be pleasantly surprised when they realize vetting potential employees with employment screening background checks is really cost-effective. The check may save money in several different ways:

• Reduces employee turnover and the cost of retraining a new employee.
• Identifies employees who have a history of dishonesty which will help prevent theft in the workplace when they are not hired.
• Reduces the incidence of workplace violence by identifying potential employees who have a history of violence.
• Reduces or prevents the cost of civil lawsuits based on negligent hiring when an employee engages in illegal behavior that harms others when a background check could have revealed the potential for the illegal acts.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce (COC) reports that 75 percent of all employees admit to stealing from their employers. A few say they only have stolen once. Others claim to have stolen repeatedly. The COC says that more than one-third of small businesses that fail attribute the failure to employee theft. Theft includes stealing money, merchandise and time. Businesses across the country lose more than $50 billion a year due to employee theft.

In addition, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), there are more than two million reported cases of workplace violence every year. When other employees are injured in the workplace due to the violence of a co-worker, civil lawsuits are filed against the employer for negligent hiring.

When all these factors are considered, it is apparent that the cost of vetting potential employees with employment screening background check by a reputable company is miniscule when compared to all the potential costs that can arise from not conducting such checks. A criminal background check can reveal state (county courts) and federal convictions. Employers can evaluate the nature of the conviction and determine whether the applicant has a history of dishonesty due to theft offenses or has a history of violent behavior. A company whose business it is to do employment screening background checks should know how to conduct the checks within the legal requirements applicable for employment screening.

Key Takeaway: Employment screening background checks are cost-effective tools when vetting potential employees.

Disclaimer Statement: All information presented is for information purposes only and is not intended to provide professional or legal advice regarding actions to take in any situation.

During this time of year, many employers hire temporary workers to meet the needs of holiday shoppers. Accordingly, the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NABS) urges employers to be very careful in the way that they approach hiring temporary employees. Even though seasonal workers are expected to only be on the job for a few weeks, it is vital that employers maintain their requirements for background screening.

The NAPBS estimates that approximately 700,000 temporary employees will be hired by retail stores nationwide to keep up with the rush of holiday shopping. Thousands of seasonal Santas will work for shopping malls, individual retail stores, and municipalities hosting various public events. Charitable organizations, hospitals and daycare centers are other common employers of the seasonal Santa.

The Santa stand-ins have close contact with children who sit on their laps and have photos taken with them. Unfortunately over the last 30 years, quite a few reported incidents have occurred in which Santas were accused of participating in illegal activity with children. This is why it is critical for every employer to conduct a thorough employment screening, that includes a criminal background search, on any potential Santa that they may hire. If there are other temporary employees besides a Santa, they should each have an individual criminal background check.

 The NAPBS has a few recommendations for employers concerning screening all temporary seasonal workers, including Santa and his elves.

First, the NAPBS recommends that employers not take a do-it-yourself approach to background searching. They recommend that employers hire a professional background screening company who can provide you the most up-to-date criminal background search, including whether or not the potential Santa is a registered sex offender.

In 2012, a Santa who posed for photos with children in Cleveland, Texas, was recognized by one parent as someone who is on the Texas Public Sex Offender Registry. A simple criminal background search would not have revealed records of the original offense, since it occurred when the man was a minor. But, a professional background search, that included a search for registered sexual offenders, should have revealed the relevant information.

A professional background screening company will know the state and federal laws concerning background checks. By employing a professional screening company, employers do not have to worry about whether or not their criminal background searches are legal.

The NAPBS urges employers to let applicants know that they are undergoing a criminal background search. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires prior written authorization from the employee or applicant. If a dispute arises, the employer should also give the prospective Santa an opportunity to provide additional information.

By following these tips provided by NAPBS, employers will minimize the risks associated with poor hiring decisions.

Disclaimer Statement: All information presented is for information purposes only and is not intended to provide professional or legal advice regarding actions to take in any situation.

For many employers, criminal history checks have become a standard part of the pre-employment screening process. Since the turn of the new millennium, an increasing amount of employers have relied on leveraging criminal history checks during their hiring cycles. But, it is critical for every employer to understand the legal parameters around using criminal history checks so that they do not risk being subjected to an employment discrimination lawsuit. In particular, they need to become very familiar with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) 2012 Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions.

The EEOC created the Guidance in an effort to consolidate and update policy statements and manuals that the agency had previously published to teach employers, who were using arrest or conviction records in employment decisions, how to comply with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC devised the Guidance to serve as a source “for employers, employment agencies, and unions covered by Title VII; for applicants and employees; and for EEOC enforcement staff.”

The Guidance aims to help employers understand the differences between arrest and conviction records. In addition, it reviews disparate treatments and disparate impact analysis under Title VII. The Guidance also provides best practices for employers on issues related to hiring and Title VII.

Although the Guidance is intended to serve as the foundation for guiding employers on how to handle arrest and conviction records, they must also always consider their relevant state and local laws. That being said, the Guidance clearly states that Title VII does preempt any state or local laws that “purport to require or permit the doing of any which would be an unlawful employment practice under Title VII.”

Yet, it should be noted that many states, cities and counties have used the Guidance when drafting legislation and ordinances aimed at providing gainful employment opportunities for individuals with criminal records.

The Guidance is also meant to deter employers who conduct criminal history checks strictly for elimination purposes. Granted, criminal history checks serve as a very helpful resource for those employers who are just looking to fill positions that require a clean record. But, there are other employers who disturbingly delve too deep into an applicant’s history for unrelated reasons.

The Guidance emphasizes that pre-employment screening background checks should only be done for job openings that are critical to the operation of the organization. If a conviction is found, the applicant should not be ruled out. Instead, they should be granted an opportunity to undergo an individualized assessment.

Furthermore, HR departments should refer to the Guidance on how to best comply with Title VII during the interview process. They should only ask probing questions that directly relate to the advertised job opening. What is more, employers are directed to only consider criminal history, or related information shared by a candidate, when it deems the them unfit for the requirements of the job.

Even though the Guidance is not law, efforts to enforce its guidelines as a legal basis are taking shape. With the adoption of new laws based on these guidelines, hiring practices will change.

For more information on criminal history checks and employment screening programs, please see Things to Consider About Employment Screening Programs.

Disclaimer Statement: All information presented is for information purposes only and is not intended to provide professional or legal advice regarding actions to take in any situation.