Background Check on Current Employees and Its Benefits

     By performing a background check before hiring candidates, employers can have a deep insight into candidates’ backgrounds and make the best hiring decision. However, what about your current employees?

     Background checks on current employees are useful if you want to promote, reassign, or decide on employee retention. Moreover, it may help you identify any suspected criminal activity or employees’ performance changes.

     According to I-Sight, major changes in employees' lives (financial problems or other stressful events) can trigger them to commit misconduct. Therefore, conducting a background check on current employees might reduce the risk of employee misconduct.

     A background check is an effort to reduce the risk of employee misconduct even when no issue is found. During the process, employers can still estimate risks employees tend to have in the future.

     Besides identifying risky employees, background checks also facilitate employers to verify the employees’ certification. License and cerfication check is to ensure that your employee is still capable and qualified for the job.

     A background check on current employees is usually conducted if there is a criminal act identified. A background check is intended to determine the specific issues. However, further investigation is needed before deciding the consequences for the employees involved.

     However, on casual days, background checks on current employees can also be conducted to determine changes in employee performance, reassignment, and promotion. A background check helps employers to decide whether employees are capable of new responsibilities.

     Employers should make sure that all employees are consent to be checked. Employees also should be well-informed about how their background data are treated. Besides, the background check policy should also be updated and reviewed to fit the company's needs. 

     Employers have to keep in mind that background check findings might not necessarily be the reason to terminate the employees. The employer needs to notify the involved employee and give the employee a chance to clarify before penalizing them.