While 2020 has been a wild ride for everyone—a ride that continues to influence the holiday season—one thing that hasn't changed is this: You should always background check your seasonal workers.
Back in May of 2019, we did a deep dive into all the reasons why screening your seasonal workers makes sense. Today, we want to highlight additional reasons you should background check your holiday and seasonal workers this year (and in 2021), thanks to the pandemic.
1. Record-high unemployment makes for desperate times.
You already know that the U.S. is experiencing record-high unemployment due to the pandemic. Desperate times can result in desperate measures. Unfortunately, some of these desperate measures might involve candidates embellishing their resumes or downright lying about their experience or even who they are. It's essential that you know who you're hiring.
Background checks to consider: Conducting identity, employment, and education verifications is a smart strategy and can help you hire with more confidence.
2. Seasonal employees often work more than one job.
That's what the gig economy is all about, right? A self-employed hair stylist might drive for a ride-share company one night a week and pull an overnight at a call center for a global retailer. That's three different jobs where a lot of things can happen.
Background checks to consider: Ongoing criminal monitoring is a cost-effective way to monitor your seasonal workforce. You'll get alerted only if there's a change to the person's criminal record. So, using our above example, if the gig worker gets caught skimming credit cards at one of her other jobs, you'll get alerted, thanks to the criminal monitoring. You can then take appropriate action.
And speaking of driving . . . if your seasonal worker drives on behalf of your business, you should conduct not only an initial MVR check, but also ongoing MVR monitoring for the same reason: to be alerted of any driving infractions as they occur so you can take appropriate action.
3. There's a big need right now for even tempers and kind hearts.
From enforcing mask mandates to conducting temperature checks, this year's seasonal workers are going to have to do things no one could have foreseen a year ago.
Now, more than ever, you need people with excellent interpersonal skills who can respond diplomatically to tense encounters. (We've all heard new stories about disgruntled shoppers arguing about wearing face masks in the store.)
Background checks to consider: A social media background check can help weed out people who have a history of using toxic language online. This might seem like a small thing, but consider this: When you interview someone, the person will be putting their "best face" forward. You might not realize the person can be a hot head who spouts inappropriate things when they get upset. A social media background check can provide a clearer picture of the person.
Yes, if you conduct one, it might not find anything negative—this is a good thing! You can hire the person with confidence. But if the social media check shows a history of belligerent online behavior and toxic language, wouldn't you want to know before you make the hire and put that person on the front lines of your business? Of course you would.
Need fast, accurate background checks? We can help.
When it comes to screening applicants for your seasonal business, speed and accuracy matter. We understand this! Let us put together a background check program that makes sense for your business and budget. Get in touch.
