Often times recruiting and hiring is a never-ending process and in an attempt to rush to the onboarding process, some employers fail to conduct background checks. According to a new CareerBuilder survey, more than 28 % of employers do not conduct background checks on new employee before they are hired. Poor selection practices can be costly to a company on many levels.

75% of employers reported that they have hired the wrong person for a position. Hiring the wrong person can cost businesses an average of nearly $17,000 per bad hire per year. Employers reported that bad hires led to such problems as decreased productivity, compromised work quality, negative morale, lost time and customer complaints.

“If an employee is not well-suited for the job or has a bad attitude, the time they spend not working could significantly impact your bottom line. That’s why it’s so important to make sure qualifications are substantiated,” said Ben Goldberg, CEO of Aurico, a CareerBuilder company. “It’s a hard cost to quantify, but it adds up when you consider the loss of employee morale, the additional supervision that employee needs, productivity loss for the organization, revenue that’s not being generated and client relationships that could be turning sour as a result of bad impressions.”

In addition to the financial impact, failing to conduct background checks and making a bad hire can also cause legal problems for businesses. 20% of employers said they know within the first week of hiring a candidate whether or not they made a mistake, and more than half know within the first three weeks. Performance-related issues include poor quality work, negative attitude, not working well with others, inadequate skills, attendance issues and customer complaints. Among those who had a bad hire, 37% said it was because the candidate lied about his/her qualifications.

For those employers who do run background checks, these are the types that are being conducted:
• Criminal background: 82%
• Confirm employment: 62%
• Confirm identity: 60%
• Confirm education: 50%
• Check for illegal drug use: 44%
• Check licensing: 38%
• Credit check: 29%

California employers need to be aware that there are restrictions on the type of background checks employers can conduct in the state. For instance, California has specific rules relating to conducting criminal background checks, performing credit checks and gathering social media information. Background checks are an important business practice, but make sure you know the rules first!

Employers interested in having the Browning Law Group assist them with understanding, implementing, and ensuring compliance with the background check regulations can contact the Browning Law Group at 949-234-6266 or [email protected]. For more information, visit Browning Law Group’s website www.BrowningLawGroup.com.