| BACKGROUND
SCREENING NEWS |
Credit
Checks Are Kicking the Jobless When They're Down
Credit
checks have become a routine part of the hiring process. Nearly
half of all companies run them on potential employees, according
to SHRM. One in four Americans say they have been told that
they missed out on a job because of their credit history. And
yet, as Richard Tonowski, chief psychologist for the EEOC testified,
there is "very little evidence that credit history is indicative
of who can do the job better." Indeed, credit problems are more
a symptom of bad luck than of bad character nowadays. Many people
were propelled into unmanageable debt by the housing bubble,
the subprime mortgage boom or the surging unemployment of the
Great Recession. In short, when employers make hiring decisions
based on credit checks, it's an institutionalized form of kicking
people who are already down. It's also a practice that compounds
the enormous damage already inflicted on millions of Americans
by a reckless financial industry. In addition, despite their
critical importance to the financial lives of Americans, credit
reports contain unacceptable numbers of errors, which can be
exhaustingly hard to correct. According to a 2013 study by the
FTC, the reports of more than 20% of U.S. consumers include
confirmed mistakes.
Read more
Are You Screening Your Background Data Provider? If
Not, You Should Be.
There has
been much ado about screening companies that are slow to update
data, have incomplete information or flat-out violate privacy
standards as outlined by the FCRA and EEOC. Today's growing
companies (read: your clients) don't want the legal liability
associated with making hiring decisions based on outdated or
inaccurate information-or the stiff fines associated with failing
to comply with ever-changing guidelines. Background screening
companies are increasingly being held accountable for the information
they deliver, which makes it critical that the criminal and
conviction data you provide is as complete, accurate and up-to-date
as it can be. From quick turnaround and the ability to cross
county lines to FCRA and EEOC filters, it's time to build the
strongest data foundation you've ever had. Here's how.
Read
more
Ex-NSA
Chief Details Snowden's Hiring at Agency, Booz Allen
Edward
Snowden, the former NSA contractor who leaked information about
the agency's surveillance program, targeted Booz Allen Hamilton
Inc. for employment because of its access to national security
contracts, said company vice chairman, Mike McConnell. McConnell
recounted how Snowden washed out at his NSA job but then got
a position with Booz Allen, were he could access millions of
documents and then release them to the world. "Snowden has compromised
more capability than any spy in U.S. history," said McConnell.
"And this will have impact on our ability to do our mission
for the next 20 to 30 years." McConnell talked candidly about
where both the agency and the company made their mistakes in
the vetting process. Since unveiling the top-secret information
in the U.K.'s Guardian newspaper, Snowden has been heralded
as a free-speech hero by some and decried by others as a high-risk
traitor. McConnell said Snowden was hired because the government
had vetted him. Booz Allen also vetted him but things were missing
in his record that became known in hindsight. Shortly after
Snowden's leak was revealed, Booz Allen said that it had fired
him "for violations of the firm's code of ethics and firm policy."
Read more
LIARS INDEX® FINISHES 2013 WITH MIXED
RESULTS
Reprinted
with permission of ®2014 Jude M. Werra & Associates,
LLC
Read
the full report
Interested
in purchasing the rights to the Liars Index? Contact Jude M.
Werra & Associates, LLC at
262-797-9166
or jmwa@judewerra.com
Investigation Exposes Lack of County Criminal Background Checks
Not everyone who works for the Hidalgo County gets
a criminal background check before being hired. Jaime Longoria,
executive administrator for county Judge Ramon Garcia's office,
said Hidalgo County has never had a written policy about background
checks, but it's known they don't require one for every single
position. There is a section that asks if the person applying
has been convicted of a felony, and the employer takes it on
good faith that the prospect isn't lying. But there's been at
least one employee who slipped through the cracks and since
his position didn't require a background check, the convicted
sex offender started working in the streets of Hidalgo County
under county commissioner AC Cuellar. Action 4 News first alerted
commissioner Cuellar after a concerned viewer questioned the
man's employment since he was convicted back in 2002 for raping
a child. He is now filling potholes and doing other maintenance
work on roads across the county, in neighborhoods, and near
schools. A criminal background check would have picked up on
his offense. "It's just too expensive to do background checks
on everybody," said Cuellar. "We have thousands of employees
and we can't check all of them."
