Florida Lawmakers Pledge Changes To Their Background Screening Program
October 5, 2009
Last week we reported about Florida’s Flawed Background Screening System and now Florida lawmakers are talking about making changes to the state system.
Laxness, Loopholes In Background Checks Of Child And Elder Care Workers
Source: South Florida Sun Sentinel
Florida legislators pledged to overhaul state law to require that caregivers for children and the elderly undergo background checks before they begin work and to close loopholes that have let thousands of felons get jobs in day care and nursing homes.
The proposed reforms come after a Sun Sentinel investigative series last week identified disturbing flaws in the background screening system that allow people to work with Florida’s most vulnerable residents before the caregivers have been vetted.
Even people with criminal pasts can qualify for jobs as caregivers by obtaining an exemption. Thousands have sought and won official permission to work despite having records for crimes including rape, child abuse and murder, the newspaper found.
“What you have discovered is something the Legislature needs to get more serious about and get on top of immediately,” state Rep. Ari Porth, D-Coral Springs, told the Sun Sentinel. A state prosecutor, Porth is drafting legislation to require pre-employment checks and put restrictions on who can get exemptions.
George Sheldon, secretary of Florida’s Department of Children & Families, called reforming the system “a legislative priority for a number of agencies.”
“It just makes sense that the public is assured that those people who are dealing with the most vulnerable have been closely screened,” Sheldon said.
As a result of the Sun Sentinel investigation, Sheldon wrote a four-page letter Thursday to state legislators outlining his plan for a “faster, more efficient system to protect our vulnerable citizens.”
Read more here.
FYI Screening offers a wide array of customized background screening solutions to meet any need. Human Resources and Loss Prevention Professionals in numerous industries worldwide trust FYI’s screening solutions every day to make smarter, safer and more cost effective hiring decisions.
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Best Employee Screening Articles For August & September 2009
October 1, 2009
In case you missed any of our employee screening articles for August and September, here’s a quick recap of our most popular:
- Recruiters Are Checking You Out On Facebook
- Top 10 Articles On Employee Screening
- The Secret of Successful Hiring
- Truth and Lies On Resumes
- More Background Checks
- Sex Offenders In Ohio
- Florida’s Flawed Background Screening System
- The Pros & Cons of Googling Candidates
Smart, Compliant Hiring Decisions Made Easy
FYI Screening, Inc. is a leading provider of on-demand, easy to use employee screening solutions.
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- Connect on LinkedIn
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The Pros & Cons of Googling Candidates
September 28, 2009
Kris Dunn, an outspoken HR Pro who blogs over at the hrcapitalist.com offers his take on using social media for employee screening.
Googling Candidates: The Trenches Say You Can’t Afford NOT To….
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Florida’s Flawed Background Screening System
September 28, 2009
Is your loved one in the care of a convicted felon? A six-month investigation by the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel into Florida’s background screening system found disturbing flaws that allow those with criminal records - offenses include child abuse, assault and murder - to work in day care centers, assisted living facilities and homes for the elderly and disabled. Employees are routinely hired before background checks are made. Even when criminal offenses are discovered, caregivers can still work with little more than a promise not to break the law again. Children and defenseless adults have been harmed and exploited while in the care of people with criminal pasts, their trust betrayed by a system that fails to protect them.
Source: South Florida Sun Sentinel and Orlando Sentinel
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Chris Miller is known for his expertise in employee screening and background investigations. His company, FYI Screening, Inc. helps employers improve the efficiency of their employee screening programs, minimize risk and hire smarter. He’s a licensed Private Investigator with over 30 years of experience in employment screening, retail loss prevention, corporate security and background investigations. For more information call 1-800-809-2419 or visit us online at fyiscreening.com.
The Secret of Successful Hiring
August 29, 2009
Two ways to hire (and a wrong way)
“The wrong way first: interview someone for an hour. If you like them, have them interview three or four other people in your organization for an hour each.
You’ve invested five hours of your team’s time, but really you only were looking for approval, because you’d already decided you liked the person enough to work with them for years.
All the evidence we’ve seen shows that this is a lousy predictor of future performance. And, let’s tell the truth… if the first three people love the guy, are you really going to let the fourth, junior person veto him? Or is it just an annoying courtesy?”
That is the wrong way to hire.
Read Seth’s advice on the right ways to hire here.
Top 10 Articles On Employee Screening
August 28, 2009
Since we’ve had an increase in readers to our employee screening blog, I thought it would be a good idea to make the new folks aware of our most viewed articles.
Here they are:
Want to learn more about employee background screening?
