AVOID HIRING THIEVES
How much will it cost your company if you hire a dishonest person? Surveys show that 48% of all retail shrinkage is caused by employees. And, much of that goes unreported to authorities. Do you report all instances of theft to law authorities so it is on that person's record? You probably do not. You just fire them, thinking that is enough. But you have done nothing to prevent that person from getting hired by another retailer and stealing from them. Just think a minute. If you are doing that, so are other retailers. How would you feel if you hired a new employee and found out later that they were dishonest, and not only that, but that they were fired from another retailer for the same thing? Until all retailers who find a dishonest employee say "You stole from us, you're fired, and we are reporting this to the police" there will be the possibility of hiring a dishonest employee.
We have found an organization that keeps a data base of employees fired for dishonesty. Their name is USIS (US Investigations Services). The names included in their data base are submitted by the retail members. It is kept updated by retailers so other retailers can benefit from it. Check with the laws of your state concerning how much background information and the type of information you may ask for and check prior to hiring a new employee.