Hello,
You are not alone. It is hard to find good employees sometimes. In addition to checking references you can ask behavioral type questions. For example what would you do if XYZ happened. You could use examples from your business operations. You can also ask questions about work ethic, like "what would you do if you finished all of your work and the boss was not here?" If you want some more ideas send me an email. info@businessesource.com
JK