Almost everyone these days knows what a Background check is, and how mandatory it has become, especially for some roles/industries. In countries like Australia, New Zealand or the U.S., it has become a nationwide scheme that is available when you apply through either a local police station or an online accredited service provider.
How Background Checks have become important in Australia
It is common now for organizations and employment agencies in Australia to request your Background Check if you apply for employment or seek a contract.
Where there is a huge pool of qualified applicants/candidates and little difference in their qualifications/abilities, it is harder for employers to select.
The result of a Background check gives the employer/recruiting agency insight into the “morals”, ethics or discipline of the candidate. Although it may be hard to quantify such results, a Background Check result has saved big corporations from making inauspicious employment or business.
These are some of the reasons that make Background Checks like national police checks online more than useful to big corporations in Australia. However, it is a grave mistake to think that only large corporations should run a Background Check on their prospective employees and staff.
Are startups more or less vulnerable to falling for frauds?
Start-up companies are just as vulnerable, if not more as larger corporations in issues of fraud, and employee misconducts.
So, yes you must protect your start-up business which you have labored night and day to grow. You must protect the brand image and the trust of all the early investors who believe in you. And here are more reasons why you need to run background checks;
- Your Start-ups are more exposed than you think
Don’t for one moment think that your business is safe. If the statistics are anything to go by, your business is a target of “wolves and foxes” in the industry.
An ABS survey reports that nearly 6 million Australians are the target of scammers each year, with at least 800,000 falling victims to the nefarious activities. And according to the Office of the Victorian Small Businesses commissioner, nearly $3 billion each year is lost from small businesses across the nation to the scammers.
- Re-enforces the trust of investors in your business
If you have a starting business, you will agree that it is harder to secure the trust and investment of people. Investors only love the business when it is clear that it is a growing revolution. However, if you have investors who entrust their money and resources to you, you should protect it whatever you must.
Protecting their investments include entering the right business deals, employing the best practices during recruitment, business owners insurance and a Background Check that will help you achieve it.
- Promotes your business brand image and safety culture
Consumers usually estimate start-up businesses as lacking in organizational structures or clear business models or risk mitigation strategies. However, keeping your start-up above these stereotypes will be beneficial for your business.
Customers want to become important members of your business and trust the process. Create a business environment that is safe for both customers and resources and the people you hire.
- Keeps you within the Law of the State
Asides from government establishments, the government is extending some of its regulation on Background Checks to private enterprises. In some roles, it is unlawful to employ individuals with certain convictions in their Background Checks.
Since a Background Check is a nationwide scheme, applicants can hardly tweak the results. And all results, irrespective of the State or Territory where you apply for it, contain the same information.
If you run a day-care start-up, for example, it is illegal to employ a person who has a recent conviction of child abuse, violence or other crimes.
- Serve as an Internal Risk mitigation plan
Want to get more investors? Invest more in your business security. Nobody wants to invest in a business that is vulnerable or susceptible to attack, has a bad reputation or other things.
The top of your focus for any start-up should be how to secure your business from malignant moves and workers.
Including a Background Check as an employment requirement would be a practical and massive boost to your business security.
- Background Checks may just be the deciding credential
The Australian labour market is blessed with a massive pool of qualified people for jobs. Most times, it becomes onerous to sort between applications and determine those who are truly qualified for the roles.
A Background Check result is usually related to the role/purpose of the applicant. Sorting between the convictions and opposing those that do not agree with your business will help you save time during recruitments.
- Gets you the best candidate possible for the job
Every organization needs a docile and intuitive employee. It saves the establishments from a bad reputation, cost, and management personnel.
Employees with a clear Background record are more likely to get the nod due to the favorable precedence. And they’ll do everything possible to keep the records as pristine as possible.
How can your Start-up run a Police Check for applicants?
Now, different State legislation allow third-party organizations to apply for a Background Check for individuals with their “written consent”. It is an offense to run or use an applicant Background Check without their explicit permission.
You can apply for a background Check by applying through the portal of the Australian National Character Check.
If your organization applies for an applicant, they will receive the results of their Background Check in hours.
What can employers find in a Background Check?
A Background Check helps employers, agencies and organizations to determine suitable candidates for the job. It contains a comprehensive and clear record of all an individual’s releasable court outcomes (DCOs) including pending charges, court orders and other offenses not classified as spent charges.
The contents of the result do not change irrespective of how/where you applied for the document. Some examples of the convictions released in a Police Check document are;
- Convictions/Charges against corporate organizations
- Sexually related offenses
- Traffic charges for which an individual is convicted in a court
- All Sentences and Convictions
- Pending court charges and offenses
- Other offenses not under the Spent convictions scheme
Wrapping up
The next time you ponder whether or not your startup should be running background checks on new starters who have access to sensitive information within your organization, weigh up the costs and benefits of running background checks. In the majority of cases, you will notice that the benefits far outweigh the cost of a check when the prospective risks to the organization are taken into account.