Why You Should Do Background Checks on Your Vendors

Doing employee background checks before onboarding a new hire is a common hiring practice in most industries. You want to make sure that the people who work in your building are trustworthy people. After all, they are representatives of your organization, and you want to protect your good name.

That said, your employees are not the only people who come into your building every day. You have contractors, maintenance people and cleaning staff as well. Before you sign any service agreement, you need to make sure your vendors are doing background checks on their employees. Further, you need to make sure the background check they do is up to the same exacting standards that your company expects from your own employees.

While over 80% of companies conduct some kind of background check on their full-time employees, less than 20% do any kind of screening of their vendors, suppliers and subcontractors. As Facilities Management Link stated, “This gap in due diligence and compliance management is a significant area of risk for organizations that should not be ignored.”

Vendors are sometimes in your building during off business hours, when there’s no one else around. It is of the utmost importance that the people entering your building—especially after hours—have been thoroughly vetted by you and your vendor.

Background Checks: The Time to Ask Is Now

You might wonder, when is the best time to broach the subject of background checks with a potential vendor? As you go through your service requirements—how they will clean your building, handle routine maintenance on your building or any other service they provide for you—that’s the time to inform them that you also require background checks.

If, for any reason, a vendor cannot produce proof of background checks and explain what their background checks look for, you should consider this a red flag. Do not sign a contract with them.

Some companies are under the impression that requiring background checks creates a legal liability for them—that they might be responsible if something were to happen with one of their vendors after conducting a background check. If you conduct a background check on a person who is working in your building through another company, it might mean that you could be labeled in a lawsuit as an employer.

This actually isn’t the case. Requiring your vendors to conduct their own background checks means they will pay for the background check and perform the background check—you are only asking for verification. Your company cannot be named as an employer in any lawsuit.

Before you sign a contract, you should also request proof of licensing and insurance. This will ensure that any mishaps that might occur when the vendor is on your property will not become your expense. The vendor should provide coverage for their own employees.

Do Your Research Before Hiring Vendors

There are other things you should check prior to hiring any vendor to work in your building. The last thing you want is to sign a contract and discover information that would have made you keep searching for a better company to work with.

For one, you should consult with the Better Business Bureau. It keeps a record of any complaints other companies have had with the vendor you are considering. If there are complaints, you can decide for yourself if these are things that would be a problem for you and your business and if those issues are a risk you are willing to take.

There are other places to look for reviews as well, such as search engines like Google or platforms such as Yelp. Make sure you are reading reviews that are posted places other than the business’s website or social media. Business News Daily has also compiled a list of business review websites that may be worth researching before you hire a vendor. As it put it, “The modern consumer thrives on information.” This list includes sites like:

• Business.com.
• Angie’s List.
• Consumer Affairs.
• Expresit.
• Foursquare.
• Glassdoor.
• HomeAdvisor.
• Judy’s Book.
• Manta.
• MerchantCircle.
• PlanetRate.
• VendOp.

It’s also important that you investigate whether or not the company has undergone a name change. We’ve all seen examples of larger companies changing their names to separate themselves from a scandalous past or soiled reputation, but local businesses and vendors sometimes do this too. If that’s the case, look for the previous name on reviews and check for pending lawsuits. The change of name could be intended to cover up something negative that happened in the past with this company operating under a different name.

If you’re a building owner, the most responsible thing you can do is require background checks from all your vendors, including your cleaning company.

All Building Cleaning Corp: We Do the Background Checks for You

Of course, it’s important to thoroughly vet any company that you hire to clean your facility. One thing that sets All Building Cleaning Corp. apart from the competition is that not only do we welcome your background check of our company, but we also conduct full, intensive background checks on all of our employees as well. 

It is our sincerest wish that whether you hire All Building Cleaning Corp. for your car dealership cleaning services, construction cleanup or office building cleaning services, you can rest easy knowing we’re sending qualified, trustworthy team members to care for your building. 

Especially when working in auto dealerships, medical facilities, banks and other institutions where discretion and security are of the utmost importance, you need janitorial cleaning services executed by a team of professionals who have passed extensive background checks and will work hard to protect your most confidential, secure assets.

When you hire a commercial cleaning company to care for your medical facility, there are all kinds of security concerns. Controlled substances, patient records and HIPAA regulations? All of this could be at risk if you hire a company that doesn’t take background checks seriously. At All Building Cleaning Corp., we not only appoint on-site supervisors, but we ensure that every one of our employees who enters your facility has completed a full background check and understands the importance of following regulations and respecting their responsibilities. 

We maintain this same level of attention to detail in completing background checks for our employees who work in all the businesses and facilities we clean, including auto dealerships and financial institutions where confidential personal information is stored. It’s the same for condominiums and other residential properties, where we want families and residents to be safe and comfortable with the ABCC employees who are caring for the property.

Take a look at the testimonials we’ve gathered from commercial facilities and multi-family residential properties right in your area; these are businesses you may know very well that have happily shared their impressions of our work as their commercial building cleaning service. Across industries, we take special care in our commercial cleaning services to ensure that you can rely on our team to clean your building with professionalism and diligence. 

When you need a commercial cleaning company that takes background checks and the safety and security of your business as seriously as you do, All Building Cleaning Corp. is here for you. Request a quote today to work with our team of passionate, caring, vetted professionals.