There is no questioning the dramatic effect the down economy has had on employment over the past 18 months. Organizations have made several cutbacks to conserve their financial resources and learned how to optimize performance with a diminished staff. As the economy starts to show signs of recovery, it is predicted that many companies will look to staffing agencies and individual contractors to ramp-up their workforce. As evidence of this trend, earlier this month, the U.S. Labor Department reported that 44,000 temporary jobs were added since July, including 34,000 last month alone. Companies are hiring temporary workers with the intention of transitioning them to permanent hires as the economy gains footing.

In fact, according to Careerbuilder.com, thirteen percent of hiring managers used temporary workers in the third quarter of 2009 with fifteen percent predicting they will in Q4, as confidence in the economy rises. It is essential that these companies define a hiring process for their contingent staff in order to maintain safety in their workplace as well as to mitigate their risk. Failing to adequately develop a hiring strategy could have dire consequences on the present workforce as well as to the company’s bottom line.

The task of creating a standardized hiring process is a challenge for every employer; even more so when you are outsourcing the hiring. It is important to remember that although you may outsource your hiring, you are by no means outsourcing your obligations. There is a short checklist that should be completed when creating an outsourcing hiring procedure.

First and foremost, make sure that you have fully vetted the staffing agency or contractor that you are employing. Choose firms that are experienced and reputable and make certain that their credentials and references check out. Next find out who their background screening vendor is and check them out through the Better Business Bureau. Legitimate staffing agencies will gladly provide you with the contact information for their background screening vendor.

In order to minimize your risk, make sure that the background screening being conducted is FCRA compliant, as many online solutions are not. Online solutions are gaining popularity, because they are inexpensive and quick. Unfortunately, background screening is a service in which the age old adage "you get what you pay for" holds true. Although these searches can give a quick overview of a person’s background, it is more of a shotgun approach to the screening process. Database searches inherently contain gaps in data due to non-reporting jurisdictions as well as tardy updates from jurisdictions. In order to fulfill your due diligence obligations, database searches must be accompanied by more detailed searches. According to the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS), in order to ensure legal compliance, accuracy and thoroughness, only a professional screening or investigation company with an experienced staff should be utilized to conduct background checks. We recommend contractually obligating the staffing agency to use a provider who has been selectively researched by your team as a valid Credit Reporting Agency (CRA).

Even after vetting your staffing agency and their background screening vendor, you will still be faced with the question, "How do we actually KNOW the screen was conducted?" Staffing agencies present a unique hurdle due to what is commonly referred to as co-employment issues. Technically, the worker is an employee of the staffing agency therefore you, as the client of the staffing agency, do not have the legal right to have possession of the background screen. Many companies have circumvented this issue by requiring both organizations to be identified on the Authorization / Disclosure form. The candidate is in effect giving the staffing agency the authority to share the resulting CRA report. Also, other companies have included audit capabilities in their contracts with the staffing agencies to confirm screens have been conducted and have met their expectations. Our recommendation is to consult your legal counsel and insure some form of review process is in place.

Companies often encourage promoting and filling vacancies from the current employee base. This is also true with temporary employees / contractors. If such an employee is a true fit for the position available, organizations will bring the temporary employee on for a full-time role within their staff. It is an unfortunate circumstance when these candidates are re-screened as part of this process, only to be identified with issues in their background screen thus eliminating them. By establishing sound procedures on the front end, the transition from contingent employee to permanent employee should be virtually trouble free.

Temporary employees are playing an increasingly significant role in our workforce, and the use of staffing firms is a great resource. To ensure greater success of this partnership, mandate proper screening procedures by a reputable CRA. By doing so, you will be able to safely grow your workforce and strategically position your organization to thrive in the recovering economy.