Do You Have A Sex Offender In Your House?

When was the last time you had a service person in your house? Could this person have been a sex offender without you knowing it?

The Consumer Awareness of Unsafe Service Employment (C.A.U.S.E.) Certification campaign was launched today on the seven year anniversary of the death of Sue Weaver, who was raped and beaten to death in her Orlando home by a worker sent to clean her air ducts. Although a twice-convicted sex offender on parole, the company did not do a criminal background check before hiring him.

Sue’s sister Lucia Bone founded The Sue Weaver C.A.U.S.E. in her memory. “Tragically, Sue’s murder is not an isolated case. Many consumers are assaulted and murdered each year by people whose jobs allow them access to their victims.”

“C.A.U.S.E. leads a national nonprofit campaign to educate employers and consumers to the necessity of criminal background checks and to promote C.A.U.S.E. Certification,” she said. “The C.A.U.S.E. Team has spent two years developing the certification program and has already received applications from several service providers employing more than 650 in-home workers.”

“We have to educate the public about hiring practices. Bonded and insured does not mean a criminal background check has been performed on the workers. C.A.U.S.E. Certification is designed to offer safety conscious consumers a means of identifying service companies that take their safety seriously. It also offers service providers a means to hire and promote safer employees, contractors, and subcontractors. As a result, it will better protect both consumers and businesses,” Bone added. “C.A.U.S.E. Certification is a program that very well may have saved Sue’s life!”

To find out more about C.A.U.S.E. go here.

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Deciding Whether To Drug Screen Employees

As a hiring manager, you may initially feel uncomfortable with the thought of requiring drug tests from job applicants. Some human resources personnel feel that doing so encroaches upon applicants’ privacy. In truth, drug screening prospective hires can protect your company and your employees. Here are a few reasons why you should drug screen job candidates…

Drug Screening Protects Your Business

If you hire an employee who has a history of drug abuse, you could be held partially or fully liable for his actions while on the job. By drug screening applicants, you can eliminate those who have had a drug problem in the past. If something drug-related were to happen in the workplace and an employee is injured, prior drug screening would help insulate your company from a negligent hiring claim.

It Maintains Employees’ Safety

Some jobs require employees to operate machinery or potentially-harmful devices. If an employee who is operating this machinery under the influence of drugs makes a mistake, other workers can be injured. Not only will a drug screen prevent drug abuse in the workplace from endangering your staff in the first place, but it’s often a legal requirement for employers.

Drug Abuse Can Have A Massive Cost

If your workplace or your staff is exposed to an employee with a drug problem, the costs can be enormous. It can lead to employees becoming hurt, expenses related to negligent hiring lawsuits and damage to computers, machinery and other company assets. In some cases, the actions of employees who are under the influence of drugs have resulted in businesses having to close.

Drug screening job candidates plays a key role in finding high-quality employees for your company. Doing so protects your current staff from injury and insulates the workplace from damage and disruption. Finally, it helps shield your company from negligent hiring lawsuits. If you’ve been reluctant to conduct drug screening on new hires, consider the above reasons. The sooner you include it in your employee screening program, the better.

Related Posts:

Free Drug-Free Workplace Toolkit

4 Tips on How to Avoid Negligent Hiring Lawsuits

5 Smart Hiring Tips To Implement Today

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4 Tips For Preventing Workplace Violence

As stress and frustration in the workplace reach an all-time high, employers have begun to cast a wary glance at their hiring practices. Violence in the workplace is not new. Most of us can remember the incidents that led to the term “going postal.” Today, many hiring managers are aware that companies are often held liable for the actions of their employees. Below, I’m going to give you 4 quick tips to reduce that liability and prevent workplace violence.

Tip #1: Do A Background Check

An extensive background check on a job applicant should reveal any workplace violence in her past. In many cases, companies that have witnessed one (or more) of their employees becoming violent failed to conduct a proper background check. Don’t make the same mistake.

Tip #2: Call Past Employers

Often, violent incidents in the workplace aren’t formally reported. Sometimes, filing a report simply falls through the cracks. Other times, an employer may feel that reporting the incident would be troublesome. However, a quick phone call to past employers can help uncover such episodes.

Tip #3: Create A Strict Policy

You should communicate to workers that violence or threats of violence will lead to termination. Often, this type of zero-tolerance procedure is enough to dissuade employees from losing control.

