Festive season represents security risk to british business

The UK economy now depends upon more than one million temporary workers, and the run-up to Christmas will see a massive rise as the peak season workload brings with it a demand for hundreds of thousands more workers. Retailers and fulfilment centres will be some of the biggest recruiters of temporary staff, with supermarkets alone expected to take on tens of thousands of workers. The demand will affect almost every industry. Airports, for example, will take on many more temporary staff as the skies become crowded with holiday flights.

But with this boost for the labour market comes what BackgroundChecking.com, an Experian company, describes as ëvery serious security risksí.

ìTemporary staff will be working at almost every level of business, dealing with customers, cash, data, stock and IT. The security risk is massive,î says Tony Pickering, general manager of BackgroundChecking.com. ìYet our latest research has revealed that ñ despite an increase in employee fraud ñ many organisations and recruitment agencies are still not planning to carry out any effective background checks before placing staff in their postsî.

ìThis is all the more acute with temporary staff, with significant numbers of HR departments and agencies admitting that they are not equipped to do background checks themselves and that they are struggling with the short time available to get references and other checks.

ìOur investigation of UK businesses has revealed that organisations use temporary staff and contractors while largely ignoring the risks. Some employers are convinced that they do not have time to carry out checks on temporary staff ñ so they are taking massive risks affecting their own organisations and the public at large. They give unchecked staff access to secure and sensitive information or place them in positions of responsibility involving significant dangers. They simply ignore the risks and hope for the best. Thatís simply an unacceptable gamble in todayís security-conscious environment.î

In order to tackle this security risk, BackgroundChecking.comís ëTemp Checkí provides an automated overnight service for background checking temporary workers, giving organisations the flexibility to bring on staff when needed ñ safely.

ìAs BackgroundChecking.com works with a growing number of major employers,î adds Tony Pickering, ìclients are becoming increasingly aware of the direct and indirect returns these types of background checks can provide. Ensuring you have the right staff in front of your customers delivers increased results. Itís money well spent.î