Read
more
| BACKGROUND
SCREENING NEWS - continued |
Gaps
in Some Ride-sharing Firms' Background Checks
Chicago's
new ride-sharing services market their drivers as friendly and
safe, asserting they have passed stringent criminal background
checks. But a Tribune investigation revealed that one of the
companies, Uber, did not check some of the criminal records
of its drivers, allowing thousands of drivers to ferry passengers
for months, despite not knowing whether or not they had felony
convictions. The company's lack of oversight came to light when
the Tribune contacted it to profile its drivers. Uber presented
one driver as an example, but declined to give the Tribune a
complete list of its drivers. The Tribune later determined that
the driver had a 2010 Cook County felony conviction for residential
burglary, which should have barred him from partnering with
the company. After the Tribune asked about the driver's record,
company officials "deactivated" him and acknowledged their multistate
background checks have missed an "unknown" number of county-level
criminal convictions. Uber said it now has an expanded policy
on background checks that would include federal and county-level
reviews for new and existing drivers, a process that will involve
redoing thousands of screenings. Uber also issued an apology
statement and posted its expanded background check policy online.
Read more
School Workers in Mass. Get New Scrutiny
After months
of delays, Massachusetts school districts have started fingerprinting
teachers, administrators, bus drivers, and other employees,
and forwarding the information to the FBI for national background
checks. Massachusetts is the last state to fingerprint school
employees to more fully search for past criminal activity. The
FBI will run submitted prints through its databases, enabling
schools for the first time to receive criminal histories from
jurisdictions outside Massachusetts and enhancing the chances
of identifying any staff member with a criminal past. Previously,
local districts only had access to Massachusetts criminal records.
"It's a little overdue," said Jeff Wulfson, a deputy commissioner
at the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
The most contentious part of the new requirement has been the
cost. Staff members must pay the processing fee, $55 for licensed
educators and $35 for other employees. However, the American
Federation of Teachers Massachusetts is pushing legislation
that would shift the cost onto school districts instead. "The
district's highest priority is to provide a safe atmosphere
for all of our students and staff and we believe that this measure
is a valuable tool towards ensuring that," said Brian Ballou,
spokesman for the Boston public schools.
Read more
Background Check Firm's Slipup Could Cost It
A company
that provides background checks must face claims from a man
whom it allegedly incorrectly described as a sex offender, costing
him work, a federal judge ruled. Harold Charles Meyer claims
that National Tenant Network (NTN) sent an inaccurate consumer
report to Meyer's prospective employer and landlord, Shorewood
RV Park, claiming he had "three criminal sex offense record,
which were listed as 'violent sex offender, fail to register,'
'sexual battery' and 'aggravated oral sexual battery.'" Both
Harold and Phyllis Meyer, who had applied with him for the assistant
resident manager position, were then denied employment and residence
at Shorewood. The couple contacted the NTN for copies of Harold's
file but the defendant allegedly never responded to their requests.
They blamed the inaccurate sex-offender designation on NTN having
mistakenly relied on the consumer reports of several other individuals
with similar names. One surviving count alleges that NTN improperly
bars those whom it provides with consumer reports, like Shorewood,
from disclosing the contents of those reports to the subjects,
like the Meyers. However, the Meyers failed to allege that "NTN
either knew or should have known that the report it furnished
to Shorewood was for employment purposes," according to the
ruling.
Read
more
NCRA
Believe Proposed Washington StateTenant Screening Laws May Violate
FCRA
There have been reports of some consumers who have experienced
delays in obtaining rental housing due to the costs associated
with consumer reports obtained by property managers to qualify
the consumer’s tenancy. The state of Washington’s
Residential Landlord-Tenant Act (RLTA), which regulates the
relationship between landlords and tenants, acknowledges that
screening reports are an important part of this relationship.
Further, the Washington State Legislature has “…found
and declares comprehensive tenant screening reports are a necessary
and fair solution for both applicants and landlords.
Despite the importance of these documents to all parties, legislation
now pending H.B. 2537 would both lower accuracy and increase
the potential for fraud in these documents, exposing both landlords
and the prospective tenants to incorrect housing decisions.
Furthermore, the legislation may violate the Fair Credit Reporting
Act. The good intentions of this bill must be carefully evaluated
alongside the actual risk associated with the concept of a 30-day
portable consumer report. Consumer reports are designed to allow
landlords and creditors of all types to have the latest information
for making informed lending and rental decisions. At the heart
of the FCRA is the requirement that consumer reporting agencies
use “reasonable procedures for maximum possible accuracy
in producing consumer credit reports.”
Poor decisions made as a result of inaccurate or outdated information
can cause a host of problems for everyone connected to the transaction.
