The pre-employment process is now complete. Congratulations! You are excited to welcome your new employee into your company with open arms; because you have shown your due diligence by conducting a background verification, you are confident that he/she has the required qualifications and that they will not present a threat to your company. However, background checks on new employees are only effective as of the date of hire. What happens if your new employee is arrested or has his/her driving license suspended after hire, has had a domestic violence case levied against them?
While pre-employment verification is an effective tool to trim down fraud, workplace violence, and employee theft, it is also just a snapshot in time. How do you learn about the misconduct of employees that may occur after a pre-employment background check? Current employees may present an even greater risk than job applicants. You’ve invested time and money to recruit, on-board and train these employees. Furthermore, they already work on your premises, have access to company property and deal with your clients, vendors and the general public as a representative of your organisation.
While most companies currently perform background screening on employees once at the pre-hire stage, we recommend a ‘post-hire verification’ to avoid insider threats. This may include getting a Criminal verification re-done for your employees. For the drivers, getting an ID check done, to ascertain whether their IDs are valid still or not.
We have plenty of examples of post hire insider threats around us – In 2013 Edward Snowden, held a position as a subcontractor with the NSA – National Security Agency, he leaked confidential information about the NSA’s surveillance activities. The 2015 Morgan Stanley hack highlighted the risk of post-hire insider threats. These threats range from fraud, embezzlement, workplace violence, etc. Employees, temporary workers and contractors have access to the workplace: An insider threat can come from any of these individuals.
So, we strongly recommend not only getting a re-check done for your permanent employees, but also your Fixed Term Contract staff, vocation trainees and contractors.
Many companies conduct basic screenings for their entry-level candidates. When an employee is rewarded for their job performance, they are often promoted from within and take on new roles and responsibilities. As the level of responsibility grows, so does the risk for the employer if the wrong individual is placed into a position of authority. A simple re-screen for employees being considered for additional levels of responsibility can help the organisation mitigate risk and ensure a more secure workplace. In this case it could be an employment and education check.
In today’s ever-changing, dynamic world, more and more companies are conducting post-hire screenings in order to mitigate company risk. Employers are realising that post hire background checks is a good business practice. Conducting checks at regular intervals helps protect your company by ensuring a more secure workforce.
