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The importance of background screenings for contract workers

Posted on August 19th, 2014 Read time: 1 minutes

In today's business world, conducting background screenings is a crucial part of the HR administration process, particularly when it comes to the use of contract workers. Many staffing agencies are judged by their clients on the quality of supplemental workers they provide. The better their reputation is in this area, the more opportunities a temporary agency will have to grow its business. It is for this reason that HR back-office functions like background screenings are so important. 

HireSafe stated that the primary purpose for conducting checks of this kind is to eliminate candidates who could potentially be a drag on an organization. Contract workers who go out and perform duties and services are essentially representatives of the agency that placed them in the field. Therefore, any negative incidents, such as those that pertain to reliability and performance, reflect poorly on the staffing service, not necessarily the workers themselves.

People Matters, a company that provides media services for human resources professionals, stated that in the coming years, background checks will become more critical for staffing agencies to conduct. The company also said that potential candidates providing fraudulent information about their criminal and work histories will make this process mandatory.

Bad hires create a tremendous burden for companies of any kind, but they are especially troublesome for employment agencies. Low-quality supplemental staff can result in unsatisfied clients who will elect to stop using the company's services, resulting in reduced bottom line revenue. This is in addition to developing a negative reputation in the marketplace.

Supplemental staffing companies must place a significant importance on adding the highest-quality employees possible to their rosters to ensure the viability of their businesses, satisfy their customers and generate increased revenue.

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