Excerpted from an AZ Big Media blog by Molly Gerner

A background check is one of the most crucial pre-employment screening steps that are necessary for small businesses and companies before making a decision to hire. As a small business owner, running a background check on any potential employee should be taken seriously. This is because it helps protect your establishment from numerous potential risks which could cost you a fortune and productivity in the days ahead.

While resumes might look decorated and appealing, small business owners shouldn’t just assume that their potential employees are telling the truth. If you want to get the right person for the job, going that extra mile is necessary as it could help unearth any information likely to be concealed during resume writing.

What you should know about the background check
Before running a background check on the potential candidates, a business owner should, first of all, define their needs. There are different background check services ranging from drug test to criminal records to driving records among others.

As such one should decide which one is best for their business as a matter of importance. That said, let’s look at why conducting an employee background screening is essential for small businesses.

It helps avoid liability
Small businesses have different needs ranging from drivers to salespeople. Hiring someone without running a background screening could cost the company dearly especially when it comes to drug and alcohol problems. A case in point is where you hire a driver who has an issue with drugs or alcohol only for them to cause an accident while on duty.

As the employer, you are likely to be considered liable as a result of negligence if you do not run a background screening. The good thing is that conducting the screening isn’t such hard and expensive and you could get results within a short time using effective tools such as a drug test cup. Avoid liability and do due diligence before hiring.

It’ll save you money and time
While a potential employee could have a decorated resume, drug issues could easily be a problem. You do not want to hire someone with good academic results only for it to turn out that such a person was the wrong candidate for the job thus necessitating a replacement.

Replacing an employee is costly both in terms of time and money but this could be avoided by simply running a background screening before hiring. You can protect your business from unexpected expenses that could result from non-compliance to background check related legal laws and also make the right hiring decision with ease.

It guarantees workplace safety
When you put a job advert out there, chances are that it will attract all sorts of people ranging from drug users to violent criminals to sex offenders. Well, you don’t want to be sorry but safe both for yourself, your other employees and the business in general. You can safeguard your small business with ease by simply running a background screening exercise as you conduct interviews on the potential candidates.

As you put your workplace safety as a top priority, make use of the background check exercise to achieve your goals and wind out any elements likely to put others in danger.

It’s a recipe for job competence
Job applicants will always make claims of how competent and effective they are. However, the best way to verify this is by conducting a background screening especially when it comes to matters lifestyle. A drug user, for example, can’t be trusted to be competent and you do not want to put your business under unnecessary pressure by hiring an incompetent person. A screening exercise will help come up with a positive hiring decision which will set your company on a path of success.

When conducting a background screening especially on drug-related issues, it is very important to ensure that everything is done within legal confines to avoid some risks that are likely to arise in case of a lawsuit. That means getting the right screening tools, personnel, and certification. You want to make sure that your workplace and business, in general, are safe without compromising on anything at all. As such, conducting a thorough employment screening process is paramount and cannot be handled without due diligence.

Final Words
It is very important to handle different aspects of the screening process especially when it comes to drugs and this will protect you from repeated employment screening process. Always make sure you have tools that guarantee accuracy and reliability when conducting this exercise. You should also come up with a consistent background screening policy for your small business and this way you can avoid allegations of intrusion and personal discrimination by the candidates being checked.

Always get a written consent before carrying out the exercise to help you keep up with the legal requirements surrounding background screening.