Why would you need access to a potential employee's driving records? Certain jobs require people to drive from place to place for various reasons. Some employees are required to do deliveries and others frequently have to visit client sites. Whatever the reason, if driving is an essential function of the job, an employer has every right to access a candidate's driving records.

If you have an open position that entails rare to frequent driving, you want to hire a person with an impeccable driving record, especially if that person will be driving a company car. The person driving your company car is a representative of your company, meaning your company is liable for his or her actions. If your employee gets drunk during work hours and kills someone with your company car, your business shares liability. An incident like that can take down an entire company.

Accessing Driving Records Is Crucial

This step absolutely cannot be overlooked during the pre-employment screening process. Business owners want to reduce their number of liabilities and a person with a bad driving record is a liability if he or she is operating any type of vehicle on the job. If you use an outside agency to obtain your applicant's driving records, make sure that company has access to reports in all 50 states, Canada and Puerto Rico.