Are your employees really qualified? Some business owners are surprised to find out the truth!
Hiring employees without verifying their professional licenses, or academic qualifications can be a big risk to your company, your employees, and clients. When screening employees for positions that have higher responsibility like nurses, pharmacists, or truck driver’s due diligence is a legal requirement. If it turns out your new hire doesn’t have that license, or didn’t graduate from that trade school, you can be held responsible..
In every industry there are horror stories detailing unqualified employees’ misconduct. These stories range from a truck driver not being able to work a double clutch, to nurses mixing up medications. The employees in these stories almost always fly under the radar with manufactured, or nonexistent licenses, diplomas and qualifications. All it takes to avoid a liability nightmare is a simple academic and licensing verification, yet you can find examples of these disasters all over.
Investigators find a long-term Walgreens pharmacist was never certified
Recently the California pharmacy board began an investigation into whether a Walgreens employee without their pharmacist’s license verified the dispense of over 700,000 prescriptions, including over 100,000 controlled use substances.
According to mercury news Kim Thien Le even, “signed off on issuing medication to some patients whose prescription forms didn’t meet state requirements for preventing counterfeit prescriptions or black-market distribution.”
During the 11 years she falsely served as a pharmacist, Le also gave patients vaccinations, counseled them on their medications, and supervised actual pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.
The California Pharmacists Association noted in the article that pharmacies must confirm proper licensing when considering a candidate for pharmacy employment. Walgreens did not have any of the proper licensing on file for Le, or proof that she graduated from an accredited pharmacy school. Investigators found the only license Walgreens had on file for Le belonged to another pharmacist with a similar name.
Not all industries have licensing requirements as potentially dangerous as pharmaceutical industry, but an employee working for you with a fake, or nonexistent license can cost your company in fines and reputation. Walgreens CA risks losing their pharmaceutical licenses and will likely be levied with serious fines due to this one employee.
To avoid dangerous employees, and costly fines it’s best to complete your due diligence when hiring for positions with higher responsibility. HireSafe offers background checks with additional licensing verification, or academic verification for industries like healthcare, and transportation along with packages specifically for employees that handle company finances. If you’re already a client, contact us today at research@hiresafe.com to add verification to your current package. We make it easy to ensure your employees are qualified, certified and licensed for the position you offer them.