The Dallas Morning News reports that completing required background checks on non-educational school workers is turning into a real nightmare. The title of the article is “Costly fingerprinting required for Texas public school workers.” Here’s an excerpt.
Red tape and resistance have tripped up the state’s first crack at collecting fingerprints for an estimated 1 million people who work in Texas public schools. School districts across Texas have reported paperwork delays in hiring new janitors, bus drivers and other non-educational employees who must provide fingerprints to the state before they can start work this month. Most of the troubles are rooted in bureaucracy, but some bubbled up out of protest.
You probably will never fingerprint people, but you’re bound to run into resistance to background checks. Most of that comes from people who feel that they’re being treated like a criminal or that they’re not trusted.
That’s a legitimate feeling, but it doesn’t mean you can let those folks have their way. You’re doing background checks for two reasons. You want to keep your business safe from fraud and theft. And you want to keep the people in your business safe from violence.
Make that case. If you’ve got an applicant that balks, use a technique that counselors often use with their clients. It’s called “Feel-Felt-Found.” If an applicant tells you they feel like you don’t trust them because you’re running a background check, you can respond in something like the following way.
“I understand why you might feel that way. I know that many other people have felt that way, too. But they found that checking the backgrounds of everyone we hire makes our workplace safer for all of us.”
That’s about all you can do. If they still don’t want to give you the permission you need for a criminal background check and pre-employment credit check, point out that it’s a condition of employment. If they want to work at your company, having their background checked is part of the process. It keeps everyone safe, including them.