4 Critical Signs That Your Contract Labor Has Not Been Properly Screened
Pre-employment screenings including criminal background, drug screening, immigration status, co-employment screening, and worker classification decisions are some of the screenings typically associated with the onboarding process when engaging contract workers as part of your overall workforce management program. Ensuring that all new resources are fully compliant with the law and your organization’s internal policies grows ever more complicated as the panoply of non-employee worker types continues to grow more complex. Whether your organization manages all contingent workforce sourcing internally or uses staffing suppliers, recruiters, an MSP/VMS or any combination thereof, it is absolutely essential to make sure each and every worker is properly screened before beginning their engagement. Failure to do so can have some pretty nasty consequences. Are you confident your current processes are successfully ensuring proper screenings? Here are four critical signs suggesting you may not be fully compliant.
1) No written policy exists as a standard across all business units/locations
Whether you’re managing all sourcing and onboarding internally or using any combination of service providers to acquire talent, it is absolutely essential to have written policies clearly enunciating all the screenings that must be completed before a contractor’s engagement can begin. This document should be uniform across every business unit, every operating location, and easily accessible to anyone who asks. It should be provided to all third party vendors like staffing suppliers, recruiters, etc. Not having a single standard leaves the organization vulnerable to ad-hoc, localized processes which are a compliance liability.
2) You have only one set of screening standards being applied to all types of candidates
Just having a basic screening policy in place is certainly better than having no policy at all. However, there are different requirements for screening to be applied to disparate groups of worker types. For example, a policy requiring criminal background check and drug screen is sufficient for light industrial, clerical and other basic, non-core types of positions. However, it would be costly and unnecessary to screen these workers for things like government security clearance, creditworthiness, validity of reported degrees/certifications. Failing to screen candidates seeking placement into professional, legal, executive, consultancy, and other highly specialized roles exposes the organization to risk. A well-crafted workforce management program has several standards of screening protocols to address the wide array of contractors they may engage.
3) Your contracts with suppliers don’t stipulate adherence to your written screening policies
Your suppliers are like virtual extensions of your internal sourcing mechanism. As such, they should be held to the same high standards you articulate for sourcing and onboarding internally. This language should be included in every contract with every supplier and if…
4) You don’t have any ability to audit your suppliers
You may be taking it as an article of faith that your suppliers are adhering to your contractually obligated screening protocols. But if you don’t negotiate the right to perform regular audits of their compliance with your requirements, they may not be so inclined to continue to put forth the effort to comply. You may trust they will do as you ask, but unless you can verify, you may be at risk.
Consider these four telltale signs your screening processes may expose your workforce to risk. If you think you’re facing any of the above mentioned conditions, reach out to nextSource today for help bringing your program into better compliance with pre-screening best practices.