Recruiters Are Checking You Out On Facebook
August 20, 2009
Employers increasingly turning to Facebook to check up on you
by Christopher Null: The Working Guy. Yahoo Tech
If you’re lucky enough to have landed a job interview in this economy, you’d better have your ducks in a row. And more and more these days that means getting your social networks in order before your would-be bosses come sniffing around.
According to a survey conducted by CareerBuilder, Facebook has become the network of choice for recruiters to sniff out data about job applicants, with 30 percent of hiring managers saying they use Facebook searches to research information about new and potential hires.
Read the rest of the article here.
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Employee Screening Articles For June & July 2009
August 3, 2009
In case you missed any of our employee screening articles for June and July, here’s a quick recap of our most popular:
- 6 Tips On I-9 Compliance In The Hospitality Industry
- 5 Legal Reasons Why Your Company Should Have a Social Networking Policy
- Are Colleges Spying On High School Students?
- Hiring Managers Are Checking You Out
- New Employee Screening Trend -Second Chance For Ex-Offenders
- E-Verify for Employers in South Carolina and Mississippi
- Small Business Guide To Pre-Employment Background Checks
- The Hottest, Newest HR Technology for Background Screening
- The Importance Of Post-Hire Background Checks
- 4 Tips On How To Use Social Networks For Employee Screening
Smart, Compliant Hiring Decisions Made Easy
FYI Screening, Inc. offers a complete portfolio of employee screening services that will help you work smarter while providing the industry’s fastest turnaround and the highest quality results. This will allow your company to focus on what really matters: hiring and retaining the best employees possible.
- Subscribe to our blog to stay informed
- Follow on Twitter
- Connect on LinkedIn
4 Tips On How To Use Social Networks For Employee Screening
July 28, 2009
One of the hottest and most controversial topics in the background screening space is the use of social networks to screen employees.
The New York Law Journal covers this important issue in an article titled “Social Networking and Blogging: Managing the Conversation.”
The Tips:
- Employers choosing to screen blogs and social networking profiles must also comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The FCRA requires an applicant’s or employee’s consent before an employer may engage a “consumer reporting agency” to produce a “consumer report” on that individual. FCRA does not prohibit employers from receiving or using the consumer report that contains information derived from social networking sites or blogs, but it requires disclosure that such information resulted in an adverse employment decision.
- Employers should also develop clear rules regarding their hiring procedure if they wish to make use of available online information from personal blogs and social networking sites for screening purposes.
- For instance, it is vital that a wall be constructed between the ultimate decision maker and the individual conducting the initial online research. While specific rules will vary based on an individual employer’s needs, any employer utilizing these technologies should ensure that irrelevant information is screened and filtered before it reaches the decision maker.
- The law applicable to employee blogging and social networking is still evolving, and the lack of legal precedent leaves significant room for interpretation. When making use of online resources, however, it is better to err on the side of caution, as the potential risks to the employer can be significantly greater than any benefits the additional information social networking sites and blogs may provide.
Smart Business Decisions Made Easy
FYI Screening, Inc. offers a complete portfolio of employee screening services that will help you work smarter while providing the industry’s fastest turnaround and the highest quality results.
This will allow your company to focus on what really matters: hiring and retaining the best employees possible.
- Subscribe to our blog to stay informed
- Follow on Twitter
- Connect on LinkedIn
Dangers Of Using Social Networks On The Job Hunt In Australia
July 22, 2009
NEWS.com.au (Australia) reports about the Dangers of using social networks on the job hunt.
Employers using social networks to gather information on job candidates could be breaking the law.
Social networks have become hot recruitment tools but Harmers Workplace Lawyers warn that using such sources to gather personal information to screen would-be employees carries a number of legal risks.
Harmers senior associate Bronwyn Maynard says many employers and recruiters are not aware of their obligations under the existing Privacy Act let alone the “General Protections” section of the Fair Work Act that came into force on July 1, 2009.
Under the Privacy Act employers and recruiters must:
- Inform a candidate that they have collected personal information about them.
- Explain the purpose of gathering the information.
- Tell the candidate who else will see the information.
Luckily for recruiters and hiring managers, most candidates don’t realise that under privacy legislation they are entitled to see notes made about them during the recruitment screening process.
“The Privacy Act also dictates that companies must only collect personal information that is necessary for their business,” explains Ms Maynard.
Candidates can apply directly to employers and recruitment consultants to see the notes made and information gathered about them during a recruitment campaign. A candidate can request that inaccurate information be corrected. If the candidate considers the information irrelevant he or she can then make a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner.
Ms Maynard said while there is no set timeframe, to expect a reply within 30 days would be a reasonable.
Read more about the Dangers of using social networks on the job hunt.
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