In every business, big and small, the discussion is whether employee background checks are necessary and if they are a good idea. The answer to both of these questions is a resounding yes. Not only are they good for the company itself, they are good for the other employees and the new hire as well. While there is some question about invasion of privacy and identity security, the benefits of an employee background check should actually outweigh those risks.

The statistics are staggering and should serve as a major eye opener for every Human Resources department and for every company owner, no matter how large the business is. Even a person who is hiring a single employee, perhaps to work in their private home or to help out in their start up company would be well served by employee background checks.

Be honest: was everything on your own resume perfectly truthful and upfront? Most people embellish on their resumes, especially if they do not have the exact experience or education that has been asked for. Now imagine hiring this individual, spending the time to train and educate them and then finding out that they are either a) not right for the position or b) they are not qualified at all. The company has lost not only the time, cost and energy of training this person, but will now have the time, effort and cost of a second interview and hiring process.

Employee background checks can also reveal dangerous or criminal activities that would serve as fair warning against hiring these people. As an example: if you hire Tom without doing a check on his background you are exposing yourself, your company and your other employees to his dangerous and malicious past.

Perhaps he has been convicted several times of stealing and he also has several violent crimes on his record as well. After working for several weeks, Tom is accused of stealing not only from the company but from coworkers. When confronted, he becomes enraged and punches Phil from accounting in the face, knocking out several of his teeth in the process.

Now, not only are you faced with the expense of prosecuting Tom, but you need to replace him with a new hire and replace whatever items he has stolen in the process. You will have to do a full audit to find the exact extent of his thievery. Finally, you may also face legal action from Phil in accounting for his pain, suffering and medical/dental bills. All of these costs could have been easily avoided by using employee background checks for all new hires.

With all of the new services on the Internet, there is really no valid reason for all companies to be utilizing employee background checks to save themselves the time and effort, not to mention the cost of new hires. After all, it is important for your company to have the best employee so that it can grow and prosper.