Chicago & Illinois Background Checking
Did You Know?
"What you know can be devastating...
What you don't know can be worse!"
--
A Labor Lawyer
It is no secret that many employers in Chicago and Illinois give little attention to pre-employment background investigations. Instead, the focus is placed on applications, interviews, resumes, skills tests and other "traditional" screening techniques. However, there are at least five separate reasons why background investigations should be added to the professional's standard practices.
INPUT
NEGLIGENT HIRING
DEMISE OF EMPLOYMENT AT WILL
TECHNOLOGY
EXAGGERATED CREDENTIALS
These and other facts have led to an inescapable conclusion:
Employers simply have to know who they are hiring before they hire them.
The risks are otherwise just too great.
Check Your Applicants
Input
We are all products of our past. The collection of experiences, good or bad, that defines our past does not necessarily determine our future. But background does clearly indicate what a person can and will become.
Thus, an employer who is interviewing applicants for employment has an obvious need to know fundamental facts in an individual's background that may play a role in their future. The standard source for obtaining background information on a job applicant is quickly becoming unavailable. Defamation lawsuits lodged by an applicant against a former employer are on the rise, and have virtually shut off the transference of useful information from former employer to prospective employer. Interviewing also has its limitations. Unfortunately, those most impressive at interviewing are often those most adept at deceiving. It is reported too often that the person interviewed does not turn out to be the same person after two or three months. The employment honeymoon is over. The professional's goal is to find the person who will be best suited emotionally, temperamentally and skill-wise for the jobs the company offers. That takes input from a variety of sources, including background investigations.
Negligent Hiring
The second reason employee screening is so important is the real threat of liability employers now face under the legal doctrine of "negligent hiring."
Illinois Courts are now accepting the premise that some facts in an employee's background should disqualify them for a given position. A driver with a long history of recklessness behind the wheel, a salesperson with a background of violent assault, a bookkeeper with a record of theft, for example.
If the employee causes a foreseeable injury to a third party, and the court determines that the employer's failure to detect or heed the warning signs was unreasonable, the company may well be held liable for damages. Since this risk cannot easily be quantified, employers are well advised to exercise the utmost care in the investigation and selection of all employees.
Demise of "Employment at Will" in Illinois
The formerly universal notion that employers could hire and fire whomever they wanted whenever they wanted is slowly eroding. Different states are proceeding down this path at varying rates of speed. Some have drawn their exceptions to "employment at will" fairly narrowly; for example, prohibiting dismissals when an employee misses work to serve on a jury.
More protective states go much further. The most restrictive states actually require that a worker cannot be dismissed without a showing of clear and just cause. The employer must document the reasons behind all dismissals to show that there was an adequate basis for the action.
Employee initiated lawsuits for "wrongful discharge" are even more common than those for negligent hiring. One study showed that claimants win two thirds of the cases that go to trial, with an average jury award of more than $600,000. Careful pre-employment screening will reduce the risk of many wrongful discharge problems later.
Technology
Explosive technological advances in the workplace increase the dangers of unqualified or unethical workers. With the increasing number of computer savvy employees, a company's information and intellectual property is at risk more than ever. Sound background investigations will ferret out many high-risk candidates.
Exaggerated Credentials
Many observers say that falsification or exaggeration of credentials on resumes and employment applications is at an all-time high.
An employee who comes into a job under false pretenses is the wrong person in the wrong job. The falsification suggests a dangerous character defect that could resurface in another context later on. The lack of appropriate qualifications may also mean that the individual is not objectively competent for the task. Neither is a problem the company can nor should ignore.
These and other facts have led to an inescapable conclusion: Employers simply have to know who they are hiring before they hire them. The risks are otherwise just too great.
Confirming the Facts
The need for an employer to be well-informed about his prospective hires is becoming all too important. "Negligent Hiring" lawsuits are on the increase, resumes exaggerate credentials, sensitive positions are sought out by less-than-trustworthy individuals. Most companies must experience the deceit, or worse yet, a lawsuit, before they take action... before they confirm the facts.
Confirm The Facts!
Criminal
History
Are your employees placed in a position of trust?
Do your clients place trust in your service?
Are you vulnerable to the public?
Could you be sued for negligent hiring practices?
Motor Vehicle
Records (MVR)
Does the employee drive a company car?
Is he/she asked to run a company errand?
Must the employee drive between locations or meetings?
Education
Confirmation
Does the job require a degree?
Are credentials important to your credibility?
Is he/she one of the 30% that exaggerate their education?
Credit Link
Will this employee have cash-handling responsibilities?
Is valuable equipment accessible to this employee?
Does the job allow for access to leased/rented properties?
Will the employee manage other people's property?
Previous
Employment
Verification
(PEV)
Has this applicant stretched the employment dates?
Does this applicant have the experience he/she claims?
Do your managers make the proper attempt to confirm PEV, or is it too much of a hassle?
Name Link
Has this applicant used an alias?
Did the applicant use another name to deceive employers?
Are there discrepancies in the social security number?
Workers'
Compensation
Claims History
(WCC)
Can the employee perform the major functions of the job?
Does the employee's history make the company vulnerable?
(To be used post-job offer, during the medical review process.)
Women and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Programs
Alliance HR Network has recently been certified a WBE (Women's Business Enterprise) by the City of Chicago to enhance the City's growth and economic stability. This carries out the mandates of Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action requirements.
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