Tip #4: Watch For Red Flags During Interviews

Even if a potential employee does not have a history of workplace violence, your company could witness the first incident. However, interviewers can be trained to note certain mannerisms that manifest when confrontational questions are asked.

Protecting Your Staff And Your Company

In the end, preventing workplace violence means protecting your employees from injury and protecting your company from disruption and lawsuits. While it’s impossible to guarantee that an employee will never act violently in the workplace, you can use the 4 tips above to dramatically lower the likelihood of it happening.

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Does Your Company Do Employment Background Checks On Outside Vendors?

Since discovering that a pedophile was involved with an HIV-testing program for University of New Hampshire students, university officials have written a new policy requiring all outside vendors to pass criminal background checks.

Read the story…

Job Applicants - What To Do About Identity Theft

Identity theft is nothing new. Each year, millions of people cope with having their identities stolen. But, many unwary job applicants are fooled by fake job postings that exist primarily to steal their identity. Millions of job-seekers carelessly post their sensitive personal information online. Criminals can use this information to wreak havoc. Here’s what job applicants can do to avoid becoming a victim of identity theft.

Avoiding Fraudulent Postings

Many types of job postings are well-known scams. You should be wary of postings that advertise jobs for courier services and envelope stuffing. Jewelry making job openings should also raise a red flag. Similarly, applicants should be cautious about postings for overseas jobs. While they can potentially lead to valid employment opportunities, many of them have been designed to lure unsuspecting job applicants. Their goal is often to tempt job-seekers into providing their social security numbers, driver’s license numbers and even bank account information. Unfortunately, doing so can expose them to identity theft.

Knowing What To Look For

First, you should avoid providing sensitive information to potential employers until you’re convinced that a job opening is authentic. Second, if you’re unsure about a job posting, ask for references and check them. Third, do some due diligence. Try to determine how long the company that is advertising a position has been in business. Find out if there are any complaints that have been filed with the Better Business Bureau. Fourth, get every promise in writing before moving forward.

Having your identity stolen while looking for a job can be devastating. But, if you avoid common job posting scams and take a few precautionary steps, you can avoid becoming an identity theft victim. Then, you can pursue legitimate job opportunities with reliable employers.

What You Need To Know About The FCRA

An important part of doing a background check on potential hires is accessing their credit information. While it’s not always the case, credit history can be an effective barometer of how responsible and trustworthy an employee will be once you hire him. That being said, the privacy rights of your potential hires are protected by the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Today, I want to explain a few important points about the FCRA that you need to know.

Asking Job Candidates’ Permission

Before you access a job candidate’s consumer report (prepared specifically by a consumer reporting agency), you must notify him. Then, you need to receive written permission from the candidate to access the report. One of the provisions of the FCRA is that an employer must communicate to a job applicant that the consumer report may be used to make a hiring decision.

Notifying Candidates Of Adverse Actions

If you end up not hiring a job candidate because of what you discover on his consumer report, you need to tell him so. It can be done in writing, over the phone, or with an email. But, the adverse action has to be communicated.

Failing To Comply

If you fail to comply with the provisions of the FCRA, you may be held liable. If you don’t ask a potential employee for permission before accessing his consumer report, he can file a lawsuit against your company. Similarly, if you fail to notify him of any adverse action you’ve taken, he can also file a lawsuit.

Using The FCRA For Access

Reviewing a job applicant’s credit history can help you make good hiring decisions. While the FCRA was created to protect the privacy of individuals, it provides employers the opportunity to legally access applicants’ credit information. Its provisions require employers to follow certain rules in doing so. But, these hurdles should not prevent you from checking the credit history of potential employees. The hiring disasters you can avoid in the long-run makes it worthwhile.

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Social Networks and Stupid Employees

I just watched a video “The Stupidest Employee Ever?” on the Ohio Employer’s Law Blog. In the video a Burger King employee took a bath in the restaurant’s utility sink and then posted it on YouTube. In my previous post Employee Screening Through Social Networks I wrote about social networks blurring the line between “business” and “pleasure”. This employee definitely blurred the line and gets my vote.

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New Passport Card Can Be Used For Form I-9

On August 8, 2008, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) made an announcement that the new U.S. Passport Card may be used in the Form I-9 process.

