Do Indian Companies conduct Background Check?

Every drop in the ocean counts. Similarly, every employee in an organisation counts. Each one of them contributes to the company in some or the other way.

That’s why companies should carefully hire every employee. The background checks for companies in India is one of the most significant steps to choosing honest, responsible and skilled employees. The recent stats show there has been a massive increase in information discrepancies in every employment sector. So, companies cannot risk hiring a single candidate without knowing their past records.
Read on to know everything about background verification in India.

Background Check in India

The answer to this question is yes and no.

Almost all Indian companies, spread across different sectors run a background check on employees before onboarding them. More and more companies continue to adopt the ritual recently due to increasing discrepancies in information in job applications. In Q1 of 2021, the highest discrepancy was witnessed in the telecom sector, reaching as high as 49.7%.

The major employment sectors such as IT, healthcare, finance, automobile and others do mandatory background checks before hiring to filter out fraud applicants.

However, sectors like retail, restaurants and other organisations tend to skip background checks in India, typically for entry-level positions. It’s due to higher employee turnovers in these sectors and generally low strength of employees in several small and medium-sized organisations.

Importance of Background Check

The necessity of conducting background checks are many, the following being crucial of all:

• To uphold a company’s reliability, reputation and credibility.
• To hire the most skilled candidates who will enhance the business growth, not hold it back.
• To safeguard company assets and promote workplace safety.
• To get an overview of quantitative and qualitative performance of employees in the previous organisations.
• To assess the honesty and integrity of job applicants.
• To ensure customer and client safety and establish better business relationships.

Why Should It Be Done Properly?

The background checks for Indian companies should be done diligently as negligent checks can fail in identifying the information discrepancies. For example, if an individual hides criminal records of theft and succeeds in landing a job in a financial organisation, the financial and data security of the firm falls under threat. It may lead to severe consequences for the firm and other employees.

Risks That a Company Can Face Without Proper Background Checks of Employees

• Negligent HiringIt is a legal term meaning an employer’s liability for an incident caused by its employee when the employer knew beforehand or should have known that the employee posed a threat. The incident can lead to a lawsuit and cost the employer valuable funds as well as its brand reputation. Around 70% of the time, employers lose negligent hiring lawsuits, and it can be well-avoided by thorough background screening of employees before hiring.
• Hacking and CybercrimeBesides the threats to money and inventory, a company also faces chances of potential data theft and other cybercrimes. Employees having access to sensitive organisational data can easily steal information from the company systems and use it to their advantage or for blackmailing the company.
• Unsafe for Employees and CustomersCompanies failing in proper background checks in India also jeopardise the safety of their customers and employees. A convicted criminal or drug addict can physically or emotionally harm others by causing violent workplace incidents. An effective drug screening and criminal check can reduce potential workplace violence and workplace injuries.

Crucial Components of Background Checks

The background checks for companies in India include several elements which can be classified into:

• Education VerificationThe educational qualifications of an applicant are checked by contacting the educational institutions. The attendance dates, degree information and passing dates are verified, typically for the highest qualification of the candidate.
• Employment VerificationPrevious employers are contacted to validate an individual’s designation, employment dates and performance. Some companies can even verify the job responsibilities mentioned by the individual in his/her resume.
• Criminal Records VerificationCriminal records of an applicant are verified by contacting the local police station, where most of the records are usually stored in physical forms. So, turnaround times for police stations not equipped with technologies may be longer.

Apart from the above components, civil records, bank records, reference verification, vehicle records and ID checks are also evaluated by companies.

Parting Ideas

The background checks in India can be complicated due to the several intricacies involved in the process. So, it is recommended organisations outsource their screening to experienced background screening firms such as AMS Inform, who can smoothen the whole process for them.

The firms have specialised experts and vast networks to verify the background of an individual. While in-house checks only depend on records from a few sources, screening firms run extensive research on local, state and national levels. That way, the information collected is precise and error-free.