Of all the information you may uncover when doing a background check an on employee, the driving record may seem less than important. After all, why would you care about a speeding ticket when other potential employees have a long rap sheet of drug arrests? Smart business owners and HR professionals know that every bit of information has utility, though. A driving record can reveal important things about a person, and checking that record can help protect your business in critical ways.
Lessening your liability in potential lawsuits
All business owners must look for ways to limit their liability in the unfortunate case they're sued. One of the most common reasons a business will face a lawsuit is that one of your employees wrecks into another driver while on the job. While you can't keep this from happening, you can reduce your liability by ensuring that you properly vet people who will be driving on your behalf.
Seeing whether employees are able to alter their behavior
A single speeding ticket isn't a major indictment of a person's character. A long list of violations may be an indication that the person is unable to change, though, even in the face of serious consequences. If an applicant shows a long record of disrespect for the rules of the road, you might predict the employee will show disrespect for your rules in the workplace.
A record of financial responsibility
When people are ticketed on the road, they're given specific dates by which they must pay their fines or handle the issue. You can learn about the responsibility levels of your applicant by doing a check of their driving record. This check will reveal whether the individual allowed the ticket to lapse. It will show you if the applicant had their license suspended for failure to pay. This can give you a good indication of the individual's ability to handle deadlines and obligations on your behalf.
Confirming employment history
Some business owners use driving record checks to confirm the details of a person's employment history. While this is a round-about and somewhat incomplete way of figuring out where a person lived and worked, it can provide some valuable information for your perusal. A driving record will reflect the location in which a person registered his or her vehicle. This will allow you to cross-check that information with what the employee provided on his resume or application. You'll be able to see quickly whether the person was truthful with these basic details.
A person's driving record can tell you many important facts about them. As a business owner, if you're going to hire a person and invest in their future, you'll want to know as much as possible. Do a driving record check whether the person is going to be driving your company car or not. Wouldn't you want to know if the person you're about to bring on-board has been out on the road causing danger to other drivers for the last five years?
