Contractors & Sub-Contractors Need Background Checks Too

A story out of south Florida once again shows the importance of running background checks on all workers associated with a company – including contractors and sub-contractors.

An article on Sun-Sentinal.com reports that a company contracted to provide concession services for parks in Broward Country is running background checks on all of its employees to see if any have a history of sex crimes after the recent arrest of one worker who was a registered sex offender.

According to the story, Sheriff's investigators recently arrested Corey Hipscher, 37, after he was accused of fondling a 10-year-old girl during a boat ride while working at the marina in the park. Hipscher was hired four months ago by a sub-contractor of the concession service even though he had been convicted in 2003 in a sexual battery case.

The owner of the concession service – which provides food, boat, and bicycle concessions throughout the park system – thought the sub-contracted company had assumed the responsibility of conducting its own background checks. However, the article reported the County Parks Director said that ultimately the concession service was responsible because it had the contract.

As reported in the article, under the terms of its contract with the parks system, the concession service was required to run background checks of "prospective employees and volunteers" who work at its concessions. In addition to demanding copies of the backgrounds checks from the concession service, park officials were reviewing all of its other contracts to ensure they contain the same background check requirement. As a result of Hipscher's arrest, parks administrators are notifying all contractors who deal with children that they will have to provide regular reports that prove they ran background checks on all newly hired employees.

Learning that an employee of one of your contractors or sub-contractors is a registered sex offender is one unpleasant surprise that a company does not want to have. Background checks from a professional firm like Pre-Employ.com is one way to avoid this, and business owners are strongly advised to run background checks on not only their own employees, but also on contractors and sub-contractors with whom they do business.

Pre-Employ.com – a nationally recognized background check and outsourcing provider – helps businesses protect both employers and employees as well as the general public. For more information about our background check and outsourcing services, please visit www.pre-employ.com, email info@pre-employ.com, or call 1-800-300-1821. To follow Pre-Employ.com on Twitter, visit www.twitter.com/PreEmploy.

tahearn@pre-employ.com
 

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