Dive Brief:
- While predicting a problem employee is often difficult, background checks can be one way for employers to create a safer work environment, experts told MarketWatch. But it's important to do it right or there could be legal consequences.
- Federal rules allow employers to check an applicant’s work history, education, criminal record and credit history, but if employers use any of that data in decision making, candidates must be allowed to dispute or at least explain any negative data.
- Apart from background checks, drug testing is often used by employers, but in sectors such as construction and transportation, talent pools are shrinking because rising numbers of applicants are failing tests, especially in states where marijuana is legal.
Dive Insight:
Tina Syring, a labor and employment law attorney at Barnes and Thornburg in Minneapolis, told MarketWatch that while background checks can be expensive, they can be a good way to safeguard "business assets, employees and consumers of your product or service."
While using social media may seem like a no-brainer for employers, making it part of any official candidate vetting represents a “gray area” when it comes to regulation compliance, Marsha Hernandez, managing director of employment screening at Pinkerton Consulting and Investigations, told MarketWatch.
Bottom line, when investigating any new hire, employers must be sure to check with national and state guidelines on using both background checks and drug testing.
