Here’s a pretty common scenario in running your own business: you operate alone and your business grows so that it makes more sense to hire an employee to help you operate. So, of course, you should just hire one.

However, it’s not that simple. There’s the red tape to consider along with your legal obligations and liabilities. It will cost you a pretty penny as well, as recruiting and training a new employee costs an average of about $4,000.

There’s also the risk of hiring the wrong person. You might have a new employee that causes increases in your healthcare expenses. They may not be as productive, or perhaps they may just quit after only a short while on the job. The new employee may even turn out to be a thief or a violent fellow. All these potential troubles can cost you a lot, and it can mar your brand’s reputation as well.

Hiring Your First Employee

Here are some tips that should help you with the hiring process, while you also comply with ethical and legal structures:

Run a Background Check

You may trust your instincts when it comes to forging friendships and romances, but this is business and not personal. When you’re contemplating hiring a new employee, you need to make sure you run a check on them. Don’t forget that almost half of all job resumes have inflated facts and outright lies, and you need to get the truth. You may be held accountable for your new worker’s actions when they deal with clients and customers, and you should make sure of their character.

To do this, you may try to find the contact info of your applicant’s previous employers. Ask for 3 references and check them. You can go online and find any possible news reports concerning them. Ask for their educational credentials.

If you’re really unsure, you may hire an investigative service to do research on your potential new hire.

Test for Drugs

Trusting a drug addict is never a good idea. These people are more likely to get into an accident on the job, and they’re 6 times more likely to file worker’s compensation claims than employees who don’t abuse drugs.

So a drug test is a good precaution to take. An applicant has the right to refuse a drug test, but as the employer, you have the right to deny or retract a job offer as well when they do so.

Run Additional Tests

You can have your applicants go through a skill and aptitude test to confirm that they actually will know the job they were hired to do. But you can also run other tests, such as psych tests and even lie detector tests. You just need to make sure that your tests are related to the job and that you’re not discriminating on the basis of race or religion.

Obey the Laws during Interviews

You can’t ask about race or religious affiliation. Their sexual orientation is irrelevant, so don’t ask about that either. Even their age and marital status don’t matter. Don’t ask about these things or you can be sued for illegal discrimination.

Hopefully, these tips can help you find your new star employee!

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