Before the new millennium, checking on the criminal record of a prospective employee was done through a standard police check. This pathed the way for honest conversations and risk assessments as a key component of due diligence for pre-employment. Since 2000, all Australian State and Territory jurisdictions have introduced Working With Children legislation and schemes….
‘But Your Honour, I did fulfil due diligence when I employed this person …’ ‘So how did you miss these convictions?’ ‘Well, I did all the background screening checks, police checks …’ ‘How extensive?’ ‘Nation-wide, Your Honour. This is our policy. This usually covers everything for us.’ ‘But you knew that this person worked abroad…
The COVID-19 lockdowns have forced many employees to work from home or be laid off. The abnormal ‘pressure cooker’ home environment has led to many abnormal behaviours, out of character aberrations and mental health manifestations, many unreported in the media. The rolling clouds of uncertainty, upheaval and desperation have precipitated an increase online activities, cyber-crimes and…
Expense fraud might not be the first thing that comes up when you think of potential risks to your business, but the fact is that employees defraud employers of millions of dollars every year, simply by fudging their expenses. The individual amounts may not be large, but they add up quickly, and if you’re not…
Managing a large property portfolio, whether residential, commercial or a mixture of both, is never an easy task. In fact, it’s literally a full-time job. The good news is that there are technologies and services that can help to streamline the process, and ensure that you don’t have to spend every waking hour managing one…
When most people think of bad tenants, they automatically think of payment issues, and it’s true that tenants who don’t pay or pay late are a big problem. However, they’re certainly not the only problem that landlords have, and another big issue that people who own and rent residential and commercial properties out should be…
No matter how impressed you are with someone, it’s vital to ensure they are who they say they are. It’s common to run background checks on people these days, whether you’re hiring, considering a new business relationship, looking to invest or for a host of other reasons. We Google people’s names, look them up on…
If you’ve spent any amount of time reading about the workplace lately, chances are you’ve come across the term “agile culture” at least once. It may sound like just another new-fangled buzz word, but this is one case where new and innovative business practices offer big rewards, and if you’re not already looking into this…
One of the most important things in any business is cash flow. Nearly every business out there bases their future planning to some degree on money that they have yet to receive. When a customer goes insolvent and files for bankruptcy, that can damage your cash flow, and your business, in a big way. The…
The employee reference check is a critical and routine part of the hiring process for most companies these days. Chances are that you check education and qualifications, as well as verifying experience with previous employers. You might conduct international checks on immigrant candidates, and you might run credit checks on employees who will be in…