You want to know if the people you employ are trustworthy, knowledgeable, and are who they say they are. Background checks ensure all three things. But background checks can cost you time and money, so you don’t want to run one unless you’re sure it’s necessary. Not every business or industry requires them, but some absolutely do. Here are five types of businesses that require background checks. See if yours is one of them.
Healthcare
Everyone needs healthcare eventually, and it usually comes at a time when a person is at their most vulnerable. The healthcare field requires responsible individuals with clean backgrounds, proper credentials and certifications, and a history of providing great healthcare. Background checks make sure you’re hiring experienced and caring professionals, which protects your patients and other employees, prevents potential insurance and liability issues, and keeps your facility’s reputation spotless.
Childcare
Speaking of vulnerable individuals, the childcare field must take extra steps to ensure that the kids they look after are safe from harm in all ways. Background checks look for criminal activity or presence on national and regional sex offender registries. Once again, it takes just one incident to harm a child and ruin the school or facility’s reputation. Avoid it with a thorough background check.
Banking
Banks must perform background checks as they also do not want to run the risk of hiring someone with embezzlement, robbery, fraud, forgery, insider trading, cyber-crimes, and other criminal charges in their background. Criminal records are red flags, of course, but so are suspicious credit scores. They suggest that a candidate may want to help themselves to the money they handle or see transferred daily.
Government Jobs
The list of reasons for rejecting someone for a government position is extensive. Criminal records can affect the decision to hire, of course, so can drug use, misconduct, association with known felons and persons of interest, and even multiple traffic violations. Financial issues and the like can make a person vulnerable to performing compromising actions, disqualifying them for a position requiring security clearance.
IT
The last of the five types of businesses that require background checks is a big one. The world floats on data, and the information technology folks at your facility have access to all of it. These employees can access, share, and profit from anything from personnel files to payroll systems to financial records and you’d never be the wiser. Background checks ensure IT personnel have clean backgrounds and have demonstrated competence at their jobs with other employers. IT employees have a lot of power—make sure they know how to use it wisely and honestly.