The first line of defense … is a good offense, and a good offense against negligent hiring lawsuits is your careful investigation of each employee’s background.
For a thorough check:
- Contact all prior employers. (Even if you think all you’ll get is dates of employment and salary, make the calls anyway. If you get a “no comment,” record it in the file. If necessary, it can be produced in court to show you did try to get the information.)
- Obtain personal and professional references and contact them all. If concerned about a particular trait or circumstance, ask specifically about it when checking references.
- Conduct drug, driving and credit checks.
- When in doubt, consider other applicants instead.
Mel Kleiman will discuss how Great HR is Simple — It’s Just Not Easy at the TLNT Transform conference in Austin, TX Feb. 26-28, 2012. Click here for more information on attending this event.
This was originally published on Mel Kleiman’s Humetrics blog.