Companies should screen potential employees to help identify individuals who might pose a greater risk for workplace violence. Workplace violence, including mass shootings, often takes place when an employee becomes disgruntled. In some cases, the employee might feel wronged, such as the incident at Milwaukee’s Molson Coors Campus, when an electrician shot five co-workers before shooting himself. The gunman believed he was being discriminated against because of his race. In other cases, the shooter might believe that his or her work is not appreciated, or the shooter was fired and might be a former employee.
Screen Potential Employees
To keep your employees safe, you should screen potential employees and perform several employee screenings on all new employees. Additionally, in some cases you should also check the employee’s social media platforms and perform a social media background screening on the employee.
Background screening companies typically provide comprehensive background searches to screen potential employees that include:
- A national criminal database search;
- Federal and county criminal background searches;
- National sex offender search;
- A trace on the employee’s social security number;
- A search of the government’s watch list;
- Employment, education, professional reference and professional license verification; and
- Driving records.
Additionally, background screening companies may also provide eviction records for tenant screening. Even if a business is not a landlord, eviction data can provide some information about an employee working in certain industries.
Additional Checks to Screen Potential Employees
In addition to the imperative comprehensive criminal background checks, some HR departments also do social media background screening. Social media background screening should never be used to screen potential employees in ways that violate the applicant’s rights. When checking a prospective employee’s social media accounts, such as performing a Google search on the applicant, they should not be asked to be “friended” or for passwords to gain access to the applicants accounts.
Social media posts on all platforms can help screen potential employees and give you an idea of how the employee conducts himself or herself while off the clock, which may help you determine if he or she is lying in an interview. For example, you might ask if the employee often calls out for doctors’ appointments. If the employee denies doing that, it might show up in social media posts that he or she called out and went to the beach instead of the doctor.
You can find pre-employment behavioral and cognitive tests to find out if a prospective employee has the behavioral traits required for a specific job or the cognitive abilities to do well in certain jobs. You can even add situational judgment tests.
Contact Screening Intelligence
While a prospective employee’s test results might show that he or she is a perfect fit for a certain position, and the comprehensive criminal background check checks out, things can change years down the road. Employers should conduct background checks and do employment testing for cognitive and behavioral issues every year to ensure their employees remain a good fit for their positions. Contact Screening Intelligence to set up an account for the most effective background screening services.
Disclaimer Statement: All information presented is never intended as legal advice and is for information purposes only.
