Response questions

Respond to each classmate with at least 300 words,at least two sources and please cite sources.

Response to classmates;

Original Question: What are the ethical questions involved in requiring background checks for all person who are about to receive a job offer? How extensive should the check be?

Classmate#1 Brown, Timmy,

There are several ways employers can evaluate a candidate’s qualifications for employment. One of the most popular tools for Human Resource are Background checks. The check will give the hiring company a basis to start with pre-screening tests. The reference check is another check. Candidates who are applying for a new position only use people as references who will positively refer to their work ethics.

I currently work as a Sr. Manager at FedEx Express and have been in management for over 20 years. Our HR department has a policy called verification of employment or VOE. This is uniformly for all manager who is only allowed to verify employment. The verification consists of when the employee was hired, what position they held, and their salary at the end of employment. According to Amuedo-Dorantes and Zebedee (2015), many states have been mandating the use of employment verification (E-Verify) systems to confirm work eligibility.

Employers must protect their employees, customers, clients, and visitors from injury caused by employees the employer knows or should have known, pose a risk to others (Woska, 2007). As a result, the firm who is hiring must conduct their due diligence regarding reference checks, gaps in employment dates, and background checks. Gaps in employment dates would be an ethical question the recruiter should ask when reviewing an application or resume. At the same time, lawsuits for negligent hiring attempt to hold an organization responsible for the behavior of employees when there is little to no attempt by the organization to assess critical characteristics of those who are hired (Bernardin & Russell, 2013). In any case, firms want to have a good faith effort to research potential employees so they can protect the company from possible theft, embezzlement, or just poor decisions. Ultimately, you want to make sure you have enough information about the person before extending an offer of employment, which requires reference and background checks.

When a company is hiring an executive, they usually want to be more detailed with their pre-screening checks to include a credit check or integrity screening which is allowed. Of course, when this is done, they will need the consent to protect them and usually obtain this consent in writing before the credit check is completed. According to Brody and Van Buren (2015), legal requirements related to applicant privacy differ in other countries, but in the United States, they are used quite often. The reason companies have ethical and legal obligations are based on stakeholder analysis, to assess the integrity of potential employees. Consideration of how companies currently use background checks as a pre-employment screening tool, noting their limitations. Honesty and integrity testing, focusing mainly on the problems of false positives and due process. Balancing test for the use of honesty and integrity testing that takes in three factors: (1) the potential harm posed by a dishonest employee in a particular job, (2) the linkage between the test and the assessment process, and (3) the accuracy and validity of the honesty and integrity test.

References

Amuedo-Dorantes, C., Bansak, C., & Zebedee, A. A. (2015). The impact of mandated employment verification systems on state-level employment by foreign affiliates. Southern Economic Journal, 81(4), 928-946. doi:10.1002/soej.12042

Bernardin, H. J., & Russell, J. E. (2013). Human resource management: An experiential approach (6th ed.). New York, NY, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Brody, R. G., Perri, F. S., & Van Buren, H. J. (2015). Further Beyond the Basic Background Check: Predicting Future Unethical Behavior. Business & Society Review (00453609), 120(4), 549-576.

Woska, W. (2007). Legal issues for HR professionals: reference checking/background investigations. Public Personnel Management, 36(1), 79-8

Classmates#2 Benson, LaTonya

The Recruitment and Selection of employees is the core function of HR management. The activities under their function consist of issuing advertisements based on manpower requirement, screening the application received and locate eligible candidates, interviewing the shortlisted candidates, conducting employment tests etc. (Sarode & Deore, 2017) With that said, it is necessary that employers perform extensive background checks when necessary to potential employees prior to offering employment. It is common for ethical questions to involve authenticity of educational qualification, experience, salary, age, medical history, criminal history etc. It is called investigation of the previous history of the candidate. (Sarode & Deore, 2017)

I believe the background check should be informative but with boundaries. No one wants to feel investigated. I think is absolutely necessary for Human Resources to verify criminal records, educational background, qualifications, and experience. I believe it is important to verify the validity of the information reported by the applicant. I cannot speak for anyone else, but as an applicant, I have never had an issue with verification. As a new employee, your ability to comply shows that you have nothing to hide and that you are willing to assist in making the process seamless. There are many factors to consider for HR teams, and while some companies require a lot of information, most times it’s relevant. In certain employment situations, I feel that it is applicable to obtain a credit check. For example, a candidate applying for a higher ranked position such as a CEO or Senior Investment banker should be able to handle money and take his or her own credit seriously. Companies are taking the necessary precautions in protecting their businesses. A candidate with a questionable history is considered a liability.

Research suggests that in the absence of screening job applicants based on criminal records, researchers have found that employers may engage in so-called “statistical discrimination,” disfavoring minority job applicants relative to white applicants. These findings remind us that interventions can have uncertain and unintended consequences such as discriminatory lawsuits. (Selbin, Mccrary, & Epstein, (2018)

References:

Sarode, A. P., & Deore, S. S. (2017). Role of Third Party Employee Verification and Background Checks in HR Management: An Overview. Journal Of Commerce & Management Thought, 8(1), 86-96. doi:10.5958/0976-478X.2017.00005.2

Selbin, J., Mccrary, J., & Epstein, J. (2018). Unmarked? Criminal Record Clearing and Employment Outcomes. Journal Of Criminal Law & Criminology, 108(1), 1-72.