Background Screening Facts and Statistics

A criminal history can be an accurate prognosticator of an individual's likelihood to commit a crime, Recent statistics tracked the recidivism of 16,000 release prisoners. Within three years, 62% were re-arrested and 46% were re-convicted. Of the violent felons released, 59% were re-arrested and 36% were re-convicted within the same period.

False Information Provided by Applicants

• 9% of job applicants falsely claimed they had a college degree, listed false employers, or identified jobs that didn't exist
• 34% of all application forms contain outright lies about experience, education, and ability to perform essential functions on the job
• 11% of job applicants misrepresented why they left a former employer
• Nearly one-third of job applicants listed dates of employment that were inaccurate by more than three months

On-The-Job Violence

• On-the-job violence costs employers $36 billion each year
• The average award in a workplace violence lawsuit exceeds $1 million per case
• Workplace violence is the foremost concern of corporate security directors at Fortune 1000 companies
• In the average month, an estimated 16,400 threats are made, 723 workers are attacked and 43,800 are harassed every work day
• 57% of respondents reported that a violent incident occurred in their workplace in a recent 4 year span

Employee Theft

• 30% of all business failures are caused by employee theft
• 14.7% of all applicants admit to theft of merchandise from an employer
• 4.4% of all applicants admit to theft of cash from an employer
• 33% of all applicants admit to being tempted to steal from an employer

Bad Hires and Loss Prevention

• It costs $7,000 to replace a salaried employee, $10,000 to replace a mid-level employee, and $40,000 to replace a senior executive
• As recently as 2005, employers lost 60% of negligent hiring/supervision jury trials
• On average, in U.S. businesses, at least half of all new hires "don't work out," primarily due to a lack of proper Pre-Employment Background Screening

*NUMEROUS SOURCES INCLUDE US DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND REVENUE, SOCIETY OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, US CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND WALL STREET JOURNAL