TESTING & BACKGROUND CHECKS

Jul 1, 2005 12:00 PM, ERIN SEMPLE

Bill Greenblatt is president and CEO of Sterling Testing Systems, a provider of outsourced pre-employment screening and background checking services. In a telephone interview, he shared some of what he has learned from almost 30 years of experience in the field.

Q. What is the standard form of background checks in the United States?

A. “There is no standard background check. It varies from company to company. The case law is beginning to dictate standards. A company can be sued for not doing a background check on a potential employee. Some companies only do it in a limited matter, while others understand how important it is.”

Q. Many companies are outsourcing their IT functions to India. Should these companies require backgrounds checks on their vendors' employees? What should they check?

A. “The multi-national companies are beginning to require that vendors perform background checks. We are seeing more and more on a daily basis. They should look at employment history, whether they have the right to work in that country, whether they are under the influence of drugs, if they have the competency to do the job at hand and that they have not served any time in prison.”

Q. What are the benefits to performing background checks?

A. “There are huge benefits. Enormous harm could be done by hiring the wrong person. You have to know who you are hiring, particularly when you are developing computer code that is critical to the success of the company. The world is getting smaller, and it is easier and less expensive to get the information. It is incumbent upon companies to check everyone they hire whenever they can.”

Q. What is an example of when a background check made a difference?

A. “A friend of mine challenged me on the value of the product we sell. He said he has been in business for years and has hired thousands of people without using background checks. I said, next time you have someone to hire, I will check them out for free. Later, he was going to hire a woman as his executive assistant. In checking her background, I found that at her last job she was convicted of first offense attempted manslaughter. She was having an affair with her boss, and he tried to break it off with her. She pushed him off a balcony, and he broke his leg. Seven to nine percent of who we screen have a conviction, and 50 percent of resumes are false.”

Q. How much of the background checks are computerized?

A. “Public records can be accessed electronically or by hand. In India, companies must go to the police station to collect the records.”

Q. What do your services include?

A. “Our testing services include testing of skills, physiological tests and tests on honesty. The background checks look at their criminal, education and employment history as well as social security, motor vehicle and credit verification. There is also drug testing.”

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