Since the recession career paths have veered off into a kind of wild west. As the US put itself back together, people had to get creative with making ends meet, resulting in a lot of contracting and subcontracting jobs and another boom of small business startups. Reshaping the landscape after the crater the recession left allowed people to create their own career definitions, but it didn’t stop best practices and equal employment laws from governing their actions.
If you’re part of a startup business, you’re still expected to adhere to all of the rules and regulations around hiring and employee conduct. This aspect of building a business can prove to be beyond stressful and costly if done improperly. A third-party employee screening service may be your best option to protect your liability and start your business out on the right foot.
Knowing the Laws
One of your biggest obstacles is adhering to all of the laws governing equal opportunity employment. As a startup company, you may not have the wherewithal to hire an HR specialist, but that doesn’t mean you can bypass proper hiring practices. It is expected that whoever is doing the hiring has a comprehensive knowledge of the following laws:
• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
• The Fair Credit Reporting Act
• The Fair Labor Standards Act
• The Americans with Disabilities Act
• The Occupational Safety and Health Act
• The Family and Medical Leave Act
• The Age Discrimination in Employment Act
• The Equal Pay Act.
All of these affect your employee at some point along their journey with your startup company, but the two that pertain the most to hiring practices is Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) oversees Title VII which states:
(1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; or
(2) to limit, segregate, or classify his employees or applicants for employment in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
Violating Title VII opens your brand-new startup company to discrimination lawsuits which would, in essence, kill your company before it got to its feet.
If this seems like an overwhelming prospect, a third-party screening company like CNet Technologies could be an invaluable member of your team. CNet Technologies considers itself a risk management partner, which means our reputation is just as much at stake as yours. CNet Technologies has the resources and the training to screen your employees with best practices and keep you from running the risk of being liable for discrimination.
Obtaining Legal Information with Background Checks
Once you’ve started your hiring process for your startup business, you need to figure out how to run background checks. Many startups like the idea of being a more lax environment but verifying the information and knowing the risks a potential employee presents is not an area in which you should cut corners. At a minimum, you should be verifying identity and making sure it’s legal for your candidates to work in the U.S. From there conducting background checks including criminal background, credit check, social security trace, employment verification, and education verification will help make sure you’re hiring reliable workers.
This documentation can be gained on your own but it’s extremely difficult to screen someone properly. If you decide to gather this information on your own, there are county databases and other resources online, but the accuracy isn’t guaranteed and it can be quite expensive. You can’t always trust that the information you end up obtaining was collected legally. CNet Technologies doesn’t cut corners and always ensures that the records they acquire are gained legally. Any and all information CNet Technologies provides can be used to determine who you employ without risk of discrimination.
Drug Screening
Depending on your company’s objectives it may make sense to require drug screening, even at this early stage of the game. How your company conducts itself now predicates what your company can become in the future, so establishing best practices at the beginning is essential. Drug testing can also deter those who might use on the job if testing isn’t present. If your startup involves any heavy lifting or physical labor drug testing may keep those who prevent safety risks away from your business.
If it’s important that your employees undergo drug screening, a third party like CNet Technologies can help. We’re equipped to test urine, saliva, and hair follicles as well as specific drugs. Negative results can be ready within 24 hours while positive samples are reviewed by an official Medical Review Officer to ensure the candidate doesn’t have a prescription. A MRO also reviews that all testing is compliant with all federal regulations. Not adhering to these regulations while testing can put your company at considerable risk so working with a quality assured team will ensure your employees are tested legally.
Many business startups plan for the growth of their company, what kind of philosophy they’ll adhere to, or how customers will receive them, but not necessarily planning out their best hiring practices. Working with a risk management partner like CNet Technologies can put your company on the right track as you journey across your startup business frontier. Contact CNet Technologies today to set up a consultation!
