Employers may be hesitant to address urgent headcount needs by filling critical jobs with permanent personnel because many firms are still unsure about the economic outlook. As a consequence of this, many businesses are beginning to rely on a contingent or temporary labor in order to satisfy the growing demand for personnel. A survey that was conducted by Intuit found that by the year 2020, contingent workers will make up more than forty percent of the whole workforce in the United States. Smaller staffing agencies will need to do everything in their power to obtain market share and compete with larger organizations as the need for temporary labor continues to rise. To improve the overall quality of their temporary workforce, many larger staffing companies already engage in the practice of doing complete background checks on job applicants. As a result, smaller businesses would be well to consider adopting this strategy as well. Employment screening will not only assist smaller staffing agencies in remaining competitive with their larger competitors, but it will also assist these firms in better protecting their clients as well as their own reputations. The following advantages may be available to recruiters working for smaller staffing firms that undertake background checks on job candidates.
False Information
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) found in research that was conducted in 2003 that more than half of all job applications contain information that is false. If your staffing agency does not have a background screening program in place, how can it verify the accuracy of an applicant’s stated employment and educational histories, determine if an applicant has a history of criminal behavior, or determine any other information that is vital to the hiring process? Even if a person tries to conceal a history of abuse or other unethical or criminal activities on an application, a background screening tool can help a company discover the individual’s past transgressions even if they were successful.
Prevent Unsafe or Criminal Activity
The increased likelihood of employees engaging in illegal or risky behavior on the job is directly proportional to the laxity with which employers conduct employee background checks. Staffing firms that have a working relationship with a provider of background checks are able to learn whether or not a candidate has a history of sexual misconduct, financial misdeeds, or illegal activities of any kind. It is helpful to your clients to establish work conditions that are safer and more ethical when you know whether or not individuals with these backgrounds are in your hiring pool.
Protect Against Negligent Hiring Suits
According to SHRM, the typical amount paid out in the settlement of a lawsuit alleging negligent hiring is approximately one million dollars. When an employee causes damage or injury while on the job and the employer “should have reasonably known” that the worker was unsuited for the position, a case of negligent hiring can be brought against the employer. The results of a background check might assist a staffing agency in determining whether or not a candidate might put the company’s clients in danger of having to pay for an expensive negligent hiring lawsuit.
Contractual Risks
Contract clauses that describe how the staffing agency will conduct background checks on temporary employees are typically agreed upon by the majority of companies and staffing agencies. The majority of the standard contracts used across the industry stipulate that staffing firms are required to exercise “due care” while screening potential employees. It is possible for a staffing agency to be held accountable for a breach of contract or indemnification claims if it fails to exercise “due care” and places a worker who is unsuitable for employment or otherwise constitutes harm to the customer. These contractual risks can be mitigated and the costly lawsuits that accompany them avoided with the assistance of a service that provides full background checks.
Build Better Client Relationships and Protect Your Brand
Your customers count on you to provide them with the qualified laborers that they require in order to achieve their business objectives. If this person has been subjected to a full background check that is commensurate to their degree of responsibility and exposure, then you have made a significant step toward cultivating better long-term relationships with your customers by ensuring that this step was taken. A temporary worker that you place on-site for a customer is a representative of your brand, expertise, and professional acumen; therefore, you ought to take reasonable steps to ensure that the person presents your company in the best possible light. Therefore, given that companies will continue to satisfy their immediate staffing needs by searching for temporary and contingent labor, the question becomes whether or not you are prepared to provide that demand with a consistent workforce that has been pre-screened.