How to Know When a Background Check Is a Good Idea

David Banks
Authored by David Banks
Posted Saturday, September 26, 2020 - 7:54am

Running a background check at the wrong time can send the wrong message to the person you’ve conducted it on. Finding out the most optimal time to run a background check can be a little tricky, but it’s mandatory for both employers and employees. 

Just remember that these background checks take time and money, so it’s not recommended to run one when it’s unnecessary. Here’s how to know when it’s a good idea to do a background check on someone.

When You’ve Found the Right Applicant

The hiring process is one of the best times to run a Miami background check (or wherever it is in the world you are) to ensure the safety of your employees, customers, and company. Finding the best time to conduct one during the hiring process is very important, as running a background check on every applicant can send out the wrong message. Businesses usually explore an applicant's history when they’ve made their final decision.  So, if you run a background check on every applicant, you’ll be giving most of them false hope. Only run a background check when you’ve chosen the applicants you want to hire.

When Applying for Jobs

If you’re wondering why none of the jobs you’ve applied to have contacted you, then you might want to consider running a background check on yourself. Sometimes, you can find differences between your background check and your resume, which employers generally frown upon. Make sure you align what you find through your background check with what you’ve got on your resume to avoid losing out on any potential job offers you may find along the way.

When Legally Mandated

When the government’s laws require you to perform a background check on your employees, there’s not much you can do except make sure that you’re following the requirements of the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) to the dot. Experienced account managers on DBSChecks.org.uk explain that businesses need to know which type of background check to run on employees depending on the circumstance. A basic background check might not be as thorough as an extensive one. Based on the inaccurate results, you can end up hiring the wrong people, which can make your business susceptible to lawsuits in the future.

After an Incident Occurs

If an employee gets into an incident while on the job, a background check is run to check if the incident was caused by a lack of experience or simple negligence. This means that if the company did not run the right background check to assure the employee’s credibility of doing the job correctly, then it’s going to be vulnerable to lawsuits concerning hiring an inexperienced candidate. Running a background check immediately after an incident can be a great way to get a headstart on the legal defense of the company.

Many different signs can tell you whether or not a background check is necessary. However, employers need to tread very carefully when conducting them as there are tons of discrimination lawsuits that come up due to employers only running background checks on a specific group of employees. Always read about privacy laws regarding background checks before conducting one to ensure that you’re not infringing on someone else’s rights. If you’re an employee, you should also consider checking out the privacy laws as it helps you know your rights within the workplace.

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