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Best Employee Screening Articles For August & September 2009

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human_resourcesIn case you missed any of our employee screening articles for August and September, here’s a quick recap of our most popular:

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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Sex Offenders In Ohio

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Congratulations to Ohio for being the first state in the country to reach “substantial implementation” of the provisions of a federal law cracking down on sex offenders (FYI Screening, Inc. is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.)

The state is largely in compliance with the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, which is part of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, according to Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act was signed into law by U.S. President George W. Bush on July 27, 2006.

The legislation organizes sex offenders into three tiers:

  1. Tier 3 offenders (the most serious tier) must update their whereabouts every three months with lifetime registration requirements.
  2. Tier 2 offenders must update their whereabouts every six months with 25 years of registration
  3. Tier 1 offenders (which includes minors as young as 14 years of age) must update their whereabouts every year with 15 years of registration.

Failure to register and update information is a felony under the law. It also created a national sex offender registry and instructs each state and territory to apply identical criteria for posting offender data on the Internet (i.e., offender’s name, address, date of birth, place of employment, photograph, etc.)

States, tribes and territories must “substantially implement” the sex-offender law by July 26, 2010, or face a 10 percent reduction in federal Byrne Justice Assistance Grant funding.

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

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More Background Checks

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It’s not everyday that I see a headline like this  in our local newspaper, The Columbus Dispatch.

Last night the Franklin County Board of Developmental Disabilities voted to require background checks every three years on all their employees.  Previously, background checks were conducted upon hiring and the county relied on the honor system for employees to report any offense after that.

This is a good reminder that your organization should have a Post-Hire Screening Program in place.

A Post-Hire Screening Program (also called recurring screening) is considered a best practice for employers. It ensures a safe workplace and helps reduce the risk of a negligent retention lawsuit. Conducting checks on all new hires is essential. Keep in mind, that a lot can happen in the years after a new hire comes aboard. Companies should consider protecting themselves with periodic post-hire criminal checks and drug screening.

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Dangers Of Using Social Networks On The Job Hunt In Australia

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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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The Importance Of Accurate Background Checks

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anonymous_gunLast week I reported how a Post-Hire Background Check could have prevented a terrible crime.

On the front page of this morning’s Dispatch I read…

Rape suspect got 2nd job because of faulty vetting

Weapons charges should have disqualified caregiver

It looks like this suspect was able to get a second job with Goodwill Columbus because of two errors with his background check:

  1. Goodwill ran a background check through the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (BCI) which incorrectly showed a weapons charges against him had been dismissed.  Actually, the suspect pleaded guilty in Franklin County Common Pleas Court to reduced misdemeanor charges of carrying a concealed weapon and improper handling of a firearm in 2008 — convictions considered to be disqualifying offenses for working among people with developmental disabilities.That information was not on the BCI report, said Margie Pizzuti, president of Goodwill Columbus.
  2. Goodwill ran an additional background check through an online records-search service (I don’t know which company), but that report was confusing and Goodwill staff members apparently did not see that Quintero had been convicted, Pizzuti said.”This instructs us to be even more vigilant in finding out what’s in these reports and making sure we understand them,” she said. “If we had seen that and understood clearly, it probably would have been at least a red flag.”

Read the article here.

CONCLUSION

  • A manual on-site search at the county courthouse by an experienced researcher is often the most accurate, and up-to-date criminal search available.  Goodwill ran a BCI check which is the authorized central repository for all felony records for the state of Ohio.  The bureau relies on police departments, sheriff’s offices, and courts of record to submit arrest and court conviction data to the bureau for record updates.  The bureau did not have the most current information in this case.
  • Your background screening provider needs to provide you with an easy to read report so there is absolutely no question about the status of the person being screened.

FYI Screening, Inc. is a leading global provider of employee screening solutions to corporations, government agencies, healthcare systems and educational institutions.

  • Contact us for a 10 minute online demo of the easiest, most cost-effective and reliable solution for employee screening.