According to the Teamlease Annual Report 2011, temporary staff hiring is up by as much as 19 percent in the year 2010 for IT and salary increments are between 10 percent and 12 percent. Automobile, Telecommunication and Healthcare follow, with about 15 percent growth, and with salary raises between 9 percent and 10 percent. These numbers are predicted to see a sharp increase as more and more companies turn towards temporary staff providers for their employment needs.
A temporary employee (temp) is usually hired for adminstrative work and at times for projects that require very high level of specialization. A company hires a temp to be free from any liabilities i.e. running payrolls, providing insurance etc. that result from hiring a full time employee. However, in their enthusiasm companies forget that they can be held responsible for any misconduct by a temporary employee.
The current trend in hiring a temp is that the company lets the staffing agency worry about the quality of the temp provided. In some cases the interview is also carried out by the staffing agency. As demand for temporary staff increases, the staffing company maybe tempted to become lenient in its hiring process and place people that do not match the employee standards for a given company.
Also a company may want to go the temp-to-full time hire route wherein they hire a person from a staffing agency, review his/her work over a stipulated period of time and then offer the temp the option to join the company on a full time basis. A thorough background check would provide a company with the required information and insight to make the right decision.
Given the high employee attrition rates, it is imperative that each new addtion to a company’s work force be thoroughly scrutinized to provide a conducive work environment for all employees. Companies do not want to bear the pre-employment expenditures i.e. background checks, in hiring a temporary employee. In doing so companies fail to understand the importance of background check and can expose themselves to negligent hiring lawsuits that may arise from any acts of misconduct carried out by a temporary employee.
Companies hiring a temp can pass the cost of background check to the staffing companies. The background check should be thorough and must include address, education verification, criminal check and employment verification. Companies may have to shell out a premium when they demand a background check for each temporary employee but this cost would pale in comparison to the long term savings that result from hiring the right candidate.
It is also important that the staffing companies use a known and well established background check service. The background check service being hired should provide documentation for all the checks performed. We at Jantakhoj understand the importance of background checks in hiring the right candidate. Reach us on 040 42007092 or sales@jantakhoj.com to get a free sample of the employee background verification services we provide.
