FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: Why should an employer hire a professional screening company to conduct pre-employment screening?
A: As the person responsible for making hiring decisions, you and your company are at great risk.
Negligent hiring and negligent retention lawsuits are exploding across America, costing companies millions of dollars in settlements. These legal doctrines make you and your company liable for the actions of your employees, even beyond the scope of their normal job activities.
The law is absolutely clear: You have a duty to thoroughly check the background of all new applicants (full or part time) as well as current employees.

A simple, inexpensive way to protect yourself and your business is to have a professional company like Altech Data verify critical applicant background information. The cost is usually less than one day's wages for the average hourly employee. Make no mistake -- a professional, accurate background investigation is perhaps the most cost effective investment you can make in regard to employee training, turnover, and productivity in addition to reducing your risk of employer liability.

Q: What are the chances an employer could have a "problem" employee?
A: Consider the following facts:

- 30% of U.S. business bankruptcies are due to employee theft.
- 60% of new business failures are due to internal theft.
- 70% of all resumes contain false information.
- Retail employees steal 20 times more than shoplifters.
- Bank employees steal 10 times more than bank robbers.
- To reduce inmate populations, "revolving door" prisons are releasing felons in huge numbers who then seek employment
   in the workplace.
- The average negligent hiring award is $1,000,000 and climbing.
- Fraudulent insurance claims have increased over 600% since 1992.

Q: How prevalent is violence and drug use in the workplace?
A: Workplace violence and drug abuse are at epidemic proportions.
Over 2 million workers suffer physical attacks on the job each year. Workplace violence is the leading cause of death in the workplace for women and the second leading cause for men. One in five workers (age 18-36) use drugs on the job. Ten percent of the work force are alcoholics and one- half of all industrial accidents are linked to alcohol and drugs. Cocaine use continues to remain a significant problem for employers. Consider the traits of a typical cocaine user:

- Well educated
- Employed (78%)
- Well paid (over $35,000 / yr)
- Engaged in illegal activities to support the drug habit
(Statistics from: the National Institute on Drug Abuse)

Q: What can an employer do to reduce the risk of problems such as the ones mentioned above?
Professional pre-employment screening is the most important step in preventing these and other types of liabilities. The Office of Homeland Security recommends background checks for all areas of employment. Give us a call today!