By Rachel Baldwin

In a struggling economy, protecting your company from dishonest employees is more important than ever. How, then, can you protect yourself? At the very least, you should check every applicant for criminal history.

Performing a thorough criminal record check of each applicant will help prevent a criminal from becoming your employee. Once hired, and depending on their position, an employee may have access to various kinds of information, including your company’s finances. However, many employers are concerned with the cost of performing a thorough criminal record check – but in this circumstance the end justifies the means.

The City of Richmond, Indiana recently hired an office manager, but soon fired her and had her arrested for allegedly charging over $2,500 worth of supplies for her personal use without authorization. Richmond Mayor Sally Hutton said they always do background checks, but it only includes checking records in that county. She continued, “If you want a much more involved check, it’s a lot more expensive.” While the cost of checking multiple counties will naturally be more expensive than just one, in the end, checking all counties in which a candidate has resided over the past seven years is the only reliable way to reduce your organizations hiring risk.

For the City of Richmond, checking multiple counties for criminal records when screening the potential office manager applicant, would have not only saved them from loosing $2,500, but also would have saved them litigation costs. A thorough criminal check would have revealed that the applicant was convicted in a neighboring county of stealing more than $60,000 from her former employer and was sentenced to six months in prison. This type of information can help hiring managers make the best hiring decision possible. In addition, the savings can be both direct (monetary) as described above and indirect through negative press, which should be an important consideration given today’s competitive landscape.

Aside from the common issues of employee theft, performing a thorough criminal record check can help prevent your company from hiring a registered sex offender or someone with a history of violence, perhaps even murder. This is especially important if your company provides daycare, interacts with youth in any capacity, or provides medical care. These types of occupations provide sexual predators with easy access to victims and substance abusers with easy access to prescription drugs.

When performing a background check, a suggested best practice is to check all counties that the applicant has lived in during the last seven years for any criminal records. This means that employers are now tasked with identifying every county that should be checked. A reputable employment screening company will offer an SSN Address History search to assist in determining which counties the applicant has resided. In addition, employers should look at the work history and education history to identify additional counties the applicant has been in.

Being frugal when the economy is strained is certainly important. However, as Benjamin Franklin said, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” The extra money you spend on another county search today may very well save your company thousands, or perhaps even millions of dollars in the near future, not to mention saving your company’s image and reputation. While it is acceptable to shop around for the best value, it is not acceptable to overlook safety.

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