• Verify information supplied on applications for employment. As obvious as this may sound, businesses all too often skip this task and base hiring decisions on gut feeling.
• Perform pre-employment screens and background searches when making hiring decisions.
• Keep documentation of background checks on file to prove due-diligence, even when reports don’t reveal negative information.
• Perform periodic background checks to reveal changes in behavior that might require corrective action. Employees in higher risk positions should be checked as often as every three months.
• Respond quickly to reports of threats or assaults by performing effective post-incident investigations, and institute a “zero-tolerance” policy.
• Establish written hiring policies and procedures — and comply with them.
For further information, the Washington Department of Labor and Industry website provides a valuable Employer’s handbook called, “Workplace Violence: Awareness and Prevention for Employers and Employees” It can be found online at www.wa.gov/lni/pa/workvil.htm. |
