Employee background checks are important for hiring high-quality, dependable employees. Background checks will reveal if any information presented on an application is false. They may also reveal information that would be suspicious such as criminal convictions, bankruptcies, or driving violations. Background checks are primarily used in the hiring process to verify identity and truthfulness on an application.

Benefits of Employee Background Checks

Employee background checks are a useful tool in hiring for many reasons. Approximately 30 percent of resumés contain false or misleading information according to a background check service study. Studies have also shown that 11 percent of criminal record checks reveal that applicants have a criminal record. To avoid hiring criminals or employees who have lied, a background check is a necessary step.

Many businesses do not choose to use background checks on employees because of the cost of performing a background check. These business owners do not realize that the cost of a background check is very minimal when it comes to achieving security with hired employees. On average, it costs $4,000 for a business to recruit, hire, and train an employee. A background check is between one and two percent of that cost, a minimal fee for ensuring the hiring of quality employees.

Basic employee background checks reveal information such as name, address, phone number, age, property owned, education, and previous employment. More complete searches may be a little more expensive, but they can provide information about bankruptcies, sexual offenses, criminal convictions, military service records, corporate affiliations, professional licenses, driving violations, and credit history. Many different services are available to help businesses perform quick and accurate background checks for possible employees.