Temporary Personnel Agencies: Conduct an Employment Background Check on Temporary Applicants

Fraud and theft committed by employees continues to rise. In fact, the American Society of Employers estimates that 20 percent of a company's earnings are lost to employee theft.

As you send temporary employees on assignment to your client companies, we know you test employees on their skills for an assignment. We know you do also perform thorough reference checking.

But you may want to consider performing an employment background check on temporary employees.

A background check may uncover any criminal history a temporary applicant neglected to tell you about. After all, some employees do lie on their resumes; verifying what they've told you with an employment background check will help you screen out any potential trouble makers.

We also know that it's difficult today to get good references from an applicant's former employers. In our society, many employers are leery of giving out any more than “just the facts” on a former employee's history at their company.

A background check for temp agencies is especially smart for temporary agencies that place bookkeepers, accountants, security guards and any other employee whom you will be placing in a position of extreme trust.

Conducting an employment background check on temporary employees will give you and your client companies' peace of mind. In fact, you could use the fact that you perform background checks as a selling point to potential clients. Let your clients know that you go the extra mile for them by testing for skills, reference checking and conducting background checks on temporary applicants. This will help you stand out from the highly competitive temporary personnel agency field.