Employee and volunteer screening

Whether a person works for you as an employee or a volunteer, it’s important to screen your applicants, make informed candidate selections, and provide safety training to all.

Screening employee candidates

Review all statements made in an employment application. Pay attention to gaps in time, irregular employment patterns, or unexplained absences. Review these gaps with employers listed and in a subsequent interview. 

Employment practice law does protect applicants. However, unlike employees, applicants have no loyalty or familiarity with your organization. Therefore, you must be extremely clear and notify the applicant of your hiring process. For instance, don't just say that employee screening is part of the process. Instead, define that screening includes criminal backgrounds, motor vehicle records, credit, personal references, etc. 

All procedures and guidelines regarding background checks should be regularly reviewed with your attorney. Laws, regulations, rights, and duties are always changing. 

Screening volunteer canditates

Volunteers are not covered under your workers' compensation policy. This is one reason all volunteers should undergo safety and procedure training. 

In addition to training, a volunteer waiver could also be used to: 

• Reinforce job expectations and risks
• Reinforce that workers' compensation does not cover volunteers
• Help volunteers gain a sense of ownership for their actions while working for you