Employee Background Checks Are A Buffer To Employee Theft

 

Employee Background Checks – 3                                                                                 WC Blog 757
Pre-employment Screening – 4
Employee Background Checks Are A Buffer To Employee Theft
     Employee background checks are much like the safety features in a car. This occurred to me the other day after I had stopped to render assistance at the scene of a head on collision. A car had crossed the median and plowed into the front of a car that had been travelling in the opposite direction. By the look of the accident scene the incident had taken place just moments before I drove up. I pulled over, got out and began checking on the victims. Two other passersby got out to assist as well. The victim who had been hit was in pain but had only minor visible cuts on his person. I did notice his airbag had deployed. As I looked at the amount of damage I can only believe the airbag and other safety features prevented more severe injuries or even death to driver I was helping. Pre-employment screening is like a safety feature in a car. You don’t necessarily realize how important it is until something takes place that makes you realize what could have happened without them.
     A retail business is susceptible to internal theft and that can do significant damage to a business. When I was a Loss Prevention Manager I closed out at least 100 employee theft cases but the majority of those resulted in less the $1,000 worth of known or admitted theft per incident. In most situations I identified the theft fairly early on from the start of the employee’s start date. I would attribute this to the fact our company could afford to have Loss Prevention Managers and Associates in our stores. I will also say that Pre-employment screening and drug screening played a big part in keeping these numbers as low as they were. The screenings are like the unseen safety features of a car. Have them in place and they will protect you from serious damage should something go wrong. Notice that safety features don’t necessarily prevent accidents from happening but they do minimize damage to the occupants of a vehicle should one occur. 
     Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. (LPSI) is one company that can conduct comprehensive employee background checks on potential future hires for you. They have a wide range of research options an employer can request before a new person hired onto a team. Most people think of criminal background checks when they think of pre-employment screenings but there are more things that can be covered. Some of the things LPSI can dig into are driving records in case the applicant will be driving a company-owned vehicle. They can verify educational information if the employer requires a specific level of education. Sometimes people with checkered pasts move around frequently to try to hide their activity. LPSI can look into that information and validate prior addresses. There may be hidden dangers lurking in a job candidate’s past and LPSI provides the safety mechanism to help keep your business safe.
     Let’s not overlook the hidden dangers of hiring someone who uses illegal drugs and seeks a job in a retail store. Side note; I am also including marijuana in this category. Though it may be ‘legal’ in some states, it is not legal as far as the federal government is concerned. I am also of the personal opinion that it can still cause liability issues for a retailer as much as an employee intoxicated by alcohol can be for a store owner. These applicants may choose to steal to support their habit. They may cause accidents or injure themselves while working costing employers significant amounts of money in lost work time, payment for damages or injuries and potentially lawsuits. Screening applicants before allowing them to start work may slow the hiring process a bit but the benefits to the employer are immeasurable.
     I hope that the airbags in your car will never have to deploy. However should an accident take place these hidden safety features may save you from severe injury or death. In a similar manner employee background checks and drug screening can proactively keep your business safe even if you don’t see them in action. You try to hire the right people with applicant screening questions and interviews and pre-employment screening adds another level of safety. The chances of hiring a dishonest worker are significantly reduced when you have them in place. It is also important to know that should one bad character get past your screening LPSI can also do dishonest employee investigations to get you back on track again quickly limiting your injury from losses the associate may cause.
For more information on employee background checks contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

Employee background checks are much like the safety features in a car. This occurred to me the other day after I had stopped to render assistance at the scene of a head on collision. A car had crossed the median and plowed into the front of a car that had been travelling in the opposite direction. By the look of the accident scene the incident had taken place just moments before I drove up. I pulled over, got out and began checking on the victims. Two other passersby got out to assist as well. The victim who had been hit was in pain but had only minor visible cuts on his person. I did notice his airbag had deployed. As I looked at the amount of damage I can only believe the airbag and other safety features prevented more severe injuries or even death to driver I was helping. Pre-employment screening is like a safety feature in a car. You don’t necessarily realize how important it is until something takes place that makes you realize what could have happened without them.

A retail business is susceptible to internal theft and that can do significant damage to a business. When I was a Loss Prevention Manager I closed out at least 100 employee theft cases but the majority of those resulted in less the $1,000 worth of known or admitted theft per incident. In most situations I identified the theft fairly early on from the start of the employee’s start date. I would attribute this to the fact our company could afford to have Loss Prevention Managers and Associates in our stores. I will also say that Pre-employment screening and drug screening played a big part in keeping these numbers as low as they were. The screenings are like the unseen safety features of a car. Have them in place and they will protect you from serious damage should something go wrong. Notice that safety features don’t necessarily prevent accidents from happening but they do minimize damage to the occupants of a vehicle should one occur. 

Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. (LPSI) is one company that can conduct comprehensive employee background checks on potential future hires for you. They have a wide range of research options an employer can request before a new person hired onto a team. Most people think of criminal background checks when they think of pre-employment screenings but there are more things that can be covered. Some of the things LPSI can dig into are driving records in case the applicant will be driving a company-owned vehicle. They can verify educational information if the employer requires a specific level of education. Sometimes people with checkered pasts move around frequently to try to hide their activity. LPSI can look into that information and validate prior addresses. There may be hidden dangers lurking in a job candidate’s past and LPSI provides the safety mechanism to help keep your business safe.

Let’s not overlook the hidden dangers of hiring someone who uses illegal drugs and seeks a job in a retail store. Side note; I am also including marijuana in this category. Though it may be ‘legal’ in some states, it is not legal as far as the federal government is concerned. I am also of the personal opinion that it can still cause liability issues for a retailer as much as an employee intoxicated by alcohol can be for a store owner. These applicants may choose to steal to support their habit. They may cause accidents or injure themselves while working costing employers significant amounts of money in lost work time, payment for damages or injuries and potentially lawsuits. Screening applicants before allowing them to start work may slow the hiring process a bit but the benefits to the employer are immeasurable.

I hope that the airbags in your car will never have to deploy. However should an accident take place these hidden safety features may save you from severe injury or death. In a similar manner employee background checks and drug screening can proactively keep your business safe even if you don’t see them in action. You try to hire the right people with applicant screening questions and interviews and pre-employment screening adds another level of safety. The chances of hiring a dishonest worker are significantly reduced when you have them in place. It is also important to know that should one bad character get past your screening LPSI can also do dishonest employee investigations to get you back on track again quickly limiting your injury from losses the associate may cause.

 

For more information on employee background checks contact us or call 1.770.426.0547