Why do company’s check an employee’s background in India?

company’s check an employee’s background in India Increasing competition as well as the desire of candidates to land a well-paying job in a multinational company too soon leads to increasing practices of adding false information to the resume and exaggerating professional achievements. This is one of the reasons why most of the organizations in India end up hiring the not so qualified and skilled candidates for a certain job profile.

All this fraud has led to companies putting up their guards and taking a more strict approach when it comes to hiring candidates for a certain job profile. The companies run employee background checks in order to find out how genuine the candidate is and his/her achievements. This way they will be able to find out about previous experiences, education credentials, and any criminal records.

What is a employee background check?

A background check usually comprises an individual’s identity, business, criminal and, if required, financial records. Usually, a business will contract with an external employment screening services provider specializing in background checks.

The employment verification company will review your personal records to determine if you are what you say you are and if your personal or professional history shows any red flags. Based on restrictions imposed by the law of the land, these checks may include criminal history, educational record, employment record, credit history, driving record and even medical history. 

Why Do Businesses Conduct Background Checks?

There are several reasons why background checks are commonly used in hiring. 

Firstly, companies want to make sure that you are telling the truth. According to reports, over 40% of resumes contain some sort of incorrect or tweaked information, so companies want to make sure that every detail provided in the resume is factually correct. Once a company makes the hiring decision, they can advertise their employees’ qualifications to their clients. If these qualifications turned out to be incorrect, this could hurt their reputation and also cause legal complications. 

The employers may also perform a background check to verify that you have graduated from the same college mentioned in the resume or confirm that you have worked for your previous employer. 

These background checks also help companies from liability issues. When an employee misbehaves, companies can sometimes be held responsible for negligence or failure to make the necessary investigations. For instance, if a ride-sharing company hires someone with a shady driving record, they can be held responsible if the driver gets into an accident. It is the responsibility of the driving company to review a candidate’s driving records before offering them a permanent position. 

Also Read How you can get attest your documents and why it is required?

Businesses must ask before performing a background check

Before proceeding with a background or credit verification, companies must request and receive written approval from candidates. If there is any discrepancy in the report that causes the company to decide against hiring you, they must let you know about it and also provide you with a copy of the report. For example, if something shows up on your background check, that might be incorrect. In such cases, if you have access to the report, you can contact the relevant organization or agencies to troubleshoot the error.

While most of the information in a background check is necessary for an organization, these verifications cannot be used as an excuse for discrimination. Companies must perform background verification on all applicants equally – for example, it would be illegal to perform background verification on male candidates but not on women. 

Moreover, organizations are prohibited from using background checks as a medium of discrimination. As a candidate, you can complain to higher officials if you suspect a background check has been used in a discriminatory manner. Companies cannot make a hiring decision based on race, gender, religion, disability, national origin, genetic information and age of the candidate. 

What is the process of doing an employment background check and what is the duration of the process?

Contacting previous employers- The companies start the employee background check by contacting the last company the candidate has worked at. This way they will cross-check all the information with the candidate’s last employer.

Criminal records- Not just that, the firms also research the public database for finding out if there are any criminal records. 

Motor vehicle record- The checking of criminal records does not end here, but when it comes to employer background checks, the company also wants to make sure that you are a responsible driver and are not involved in any kind of accident.  This kind of background verification is important if the job profile consists of driving. 

Social media use– Understanding a candidate’s lifestyle and nature in general life is very important in order to find out whether the person is suitable for the job or not.

Educational certificate- The Company also verifies how genuine the candidate’s educational records are and validates your educational degree certificates.

Drug screening: Drug addiction is very harmful and it can ruin the environment and habits of other employees at the workplace thus it is important that proper verification of the candidate is done with the help of drug screening in order to make sure that he/she is not a drug addict.

The list of verifications is long and not all companies have the time to conduct this long procedure that may take the time of 3 to 10 days. In such a situation, you can rely on employment verification companies who do all the verification of the candidates for your company, so that you land the apt employee for the job profile. They will provide you with transparent information, in just a matter of days. If during this verification, anything doubtful is found and does not match the information provided by the candidate then it is a red flag and you should not hire such a candidate.

So, if you want the best and rightful candidate for a job position, never skip the background verification of the employees. Good Luck!