Set it and Forget it? Maybe Not.
There used to be an infomercial on TV for a home rotisserie oven at all hours, day and night. The catchphrase, repeatedly invoked was “Just Set it and Forget it!!”
The instruction manual told a different story. The first words were (paraphrased) “Never, but never, leave your cooker unattended. A piece of meat may get stuck on the heating element and start a fire which could burn your house down causing severe injury or death.”
Employment Screening can be like that. We’re all familiar with the Negligent Hiring Doctrine—employers should assess the nature of the job, and its degree of risk to third parties and then perform a reasonable background investigation to ensure the applicant is competent and fit for duty.
But there is a lesser-known snake in the grass for employers—Negligent Retention. It’s similar to Negligent Hiring but addresses whether the employer should or could have known about unfitness post-hire rather than pre-hire.
You might want to assess your job positions and determine whether monitoring (where you are informed of new activity) or periodic post-hire inquiries make sense. If you have workers driving company vehicles, periodic checking of their driving history is probably a good idea. If you have workers controlling or administering controlled substances, monitoring for illegal drug activity might be advised. Crimes of violence or moral turpitude would be of interest to volunteer organizations. Many organizations have, as conditions of employment, that workers self-report pertinent offenses. It goes without saying that compliance with this requirement if you have one, is spotty.
You might want to review positions in your company that could have liability if the wrong person was in the job and then craft a policy for ensuring they remain fit for their duties. We can assist you in crafting a cost-effective program for monitoring or periodic review. There is good reason you screen for unfit workers—there’s also good reason to ensure fitness for current workers.
Just set it and forget it is a nice catchphrase, but “just set hiring criteria and forget it” may not be wise.
