How Sustainable Are Your People?

How Sustainable Are Your People? Why Re-Screening is the Key to Long-term Employees in Aged Care

By Michael Ivanchenko

Screening prospective employees to find out if they’re the right fit for aged care organisations is commonplace, but employee suitability shouldn’t stop at just the initial hiring process. By not regularly screening your employees, you could be exposing your organisation to unnecessary risk.

Aged care providers that do not conduct regular ongoing background screening can miss the warning signs that an employee is no longer competent to remain in their role or is unsuitable for an upcoming promotion. Background checks are a hiring no-brainer; you want to ensure candidates are who they say they are. But after you’ve hired someone – you should be re-screening them on a regular basis.

While someone’s education credentials and previous employment history will remain constant throughout their career, it’s possible that other things may shift. I would advise all aged care providers to seriously consider ‘who’ is working for you long-term.

Having employees who have lied about their background or their qualifications is serious, potentially criminal, and can have huge ramifications for the organisations that employ the individuals. An employee’s criminal, driving and financial records can change over time, and in many instances, this won’t impact the ability of the individual to carry out their role.

While we usually focus on the price paid by the individual at fault, an organisation can still suffer significant brand damage, even if they’re found not to have breached any laws and did the right thing by reporting a crime as soon as they became aware of it.

If your organisation fails to carry out ongoing background screening, you could be putting your clients in jeopardy, with you being potentially liable for any fallout.

The organisation’s obligations include:

Providing a safe working environment: It is an employer’s duty to protect the interests of clients, stakeholders and staff. Employers are responsible for maintaining a safe working environment, including ensuring all employees are appropriately screened on a regular basis. One-off checks before an individual are hired will not suffice long term, as any changes to their criminal or financial history, for example, may not be uncovered until it is too late. Government regulations within specific industries are also important. If found to be non-compliant – such as not conducting the appropriate level of screening or not re-screening employees regularly – then hefty fines, reputational damage or prosecution could result.
Promotions should always involve re-screening: As well as a background screening policy that covers re-screening, in-house promotion policies are important. Often, the new responsibilities that come with a promotion won’t encompass a specific check that will prevent the individual from getting the position. But it may uncover a problem in the original hiring process, such as a criminal conviction that impacts their ability to do their job safely. Another example is an aged-care worker applying for a more senior role – this new position may require them to drive a company car to collect and return residents to the facility. When joining the business initially, there was no need for a driver’s licence check since the employee had no driving duties. Or they did have that check, but in the years since, they have had their licence suspended. Not completing a re-screening check like this can be devastating for both the organisation and the safety of the facility’s residents.
Different checks for different industries and duties: Aged care organisations will need to work with their hiring managers and HR team to determine the order – and frequency – of ongoing checks.