As a managing director of a one-stop talent hub (Avvanz Ptd Ltd), I assist organisations across many industries to find talent, and also provide pre-employment and in-employment background screening services.
People risks are one of the highest business risks companies face.
The growing number of discrepancies in resumes have led companies, even those that are not in highly regulated industries, to start conducting thorough background checks.
I agree with Mr Francis Cheng that former offenders need to be given another chance to be reintegrated into society (“Restrict employers’ right to ask for job seekers’ criminal history“; Tuesday).
There are companies that conduct background checks and uncover criminal offences, and still hire the individual.
The issue is when the prospective employee does not declare this up front when applying for the job, which also means a lack of integrity.
Hence, companies need to continue conducting background checks, and former offenders should be honest about their past history.
Companies which are open-minded would appreciate the honesty of the candidate and can then decide what kind of role the candidate should be given, depending on their risk tolerance.
Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/why-firms-need-to-do-background-checks
