Should Employers Ease Background Checks to Solve Hiring Issues?

The process of screening job applicants has become increasingly complex in recent years. With the rise of the gig economy and the resulting increase in job applicants with non-traditional work histories, employers are struggling to keep up. According to a recent study, more than half of employers say they’ve had difficulty filling open positions due to the lack of qualified candidates.

Employers are scrambling to find talent and are relaxing their standards to do so. In some cases, this has led to employers easing up on background checks. The thinking is that if they can find qualified candidates more quickly, they can fill their open positions more quickly and get back to business.

But is this really the best solution? Easing up on background checks can certainly help employers fill their open positions more quickly. But it also comes with several risks. For one, it can lead to poor hires. It can also put the company at risk legally if the candidate turns out to be unsuitable for the job.

This blog explores the pros and cons of easing up on background checks. It helps employers to understand better the overall importance of thorough background screening that they can use to find the talent they need without compromising on quality or safety.

Pros of easing up on background screening

• Saves time and resources: Background checks are an important tool for companies to assess the risk of hiring a candidate with a criminal history. However, this screening process takes up time and resources that could have been spent elsewhere.
• Help hiring top talent: Background screening are often stringent towards their checks and may refrain organisations from hiring top talents. Allowing those with drug or alcohol convictions or motor vehicle concerns greater leeway may help employers to hire top talents which may be found as a black mark in the candidate’s background check.
• Increase in your talent pool: By easing on the background checks, you can increase your talent pool by hiring candidates based on the proofs shown by them and verifying them partially. But this may also have an adverse effect on your organization in a greater span of time.
• Fill up the gaps: As employment screening can be time consuming, there may be certain gaps left till the time being, which may be filled quickly by easing up on the background checks.

The pros of easing up on background screening is limited to a few but the cons are numerous, as it may have an adverse effect on the organization both internally as well as externally because by easing up the background checks the organisations are actually hiring candidates in their workforce without any solid verification and trusting upon the documents and proofs shown by the candidate during the hiring process. Let’s look upon the cons of hiring candidates by easing up on background screening.

Cons of easing up on background screening

• Can create an unsafe workplace: Employment experts generally agree that effective criminal background checks prevent workplace violence. It is the employers' obligation to establish a safe and healthy workplace for all employees in any workplace, including virtual office environments. On the other hand, by easing up on background screening you may be creating an unsafe environment in your organisation.
• Can lead to bad hires: According to surveys, the replacement cost of a bad hire ranges from one to five times the compensation at issue. Consider the direct and indirect costs of recruitment, hiring, and training, as well as squandered pay, benefits, and virtual office resources, before doing a background check. Verifying a candidate's claims can help you make the correct decision the first time, saving you important time and money. Many candidates make fraudulent claims; whether you're confirming criminal history, career history, or education, a back ground check can help you avoid employing someone who misled on their application.
• Can lead to liability risk: Businesses require a variety of employees, ranging from drivers to salesmen. Hiring someone without doing a background check might cost the firm a lot of money, especially if they have drug or alcohol problems. If you do not conduct a thorough screening check, you will most likely be held accountable because of carelessness. The good news is that administering the screening through Complygate is not difficult or expensive, and you can acquire results quickly. Before hiring, avoid responsibility by doing due diligence.
• Can lead to job incompetence: Candidates will constantly make claims about their competence and effectiveness. However, the easiest method to confirm this is to undertake a full background check, especially when it comes to lifestyle issues. A screening exercise can help you make a good recruiting selection, which will put your organisation on the right track. When doing a pre employment screening check, especially on drug-related concerns, it is critical to verify that everything is done legally to prevent some dangers that may develop in the event of a lawsuit. This includes acquiring the appropriate screening tools, staff, and certification.

You want to ensure that your workplace and business in general are secure without sacrificing anything. As a result, executing a thorough hiring screening procedure is critical and cannot be avoided.

Hence, by understanding the pros and cons of easing up on background screening it is always advisable for organisations to abide by a thorough background check before hiring a candidate than merely on the basis of the resume and certificates provided by them.

Complygate helps organisations in making a better hiring decision and in risk assessment, as we conduct several background checks to protect your business’ reputation which makes your workplace safer and more secure than ever.

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