You run pre-employment background checks on your candidates, and those that pass your company policies for screening are hired. Education and employment information that has been verified won’t change, but criminal records, driving records, and credit reports can change. How do you know if your employees still meet the necessary criteria for their job? Many employers are moving to a continuous screening process to aid in risk management.

Employers will go the extra mile for what they consider to be safety sensitive positions, such as those who visit vendor sites, or have access to schools, hospitals, care facilities, etc.  But what about the employees who work at your facility every day? What if one or more of those people have become a risk?

Any employee who drives on company business, using a company car, a personal vehicle, or a rental car, should have continuous driving checks at regular intervals. What those intervals are is up to the company; most companies re-check from a quarterly to a bi-annual basis. If you go longer than bi-annually you could miss important information.  According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there was an average of one person dying every 50 minutes due to alcohol impaired driving. Just think about that, by the time we finish working an 8-hour day, nine people will have lost their lives because of someone drinking and driving. The risk is higher when you factor in texting while driving and drugs, legal or not. If one of your employees hurts or kills someone while driving on the job, and a family member, or members, want to sue, they will go after the one with the deep pockets, the company.

It is possible that an employee’s financial or domestic situations have changed during their employment? Life circumstances can have profound effects on people, and given the right circumstances, even the best of people can make bad decisions. What if that long-term trusted employee in your accounting department is suddenly in a financial bind and they feel desperate? What if the happy go lucky account manager is going through a bad break-up? We see bad endings to these types of situations far too often. Liability is not just in what you know.  Oftentimes it is also in what you should have known.  Negligence can occur when hiring, but also during retention.

One of the most famous and disturbing cases was recently settled when MSU agreed to a settlement with the hundreds of victims of Larry Nassar. USA Gymnastics agreed to a confidential settlement. The lawsuit wasn’t just about the abuse, it was also about the negligence of his employers, MSU and USA Gymnastics. Multiple employees of the organizations were made aware of the allegations, and yet nothing was done. Hundreds of victims were subjected to abuse because of the employer’s negligence in keeping Nassar on staff.

As with any policy, make sure that you follow the laws and regulations for the locale where you are doing business. Make sure that your authorization forms, where allowed by law, state that in addition to the initial screening, continuous screening may be conducted throughout their employment. If your state, city, or county does not allow for continuous screening with the initial authorization, make sure to obtain a new authorization before running additional checks.

Review your company policies. If your existing policy needs updates, make sure that the information is shared with and understood by all required parties. If you don’t have a policy, make sure to put one in place. And as always, review your policies and forms for background screening with your legal counsel.

Additional ASE Resources:
Handbook Services - ASE can assist you by reviewing and updating your current handbook or developing a new one.   For more information on ASE’s handbook services, please contact Mike Burns.

Background Screening - ASE can protect your organization from the cost of bad hiring decisions with our complete background screening services, which can also be utilized for ongoing employee screenings.  For more information, please contact Susan Chance.

Sources:   Fisher Phillips LLP, theemplawyerologist.com, lansingstatejournal.com, crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov