Employment Reference Checks

Would you allow a stranger uncontrolled access to your valuable antique silver service? Your checkbook? Your company cash register?

These actions occur daily without much consideration for the unanticipated outcomes. It may be a maid, waiter, or handyman at your residence. It could be a clerk in the family business. In each situation, the integrity of the individual determines if your valuable property is safe or subject to theft.

The value of conducting at least a minimal reference check on employees should be considered in terms of the following statistics:

• 45% of resumes contain false or exaggerated information.
• 35% of job applicants falsify employment applications.
• 60% of college registrars regularly experience attempts to document false credentials.
• 20% of the nation’s workforce uses illegal drugs on a regular basis.
• 10% of the nation’s workforce has a history of alcohol-related problems.
• 30% of new business failures are caused by employee thefts or embezzlement.
• Internal theft occurs at a rate 15 times greater than external theft.
• Embezzlement equals an annual loss of over $4 billion.
• Employee pilferage costs businesses $5 - $10 billion annually.

Sources: American Management Association, U.S. Department of Commerce, Employment Research Services, and Employment Screening Services.

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