Lawyers, social services professionals and geriatric care managers suggest a number of precautions to reduce the risk of elder exploitation by a caregiver. The aggregate might seem a bit much, but each is worth considering.

• Whether you hire a caregiver independently or through an agency, make sure the worker is bonded to cover a loss due to exploitation. If you engage an agency, it should have professional liability insurance .

• Make sure the agency includes ethics in its training program.

• Find out what an agency means by an employee "background check." Paul Greenwood, deputy district attorney in San Diego and chairman of the California District Attorneys Elder Abuse Committee, says, "a lot of agencies don't want to spend the money for a thorough background check."

If you visit Web site www.databaserecords.com and you can see the variety of record-searches available — criminal convictions, outstanding warrants, civil judgments, liens, bankruptcies, sex offenses, professional licenses, previous address and employment verification, and more.

Even if you have to pay $300 or $400 yourself for searches, get the information you think is vital.

• Once you're satisfied with your choice of caregiver, execute a written contract. A home health agency will have its own form, but make any modifications needed to protect your interests.

If you are working with an independent contractor, write your own contract. (You can do this yourself; tips are available at Web sites on legal matters.) The caregiver cannot accept gifts or handle the elder's money. She cannot run errands without your permission. Put in whatever other conditions you want. Lawyers interviewed for this article differ on whether a contract barring the caregiver from receiving property would be enforceable. Some believe it would, as long as the contract is between you and the caregiver — not between the elder and the caregiver.

• Get duplicate financial statements, or view canceled checks online, so you know what's going on with your elder's money. Consider directing his mail to a post office box you can access, so no one can intercept the mail.

• Twice yearly, get the elder's credit reports. You can do it yourself if you have power of attorney. If not, the elder must request the reports.

• Occasionally, get out the estate planning documents and review them with the elder. Ask, "Do we need to change anything? Have you changed anything?"

• If you suspect someone you can't fire is exploiting your elder — a new "friend" or that long-lost niece who keeps hanging around — expect to pay $70 an hour or more to hire a private investigator to tail the suspect and gather information about him or her.

• Most important, be around. Drop in at different times, unannounced. Watch the interaction between your elder and the caregiver. Take the elder out, away from the caregiver. Talk some, and listen more.

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Your company can be legally liable for negligent hiring if you fail to uncover a job applicant's incompetence or unfitness by checking their references, criminal records, or general background. You can be sued for negligent hiring for failure to become aware of an employee's unfitness for a particular position, or for subsequent failure to take any corrective action, such as training, reassignment, or discharge, to remedy the problem once you find out about it.

Particularly if you have employees who have or will have significant contact with the public, customers, patients, or children, you'll want to investigate these topics:

• What is negligent hiring?
• How can you avoid negligent hiring claims?

In order for a customer, employee, or other third party to prevail in a negligent hiring suit against an employer, the following must generally be shown:

• the existence of an employment relationship between the employer and the worker
• the employee's unfitness
• the employer's actual or constructive knowledge of the employee's unfitness (failure to investigate can lead to a finding of constructive knowledge)
• the employee's act or omission causing the third party's injuries
• the employer's negligence in hiring the employee as the most likely cause of the plaintiff's injuries

If you are ever served with a negligent hiring lawsuit, the first step you should take is to call your lawyer. In fact, that's the first step you should take any time you receive legal papers. But it's especially important when you're sued to call a lawyer immediately because you have a certain number of days to file an answer to the lawsuit. The number of days that you have will vary depending upon where the suit was filed, but you could have as little as two weeks to respond.

If you are served with legal documents and you don't have a lawyer, you should find one right away. Once you have a lawyer, he or she can tell you more about your chances for winning or losing the lawsuit.

Reasonable investigation duty. You have a duty to make a reasonable investigation of an applicant's fitness before hiring. The extent of the duty may vary with the circumstances.

You can be held liable if:

• You didn't do a background check.
• You hired an employee you should have known (through proper checking) was incompetent or unfit.

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Perform a public background check right from your computer!
Whether you are looking for a new employee or a new tenant, finding an honest person is critical to your success. DataBaseRecords.com can help you pre-qualify them and get them onboard quickly through a public background check; you can add pre employment screenings to searches as well. No matter what your need, there is no better place to start your public background check than DataBaseRecords.com.

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We specialize in the following public record background check searches for employers.

Education Verification ’ This search provides verification of education status in a specified post secondary education institution, GED and high school.

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Pre employment public background check considerations.

If you haven't been conducting public background checks, as a part of your employee screening process, here are some things for you to consider:

•    The average cost of recruiting, hiring and training an employee costs your company well over $5,000. Performing all three public background check screenings with us will cost you less than 1/2 of 1 percent of that cost.
•    Almost 13% of applicants have a criminal record.
•    More than 35% of all resumes contain false or misleading information.
•    Your company may be at risk for your negligence. A quality public background check can help prove that the proper due diligence in hiring was executed.

You take the steps you need everyday to protect your business. Why should pre-employment screening be any different? Don't leave yourself open to theft and lawsuits and incorporate employment criminal background check into your hiring process immediately.

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The old standard for resumes has always been, “if you don’t have it, lie about it”. And many people use this method to bulk up their resumes and meet certain important qualifications.

How can you prevent this from happening to you?

How can you ensure that the qualifications you need are the qualifications that you will get?

A background check is the answer. It may seem a little drastic to run extensive background checks on every potential employee you have, but with 8 out or 10 big businesses making background checks mandatory, it is quickly becoming the norm for any and every position.

31% of People Admit To Lying On Their Resumes For Using Criminal Background Search

It really is the best way to guarantee that you are getting the employee you want. And it can save you a lot of time and money by eliminating those who really don’t have the experience or the education that you need. Not to mention weeding out people who might be trying to cover up a violent past.

Business is evolving, and to be successful you have to evolve with it. Get background checks on any potential before making your final decision. The day will come when you will be thankful you did.

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