Why Conduct Background Checks on Potential Hires?

Municipalities can lose up to 2.5 times an employee’s salary by failing to adequately conduct background checks on a potential hire. Those costs include direct expenses related to replacing and retraining an employee and indirect expenses such as employee violence, theft, and substance abuse. Research has shown that at least one in four job candidates is willing to falsify information to get a job including college degrees, employment history and reasons for 
leaving previous jobs. It is critical for public entities to validate information provided by candidates to reduce the chance of hiring the wrong employee.