Who Needs to Run a Background Check? Why It’s a Good Idea!

While you may think that running a background check is only necessary for high level security positions, the truth is that there are many different areas where a background check can be useful. Knowing pertinent information about someone’s past and current activities protects owners, landlords and parents in a variety of ways.

Criminal record checks in Canada are done for a variety of reasons. Sometimes they are required for jobs, adoptions, foreign travel and volunteer work. All organizations that support children, the disabled or the elderly should request that all applicants submit to a criminal background check.

Protecting Your Home

There is more than one way in which a background check can help you to protect your home. It will make sure that anyone you let into your home in order to perform a certain task is someone you can really trust.

• One of the top areas where a background check is in order is in the selection of child care providers. Whether an occasional babysitter, a full-time nanny or even a tutor, the people who are in close contact with your children need to be people in whom you have full trust. Knowing their history can help you look out for red flags that tell you this is not the right person to choose.
• When it comes to choosing people who will be working on or in your home for an extended period of time or regularly, it makes good sense to perform a check to ensure you know just who they are. From handyman to a pool maintenance service, knowing who is in and around your home is vital to keeping it safe.

Protecting Your Business

You don’t have to be running a high security corporation to run a background check on a potential employee. There is a lot of important information that can be obtained from a background check that will help you make good hiring decisions and prevent potential loss or lawsuits in the future. Learning things like what problems the potential hire may have had in the past either at work or in other areas is very important to predicting their future behaviour. Running a background check on every person you are looking to hire is the best way to make sure you don’t find out when it’s too late that they may have a criminal record or be involved in activities that are contrary to your business ethics. A background check helps you to choose the best possible people to represent your company.

Protecting Yourself

Running a background check on the people who will be in close proximity to you either at home or at work is a smart way to keep yourself and others around you safe. You would want to know if a person you are considering to work in or around your home or in your business has a history of violence or is listed as a sex offender. A background check is the best way to get this information. You can’t always count on people to tell the truth, even when they are required to do so on a job application. A background check protects you in many different ways, and is an appropriate action for just about anyone to take when considering allowing somone close access to your personal life.

Criminal Record Checks in Alberta

Criminal record checks in Alberta, and everywhere in Canada, are done through the local policing agency, usually the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police). The RCMP handles more than 20,200 criminal record requests per month and this heavy demand can lead to wait times of as long as four months. If you have no criminal record, an electronic criminal record check can be processed in as little as one week.

Mandatory Criminal Record Checks

For some jobs, it is mandatory that a criminal record check be done. Teachers, doctors, nurses, dentists or other healthcare workers are just a few examples of careers that require criminal record checks. Anyone working with children also gets their criminal record checked.

How To Get A Criminal Record Check

To get a criminal record check, go to your local police station. You will need to get your fingerprints printed, you must state your reason for wanting a criminal record check and you must provide personal, identifying information. You will be required to give your name, gender, date of birth, mailing address and phone number. Reasons for a criminal record check can include employment, foreign travel, adoption or legal name changes. A processing fee may be required.

Royal Background Check on Kate Middleton Should be Commended

Published on 09 January 2012 by Nick Fishman

The Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton recently decided to lend her considerable image to and volunteer for the Scouts Association.

…the role will be for more than making public appearances and raising money. The Duchess actually intends to be more hands on, working directly with the children the organization supports; activities such as working at their camps and attending sleepovers.

What the association did next should be a lesson for all other organizations that support children, the disabled or the elderly. They requested that Kate Middleton submit to a criminal record check. And to her credit, she did without concern or question…

Royal applicant  or not, the above request for a criminal record check is an example of a responsible approach to protecting children.

Speaking of protection for your home and/or your business:

If you don’t have a security system, if your current system is not monitored, or if you are hot happy with your current security provider, call me for a free, no-obligation consultation.

You will be glad you did!

Ulli Robson, Security Specialist, (780) 288-2986