Many employers find that thorough background checks or investigations on applicants provide helpful information in making hiring decisions. Past employers and other references may provide valuable information on an applicant’s skills and abilities so that an employer may make better employment decisions. In addition, information about an individual’s past reliability or history of crime, including violence or theft, will allow an employer to avoid hiring individuals who may do harm to the employer. As noted in Avoiding negligent hiring claims, located in Recruiting, hiring and employee selection. employers who knew or should have known that an employee had the propensity to engage in violent or dishonest acts may be liable to third parties if that employee harms others.
In addition to providing helpful information, various state and federal laws and regulations require employers to perform certain kinds of background checks on certain employees (the Department of Transportation regulations, Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations, childcare regulations in some states, to name a few). For all these reasons, most prudent employers will perform some level of background check on applicants.
Employers should be concerned about several potential issues when performing background investigations. An employer...
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