Given the economy, many companies are relying on the flexibility and convenience that temporary workers bring; the increasing usage of contingents amplifies exposure to trust-related risks. Businesses tend to wash their hands of the background checking process once a staffing agency comes into the picture, but that can be dangerous.

Never just assume that your supplier has background screening covered. Time and financial considerations can make it tempting for staffing agencies to pursue less-through screening methods on some temporaries. Before you bring them in, make sure your contingents, like employees, are carefully screened.

Here's why. The contingent workforce tends to have a higher percentage of individuals with issues in their background than does the pool of workers for permanent positions. Conventional wisdom has it these workers self-select into those roles, because they know they are not as likely to be screened. They knows that companies are more stringent when it comes to screening their potential traditional employees than their contingent workers.

To begin with, companies should formulate a screening policy appropriate to the nature of their business and risk profile. Make sure you know what to check for. The background checks for a contingent engaged to work in a manufacturing facility are different from a check for one working in a bank or brokerage house. The fact of the matter is that you can't afford to make a bad hiring decision in today's climate.

In Heard on the Street, we aim to report the backroom discussion about trends and leading-edge developments in the contingent workforce world -- what is really on the minds of the suppliers and other thought leaders in this space. Come get a glimpse of everything you wanted to know about CW but were too afraid to ask.