Background Checks and Resume Verifications Protect Employers

If you are a business owner, manager, or work in the human resources department of a company, you've probably hired employees who have been less than truthful on their resumes. In fact, recent studies indicate that 75 percent of all resumes contain some form of falsification and fully 89 percent are misleading.

Even though the numbers alone make the case for background checks and resume verification, employers often forgo pre-employment screening of applicants. When they do, the employers' lack of foresight can come back to haunt them. In some cases, companies have been found liable for negligent hiring and retention. In other cases, employers have faced public relations nightmares. Not too long ago, a prestigious university made the news when it was discovered that their admissions officer had allegedly lied about her educational background, and had not received the degrees she had claimed. In the most tragic cases, workplace violence has claimed innocent lives.

Pre-employment screening and background checks prove due diligence, and so can prevent lawsuits claiming negligent hiring. And, by screening out unqualified applicants, employers can save time and money otherwise wasted by recruiting, hiring, and training the wrong applicants. Resume verification and education verification can even help head off wrongful termination lawsuits.

Companies that provide employment screening offer a number of services. The type of screening that best serves you often depends upon the industry in which you work. For example, in the healthcare industry, background checks typically include a state criminal report, a social security number report, education verification, employment verification, a professional license check, a medical abuse check, and a sex offender check.

Those companies that hire delivery drivers or that employ long-haul truckers most often benefit from a national criminal report, a social security number report, a motor vehicle report and a license verification. Educational institutions and childcare centers usually request a national criminal report, a social security number report, a sex offender check, education verification, and employment verification. Those who work in the accounting or finance departments of companies should undergo a national criminal report, a social security number check, a credit check, education verification, employment verification, and an OFAC terrorist check.

Once you make the sensible decision to do pre-employment screening, how do you go about selecting the right company to do background checks? First, look for a well-established company that has a proven track record in both quality and accuracy. Next, make sure that they guarantee confidentiality. Third, check to see that they employ licensed investigators and provide you with the opportunity to speak to a live researcher. Finally, select a company that does both domestic and international searchers, and that does hands-on court research in the United States.

In today's litigious society, and with the prevalence of dissembling on resumes and employment applications, you can't afford to forego background checks and pre-employment screening of your employees and applicants. It's a small price to pay for the peace of mind you'll have knowing that the people you hire are who they claim to be.

Are Employers Less Likely to Hire Muslims?

Research conducted at Davenport University by Murad Ali indicates that Muslims are the least likely out of all other ethnic groups to be hired by employers. Participants were students enrolled in either the MBA program or in business undergraduate courses. The type of full-time work the students engaged in ranged from entry level to senior executive. Many of the MBA students were already managers and had hiring powers within their companies.
Participants ranked their desired applicants for positions based upon their own preconceived notions from 1-5. A ranking of 1 meant that the applicant was most desirable and a ranking of 5 meant that the applicant was least desirable. All of the applicants were considered to be equally qualified and all of them were male. The only difference between the applicants was there name. Robert Schwalbach (White), Tyrone Johnson (Black), Yan Chin (Asian), Pedro Gonzalez (Hispanic) and Ahmed Al-Arabi (Muslim) were used to represent the different races and ethnic groups.
The results of the study indicated that the following order of preference was as follows African American, Caucasian, Asian, Hispanic and Muslim. African Americans were more likely to be called back for employment while Muslims were the least. The data was split into similar groups with African Americans, Caucasians, and Asians on the far left with Hispanics and Muslims on the far right. Data indicating which background the participants came from wasn’t collected.
It is interesting to note that those people who are considered “main stream” or who have been in the country for some time were all very similar in their rankings. Hispanic and Muslims who are seen as newer immigrants were stratified as the least likely to be hired. In essence this means that immigrants are not considered to have the same desirability to employers as “main stream Americans”. It is therefore possible that poverty, unemployment and lack of healthcare may be something imposed on this group than by personal choice.
Employers should be aware of the results of this study because it has an impact with their compliance to the Civil Rights Act. As Muslims become more aware of their rights in the workplace employers may have more lawsuits to deal with. If the hiring managers allow their personal preferences to determine who they are going to hire, instead of most qualified, the bottom line of the company may be affected.