Verifying Holiday Workers

Analysts are estimating that a larger-than-predicted increase in seasonal hiring over 2010 is going to help temporarily stabilize the floundering job market.

Nearly a half-million holiday workers were expected to be added to payrolls in the final three months of the year, according to the National Retail Federation. Those were the employees who helped retailers stun experts by posting a 6.6 percent increase in sales on Black Friday over last year, rather than the 2.2 percent that was forecasted.

J.C. Penney, a huge draw for holiday shoppers, was expected to hire 37,000 seasonal workers. FedEx has also announced plans to hire roughly 20,000 workers to handle the surge in online orders flooding through warehouses nationwide. However, Target estimated a small jump in seasonal employees, while Wal-Mart anticipated a hiring pattern similar to last year.

Making sure those workers are trustworthy enough to handle the job is a natural concern for companies that want to uphold a standard of customer care, and background screeners like TruDiligence are among the few that can process a large number of applicant history searches in a short amount of time.

It’s no secret that employees are the critical front line of a successful business, and employing a team of new individuals to best represent the company’s values is tough when faced with a stack of resumes. Negligent hiring is among the top reasons for lawsuits against otherwise reputable companies, which means due diligence should be a priority for HR managers at firms large and small.

No hiring specialist should pass up an opportunity to conduct research on whether an employee has demonstrated past acts of misconduct. A past infraction, depending on the nature of the business, could send a resume into the waste basket instead of sending a liability into the company workforce

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TruDiligence streamlines the hiring and selection process by providing fast, accurate information on each candidate. From motor vehicle record searches, drug screenings, and license verifications for shipping companies hiring new drivers to criminal background checks and sex offender sweeps for department stores hiring Santa Claus, there is always a good way to authenticate the character of the latest addition to the front line.