Negligent hiring is the failure of an employer to use reasonable care in the selection of an employee that results in injury to an innocent third party. The way to minimize the risk of being accused of negligent hiring is to use reasonable care under the circumstances in the hiring process. Naturally, that means it’s always better to collect more information about a candidate for employment than less.
One area that is often overlooked by employers is failing to check to see if the license to carry out the duties of a particular occupation is valid. For example, checking a medical license or a license to practice law are the most frequently overlooked checks. There is a presumption that anyone claiming to be a physician or a lawyer would never falsify a license. Well, I can think of examples where individuals claimed a medical license or a license to practice law that they didn’t have!
Just as a careful employer would check to see if a candidate for a teaching position really has a teaching license, it’s even more important to check out the licenses of people seeking employment as a doctor or lawyer. Why? Because the risk of harm to innocent third parties is even greater for doctors and lawyers. The point is, if the job requires being filled by someone with a license to do it, it just makes good sense to check first rather than be sorry later.