When it comes to hiring someone, first impressions are very important. Hiring managers often decide whether to hire a candidate within minutes—or even seconds—of first meeting him or her. However, employers often place too much emphasis on first impressions and don’t do enough digging to uncover the candidate’s real story.

An employee background check can provide supplemental information to help you make intelligent hiring decisions. There are several pieces of information that an employee check supplies: workers compensation claims, driving records, social security number verification, credit reports, and criminal background reports. An employee criminal check is particularly valuable—and in some cases, required by law—if the employee will be working with children or in a healthcare environment. Criminal checks also give employers a better idea of the candidate’s risk to the company and other employees.

Often the media is saturated with stories of negligent employers who face crippling liability lawsuits or significant damage to their assets and client relationships all because of one volatile employee with a troubled background. Protect yourself by making employee background checks part of company policy. When you use an online screening service such as InstantBackgroundChecks.us, it’s a cost-effective way to ensure that you hire quality employees.