Last month, the Departments of State and Homeland Security announced that the new passport card was in full production. The new card provides a less expensive and more portable alternative to the traditional passport book, and will expedite document processing at United States land and sea ports-of-entry for U.S. citizens traveling to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda.

The new card cannot be used for international air travel, but it is a valid passport that attests to the U.S. citizenship and identity of the bearer. The card may be used for the Form I-9 process and can also be accepted by employers participating in the E-Verify program.

The passport card is considered a “List A” document that may be presented by newly hired employees during the employment eligibility verification process to show work authorized status. “List A” documents are those used by employees to prove both identity and work authorization when completing the Form I-9.

Did you know…

• If you are an employer, you must retain Form I-9 for three years after the date employment begins or one year after the date the person’s employment is terminated, whichever is later.

• Failure to provide Form I-9s for inspection is a violation of the employer sanctions laws and could
  result in the imposition of civil money penalties.

• That an employer can be fined up to $3,000 or imprisoned up to 6 months for engaging in a pattern or practice of knowingly hiring and continuing to employ unauthorized aliens.

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5 Reasons To Do Employee Background Checks

If you’ve been reading my blog for long, you’ll already understand how important it is to conduct an extensive background check on any person whom you’re considering hiring. That said, let’s review. Use the 5 reasons below as a reminder of why it’s essential to do employee background checks.

#1 - Avoid Legal Liability

If you fail to check the background and history of an employee and that employee hurts someone in the workplace, your company could be held liable. Negligent hiring lawsuits happen all the time and employers pay the price.

#2 - Validate Skills

Just because a job applicant claims that he’s adept at something or has experience in a certain field doesn’t mean that it’s true. You need to do a background check to validate his claims.

#3 - Prevent Office Violence

Violence in the workplace can carry an enormous cost. Not only does it potentially expose your staff to physical harm, but it disrupts your company’s operations. While doing an extensive background check doesn’t guarantee a new employee won’t act violently, it’s one of the most effective preventative measures you can take.

#4 - Avoid Employee Theft

A large percentage of the people who steal items from the companies for which they work have a history of doing so. Checking an employee’s background can reveal whether a prospective hire has been fired or convicted of theft in the past.

#5 - Avoid Nuisance Lawsuits

There are people who apply for jobs, secure a position and then sue the company that has hired them. It may take the form of a frivolous worker’s compensation claim or a sexual harassment suit. You can uncover whether a job candidate has a history of filing these types of lawsuits.

Conducting employee background checks is an important part of protecting your staff and your company. They help maintain the safety of your employees. Plus, they can shield your business from a host of potential problems that can result from hiring an undesirable worker.

3 Ways To Improve Your Employee Screening Program

Millions of small and medium-sized companies lack the time and resources to properly screen potential new hires. It’s understandable. Unlike large corporations with thousands of employees, smaller companies are often stretched. Human resources executives are responsible for a wide range of duties. Unfortunately, that can lead to small cracks in their employee screening program. Here are 3 ways you can kickstart your company’s employee screening to boost workplace productivity and help ensure the safety of your staff.

Tip #1: Evaluate Your Requirements

You can often disqualify many job candidates simply by having a concrete understanding of a position’s requirements and communicating them to applicants. Not only will doing so help guarantee you’ll find the right employee; it will weed out many candidates who may become potential problems in the workplace.

Tip #2: Invest Resources Into Preliminary Screening

A quick in-person interview is not enough to know whether a prospective employee has a problematic past. Plan to invest company resources to conduct a few basic screening practices. Your time may be limited, but hiring mistakes can be extremely costly. Especially for smaller businesses.

Tip #3: Execute An Exhaustive Background Check

One of the most important things you can do to improve your company’s employee screening program is to conduct an exhaustive background check. That includes validating past employment, conducting a drug test, checking credit history and driving record as well as searching for a criminal history (fraud, abuse, sexual misconduct, etc.).

An Investment In Employee Screening

Though your company’s resources may be limited, a small investment in improving your employee screening system can produce long-lasting benefits. It will help boost the overall productivity of your workforce and help you avoid making hiring mistakes that can lead to costly disasters. To insulate your business from problematic employees, it’s more important than ever to screen the people you hire.

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