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Would you want to know if your trusted employee just got arrested for credit card fraud? What if your IT specialist with access to customer data was charged with identity theft last month? And that friendly coworker everyone loves? The police just arrested them for domestic violence.
These scenarios happen more often than most business leaders realize. Recent data shows 95% of successful cyber-attacks involve lapses in human judgment or decision-making. Employee theft drains $50 billion from U.S. businesses annually. Organizations lose 5% of their revenue to occupational fraud, often undetected for 14 months. Combine that with workplace violence impacting 2 million US workers annually, and a disturbing pattern emerges. The problem? Traditional background checks only capture what happened before you hired someone. They miss the financial pressures, personal crises, and criminal charges that develop after employment begins. Here’s why continuous workforce screening has become essential:
1. Prevent Workplace Violence and Safety Incidents
Approximately 70% of workplace violence incidents involve domestic situations spilling into professional settings. Criminal charges for domestic violence, weapons violations, or assault provide early warning signs of potential workplace safety threats. Security and HR professionals can implement safety protocols, provide supportive resources, or take other, more severe job actions in response to an employee or contractor’s criminal misconduct, but only if they receive notice of the incident. Continuous workforce screening identifies unknown insider threats before they escalate.
2. Maintain Regulatory Compliance Standards
Industries like healthcare, finance, and defense contracting face strict ongoing compliance requirements for employee integrity and character. Continuous screening ensures real-time notification of disqualifying criminal offenses. and produces documents attesting to management’s due diligence efforts. This proactive approach helps organizations avoid the costs associated with legal and compliance violations that occur when employee criminal activity goes undetected.
3. Safeguard Brand Reputation and Public Trust
Criminal arrests involving employees can also quickly damage an organization’s reputation through social media and news coverage. Public criminal charges affecting customer-facing staff or leadership positions call for immediate attention to protect stakeholder confidence. Proactive measures like continuous screening help organizations address reputational threats before they spiral into larger public relations crises.
4. Stay Ahead of Emerging Risk Rooted in Personal Hardship. Detect Early Warning Signs of Financial Desperation
Criminal charges often signal underlying financial and personal pressures that increase theft and fraud risks. When employees face new arrests for financial crimes, DUI charges, or drug-related offenses, these incidents typically indicate personal crises that often lead to workplace misconduct. Early detection through continuous monitoring allows organizations to provide employee assistance resources or adjust job responsibilities before desperation leads to internal theft or fraud.
5. Protect Sensitive Data and Customer Information
Data breaches caused by insider threats result in average costs of $4.45 million per incident. Criminal charges for identity theft, cybercrime, or fraud violations serve as red flags for employees with access to sensitive systems. With continuous criminal screening and near-real-time notification of a worker’s arrest, organizations can implement immediate security measures, restrict data access, and mitigate the financial impact of a data privacy breach or other security risk.
Don’t Wait for the Crisis: Choose Proactive Prevention
Criminal charges serve as early indicators of personal crises that often lead to workplace misconduct. Organizations relying solely on pre-employment screening and periodic rechecks miss these developing risks entirely. Continuous criminal screening transforms risk management from reactive to proactive, protecting financial assets, ensuring compliance, maintaining safety, and preserving reputation.
The investment in continuous criminal screening is not only a fraction of the cost of preventable incidents, it’s often more cost-effective than traditional periodic rescreening. PostHire provides the technology needed to maintain effective Continuous Workforce Screening programs that deliver instant notifications about criminal activity, enabling organizations to protect their interests while supporting employees through difficult circumstances. Design a continuous screening strategy that aligns with your organization’s priorities and risk management goals. The risks are real and preventable. Start building your continuous screening strategy today.
What you don’t know can hurt you. PostHire ensures you do know.
Contact Peter Collins, CRO PostHire for a 90-day look back of criminal activity of your organization’s actual employees – at ZERO cost to you.
