Employment Background Checks

As we begin a new decade in 2020, here’s a look back at the most popular posts from the previous year. 2019 was a year with a heightened focus on compliance for employers as I-9 and E-Verify updates are enacted combined with no shortage of state marijuana legislation limiting how employers can drug test their workforce. The nursing talent shortage, healthcare compliance and recruitment conference takeaways, workforce diversity, and employment drug testing are all topics that were most popular among our readers in the past year.

Over the course of the year, I attended a number of conferences. This year has been no exception. One event, in particular, had a number of senior executives in finance and healthcare in attendance. I was fascinated by the conversations, candid discussions, and learning that happened among peers. One of the most interesting (and frequent) topics of conversation was on background checks for workers.

Each decade, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes an occupational outlook. It goes into great detail about each industry and occupation. Overall, the BLS expects total employment to increase by 20.5 million jobs between 2010 and 2020. While 88 percent of all occupations will experience growth, the fastest growth will occur in healthcare, personal care and social assistance, and construction.

On March 27th, the House of Representatives passed HR 7, the “Paycheck Fairness Act,” by a vote of 242 to 187.  This bill includes several provisions intended to promote gender pay equity in the workplace.

Section 10 of the bill would amend the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to restrict the ability of covered employers to consider wage history information during the hiring process.

The bill would make it unlawful for covered employers to:

While the healthcare industry has made substantial progress in patient safety over the past 20 years, there is still much work to be done in this vital facet of medical care.

Continuous background screening was recently named as a top employment screening trend for 2019 by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). Greater numbers of employers are weighing the advantages of conducting post-hire screenings on their workforce. While the benefits of recurring background checks are compelling to employers, successful program adoption also rests on sensitivity around cultural impact.

One employment screening topic that has gained momentum over the past year is the practice of continuous background screening. More than ever, employers are starting to weigh the advantages of conducting post-hire screenings on their workforce.

The benefits for employers are clear: a continuous background screening program allows employers to make highly informed employment retention decisions. For healthcare employers, however, adopting this type of talent screening program also demonstrates their commitment to workplace and patient safety.

The end of the year is often an opportune time for departments, including human resources, to reflect and take a hard look at daily operations. From retention to talent development and recognition to performance feedback, it’s important for HR to decide what processes are working, those that aren’t working, and how to address any red flags moving forward. 

To keep things simple, here are some of the latest HR issues to consider as you focus on improvements for a more efficient and successful new year.

For healthcare organizations facing a hyper-competitive market and an aging customer base that requires more care, contingent staffing, also known as supplemental staffing, can play an integral role in HR's strategic planning process as a means to acquire on-demand, qualified healthcare talent.

How does an employer know if their employees have been arrested or convicted of a crime while on the job? The truth is, unless employers run recurring criminal history checks post-hire, they simply won’t know.