21Jan
2022
What’s the potential liability of your candidate’s driving behavior if your business relies on drivers and how do you proceed with checking their motor vehicle records?
Do you need to?
DOT-regulated
You are required to access their drivers’ Motor Vehicle Records (MVR) annually and keep the records for many years.
Non-DOT regulated
You can decide if, and when, to check a candidate or employee’s driving record.
Why check an MVR Report?
The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) published a guidebook almost 20 years ago. With the increase of vehicles on the road, this has even more relevance today. OSHA provides a sobering reality of motor vehicle crashes in the US, “Every 12 minutes someone dies in a motor vehicle crash, every 10 seconds an injury occurs and every 5 seconds a crash occurs. Many of these incidents occur during the workday or during the commute to and from work. Employers bear the cost for injuries that occur both on and off the job.”
OSHA goes on to quote a study performed by the National Highway Traffic Administration (NHTSA), which calculated the cost of motor vehicle crashes to employers. They found that “Motor vehicle crashes cost employers $60 billion annually in medical care, legal expenses, property damage, and lost productivity. They drive up the cost of benefits such as workers’ compensation, Social Security, and private health and disability insurance. Also, they increase the company overhead involved in administering these programs.
The average crash costs an employer is $16,500. When a worker has an on-the-job crash that results in an injury, the cost to their employer is $74,000. Costs can exceed $500,000 when a fatality is involved. Off-the-job crashes are costly to employers as well.”
An MVR report is a general overview of a person’s driving history.
The information provided and coverage varies by state. This report provides you with their current license status, suspensions, cancellations, DUIs, violations, and revocations. Some records may be available at the county court record level, running a driving record search provides you the most up-to-date status, including records that don’t show up at the court level.
Some employers operating in states with high state access fees try to cut costs by having the candidate provide their driver abstract. This method might save them on their upfront costs, but would it be ok that you may be looking at a doctored record and not know it?!
Insurance companies will also calculate their exposure to risk by reviewing the driving history of your drivers. In most instances, they will provide you with limited info and might leave open and unknown risks.
Why use a background screening partner?
A screening partner ensures that you are looking at the most up-to-date, accurate, and complete data available especially with motor vehicle records. They also have access to these records and work together with providers that process millions of driving record requests.
Additionally, it is now more cost-efficient to continuously monitor your fleet of drivers and give you alerts.
As with any part of your background screening process, you are more familiar with your company’s risk appetite. The best way to build HR confidence in background checks is to work with a background screening partner to understand the products available and how they could work with your current background check process.
Gain HR confidence in background checks by having a conversation with your screening provider. Share pertinent information with them so they can help you out. Which states do you work in? What positions do you hire? What does your recruiting process look like? This information helps a screening provider deliver a preferred application and background check method.
This information is provided as a courtesy, may change, and is not intended as legal guidance.
