Today, in most of the medium to large sized offices in India, a large number of contractors are engaged to ensure smooth running of operations. These include housekeeping, security guards, drivers, maintenance workers, and even quite a few white collar workers. The question which some of our prospects ask is whether it is important to make these contractors undergo employee background checks.
While it is important to have all the employees undergo background verification process, it is even more important to have the non-employees or contractors undergo these checks. It cannot be assumed that the contract employee provider or temporary staffing agency would have done exhaustive background checks on these contractors, the reason being that the vendors are operating on slim margins and the extensive background checks would just add further to their costs. Additionally, there is a conflict of interest for the vendors because if something negative turns up in the background checks, they tend to lose out on the placement of that candidate.
There have been quite a few criminal episodes in which drivers or security guards were directly involved as perpetrators. In light of these, it is important for the employing companies to ensure that they keep their workforce safe by having each of the contractors undergo even more stringent background checks than what their own employees undergo. If cost is becoming an issue, then at the minimum, they should conduct address and criminal verifications on these contractors as recommended in one of the earlier blogs – What to do when an employee or contractor with clean criminal record does not remain ‘clean’?
In summary, HR should ensure that all contractors and temporary employees undergo adequate background checks to ensure workplace safety and to have a genuinely qualified workforce.
