Uber, a taxi cab/ride sharing company is under fire for hiring drivers with serious criminal history records. In Los Angeles four Uber drivers were cited by LA International Airport Police and over the course of this investigation were discovered to have serious criminal pasts. From the Los Angeles Times the offenses which included child exploitation, identity theft, manslaughter and driving under the influence would have made these drivers ineligible for a Los Angeles taxi permit. However, Ubers problems don’t end in Los Angeles as a driver in Dallas Texas was recently alleged to have raped a passenger after dropping her off at her home. Uber and the City of Dallas continue to debate whether or not the driver had legal standing as an Uber driver.
A best practice for an employer is to use a professional background screening company to pull all the necessary reports and information regarding a job applicant’s current situation and past records. A ride sharing or taxi cab company must perform thorough criminal background checks on its new and existing employees as the life of the passenger is literally in the hands of the driver. According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) about 69% of organizations reported that they perform criminal background checks on all their job candidates. About half of these organizations perform criminal background checks in order to reduce legal liability for negligent hiring, and just under 50% of them perform background checks to help create a safer workplace for their employees.
In the end thorough employment screening helps employers make intelligent hiring decisions and these decisions help reduce legal liability and also create a safer working environment for current and future employees. Performing quality criminal background checks through a professional third party background screening company is the best practice for any employer to avoid hiring a bad employee that could put other employees in danger or in the case of Uber put the employer’s customers in danger.
To learn more about the recent challenges to Uber and why employers and organizations should use a third party employment screening company please read recent CriminalBackgroundRecords.com press release.