Techniques for Effective Employee Pre-Screening

The best defense is a good offense.  The best way to deal with a crisis is to prevent it.  Preventing workplace violence starts with good pre-employment screening. 

The depth of pre-employment screening can vary depending upon the level and sensitivity of the position being applied for as well as state laws and regulations. Pre-employment screening policies must be consistent with privacy and antidiscrimination laws.  If you question a specific screening policy, check with your company attorney.

The following techniques can be utilized in most situations to assist your organization screen out potentially violent employees.

1. Run a Department of Motor Vehicles report on applicants.  This report gives the actual date of birth, which may be falsely reported on an employment application.  A false date of birth will give erroneous information when doing a criminal history search or Social Security trace.

2. Order a Social Security trace. This report identifies counties of residence and known aliases.  Then, when researching a potential employee’s criminal history, do not overlook all counties of residence and all known aliases.

3. Look for red flags, including a history of drug and alcohol abuse and past conflicts with coworkers and/or managers.

4. Run credit reports on applicants that can affect your organization financially, including anyone who will turn in expense reports.

5. Take the time to verify reported licensing and education.  Fourteen percent of all employees falsify their education.  Even if you have seen a diploma, transcript, certificate or license, these things can be purchased for a nominal price on the Internet, without ever completing the licensing or education. 

6. If pertinent to your business, be sure to run a sex offender/child molester identification search, Medicare fraud report, terrorist search, military service report, worker’s compensation report, or complete drug testing and employment physicals.

7. Last, but not least, follow-up on all references.

When in doubt, if you encounter someone who has a hostile attitude, a history of frequent job changes and a tendency to blame others for his/her problems, take the extra time and spend the extra money to dig a little deeper.  A penny saved may be a penny earned but a penny saved at the expense of workplace safety and productivity can be disastrous.

For even more information on employee screening, click here to read a brief survey regarding background checks.