Employers in every field often overlook the importance of conducting a thorough criminal background screening for every new employee. In any industry, the repercussions of hiring someone with a criminal background or poor professional history can be detrimental to an organization.Medical practices can be hit particularly hard by engaging in negligent hiring practices, even if they are unintentional. Poor hiring decisions could lead to patient harm and punitive damages. Practices may assume that credentialing includes criminal background checks, but this is not always the case. Not all state medical boards check criminal background history before licensing medical professionals.
Many organizations within the state of Florida only check local backgrounds, because the judicial system website makes it simple to screen anyone by county. It is important to remember that often times, potential candidates have lived outside of Florida or are not being completely honest on their application, and a national criminal background check (including sexual offender status and worker’s compensation claim history) is necessary for any new employee that you bring in to your organization.
Employers should always refer to the Fair Credit Reporting Act when conducting employee background screening and ensure that all practices are according to local, state, and federal law. Some companies find that the easiest, most-effective, and most certainly legal way to screen candidates is turning to a trusted, third-party source to conduct all screening, including both credentialing and complete criminal history checks. Ad-VANCE Talent Solutions is a one-stop human resource provider that offers a variety of screening solutions for any business. Call Ad-VANCE today for more tips and information on our screening and hiring services!