Pre-employment screening

Integrity check of applicants

Benefits for the company and its employees

• Protection against applicants who have deliberately made false statements about themselves during the application phase.
• Protection against applicants who are unsuitable for positions of trust.
• Protection against the infiltration of organized crime groups or radical/extremist/terrorist organizations/groups or secret services into key functions of the company.
• Protection against potential damage to the company's reputation.
• Demonstrating a sense of responsibility toward customers, business partners, and employees.

Arguments in favor of professional pre-employment screening

• Before signing, lawyers on both sides rightly examine the employment contract intensively and charge a corresponding fee for this. However, the focus is only on legal and formal aspects and not on the question of with whom the contract is concluded! Even a perfect employment contract is of little help if the person with whom you conclude it is not honest.
• Reputational damage caused by negative media coverage in print media, TV, radio, or social media due to employee misconduct can quickly result in significant financial losses for the company. Loss of revenue and the termination of business relationships due to business partners' compliance regulations, as well as the cost of restoring reputation, can quickly add up. Checking an applicant's integrity can prevent unpleasant surprises. In many cases, investigations into such incidents reveal that the person responsible has already behaved improperly in the past.
• The damage caused by information leaking from the company through a disloyal/criminal employee can be enormous, not only in the field of research and development or the technology sector, but in all areas of sensitive company data. In addition to the financial damage caused by lost sales/profits, etc., the damage to reputation is often the more serious consequence. Under certain circumstances, the behavior of employees can also have criminal consequences for company managers. Here, too, screening an applicant for integrity can prevent unpleasant surprises. Professional pre-employment screening can reveal indications of intensive contacts with competitors or even secret services, as well as potential vulnerability to blackmail due to personal weaknesses.
• The liability risk for managers in connection with hiring employees should not be underestimated. As part of their duty of care, company managers (both those directly responsible, such as the head of human resources, and bodies such as executive and supervisory boards) must avoid or avert damage to the company. This obligation is fulfilled by professional pre-employment screening. When investigating incidents, it is often found that the employee responsible has exhibited similar behavior in the past or may even have had a previous employment relationship terminated due to the same misconduct. In such cases, it is natural to conclude that the damage to and for the company could have been avoided if a check had been carried out before hiring. Then the hiring would not have taken place in the first place. This logical consideration leads to realistic liability and compensation scenarios—with corresponding risks also extending to the private lives of those responsible.