Why Construction Companies Must Perform Background Checks

It’s hard to know who to trust these days, especially when you’re in business. You can use several methods to ensure you’re only hiring honest, hard-working, and reliable employees. Performing a thorough background check, for example, allows you to learn all about a person’s past, including whether they have a criminal record, their financial status, their driving record, their employment history, and their educational background. While all that info can inform an employer’s decision to hire someone, it’s especially important for companies that deal with construction projects. Here’s why construction companies must perform background checks.

Experience

Some entry-level and other positions in the construction industry don’t require much experience. Painters, landscapers, cleaners, and the like don’t need a long resume. Still, more experience means you are more likely to hire someone that you can trust to get the job done right the first time. Experience also matters when it comes to more dangerous and technical work. Certain positions on a construction site require specific certifications and credentials, such as operating heavy machinery and the like. Hiring inexperienced workers for jobs requiring a certain level of expertise can lead to lost time and money, a flawed construction project, or worse.

Criminal Records

Unfortunately, the construction industry offers too many opportunities for bribery, robbery, vandalism, arson, sabotage, and more, which can affect and set back a construction project. You must ensure your employees have clean records and work habits. However, a minor offense on a potential employee’s record shouldn’t exclude them from seeking a fresh start. But some criminal backgrounds are red flags. Choosing not to hire individuals with a record of violent or sexual offenses is not just a matter of protecting your client’s property, it ensures you and your employees are safe.

Drug Use

Drug testing can be intrusive for some, especially if they’ve never done drugs in their life. Still, construction sites are places that require clear heads, open eyes, and physical prowess. You can’t have someone who decided to get high or drunk that morning working with heavy machinery or walking on exposed scaffolding several stories above. Their safety and that of their coworkers is important, of course, but you also run the risk of higher insurance premiums, fines, and more.

Employment History

Here’s the last of our four reasons why construction companies must perform background checks. Arranging for a set of background check packages can verify if the person is a good worker with a consistent job history. Check for suspicious statements in their resumes and excessively brief stints on different projects. Follow up with previous employers about their work habits, punctuality, and possible absenteeism. Truth be told, most dishonest applicants won’t bother to apply if you tell every applicant a completed background check is a requirement for employment.