Background Check Gaps: When Contractor Screening Falls Short
A contractor’s undisclosed sex offender status shows why employers must vet contractors, not just employees, with thorough background screening.
A former operator of the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Jumbotron was recently arrested for possession of child pornography and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. The arrest occurred during an investigation into how the contractor had hacked the Jumbotron to cause system outages. It was later revealed that the contractor had been previously convicted of a 1998 sexual offense involving a child and had failed to register as a sex offender upon moving to Florida.
This case demonstrates that employers should not only properly vet all employees, but also contractors or other third parties who have access to their facilities, clients, and workforce. Having established policies that detail how contractors are screened can help mitigate hiring risk. Employers relying on staffing companies should be knowledgeable of their staffing company’s background screening policies and procedures, as well as the scope of their background checks. Since not all background checks provide the same comprehensive scope, convictions from outside the standard seven year reporting timeframe are often overlooked. Issues such as this are avoidable, and HR teams can mitigate their risk by partnering with a background screener that can meet their reporting requirements.
This post reflects guidance and news current at the time of its original publication in February 2020.
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