While the proposed legislation correctly states that the data
is “largely the same,” that standard falls short
of the standard set in the FCRA.
Read
more
Health
Care Worker Drug Testing Bill Advances in New Hampshire
The first
law in the nation to require the widespread drug testing of
health care employees may be on its way to passage, as the New
Hampshire House of Representatives has passed by a vote of 289-48,
without debate, "an Act relative to the drug-free workplaces
for licensed health care facilities and providers." It seeks
to foster the safety and protection of patients and health care
workers "by promoting and maintaining a substance-free work
environment and discouraging the illegal use and diversion of
controlled substances by health care workers." The measure (H.B.
597-FN) would mandate that licensed entities establish "procedures
for drug testing which shall include, at a minimum, testing
where reasonable suspicion exists," as part of a broader "drug
misuse and diversion prevention policy" providing for the "prevention,
detection, and resolution of controlled substance abuse, misuse
and diversion." The facility would have to designate an employee
or interdisciplinary team of employees to be responsible for
the policy. The bill is intended to offer flexibility to health
care facilities and providers "to develop and adopt a workplace
standard appropriate to its size, the nature of the services
provided, and its particular setting."
Read more
Is FCRA's Prohibition on CRAs from Disclosing Truthful Public
Information Constitutional? The Government to Defend its Position
The Southern
District of California has granted the United States' motion
to intervene in Dowell v. General Information Services, Inc.
(GIS), to defend the constitutionality of 15 U.S.C. § 1681c,
a provision of the FCRA. GIS contends that subsections (a)(2)
and (a)(5) of the provision, which generally prohibit CRAs from
disclosing public information regarding an individual's non-conviction
criminal history more than seven years old, is unconstitutional
under Sorrell v. IMS Health Inc., 131 S. Ct. 2653. The case
stems from a purported class action complaint filed by three
plaintiffs, alleging that GIS provided non-conviction data over
seven years old in a report to a private company that regulates
access and provides employee registration for military base
personnel. For background screening providers, if GIS is successful
in its argument, the restriction on reporting older, non-conviction
criminal history would cease to exist under federal law. Where
the EEOC has issued guidance stating that an arrest alone is
not grounds for denying an employment opportunity, even the
EEOC recognizes that an employer may make a decision based on
the underlying conduct if the conduct makes the individual unfit
for the position in question.
Read more
San
Francisco's Board of Supervisors "Bans The Box" and Further
Complicates Criminal History Checks by the City's Employers
The San
Francisco's Board of Supervisors is ready to "ban the box,"
the widely used criminal history check box on employment applications.
This would make San Francisco the ninth jurisdiction to enact
the legislation. In addition, the new San Francisco legislation
imposes a host of additional new restrictions on the use of
criminal history for employment purposes. These restrictions
supplement those already imposed by the federal FCRA and arguably
make San Francisco the toughest jurisdiction in the U.S. for
employers to use criminal history. To comply, San Francisco
employers with more than 20 employees should take the following
steps: Review their employment application to remove questions
about criminal history; Revise their hiring procedures to delay
inquiry about criminal history until after the first live interview;
Develop a criminal history questionnaire; Establish a procedure
for documenting evidence of rehabilitation and mitigating factors
received from applicants and for considering that information
before making an adverse employment decision; Establish a minimum
seven-day waiting period before sending a final adverse action
notice; Revise job advertisements to include required language;
Post the required poster after the OLSE publishes it; and Retain
all documents demonstrating compliance with the Ordinance for
at least three years.
Read more
Tommy Wells' 'Ban the Box' Bill Gets Strong Support
D.C. Council
member Tommy Wells introduced "ban-the-box" legislation that
would bar employers from inquiring about job applicants' criminal
records, a practice he says hinders employment opportunities
for returning citizens. "The bill would only allow employers
to ask about an applicant's record of conviction once a conditional
offer of employment has been extended," he said. "The bill would
continue our efforts to address the challenges facing our returning
citizens." District government statistics show that about 60,000
residents have criminal records. Each year, an estimated 8,000
residents return to the city after serving prison sentences
and roughly 50% are incarcerated again within three years. While
most on hand supported the bill, Kathy Hollinger, the president
of the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington, argued
that small businesses will essentially have to use valuable
time on paperwork to justify not hiring a returning citizen.
Rowe countered that Wells' legislation will not require a business
to hire anyone but will give returning citizens a fair chance
to be employed. Businesses will not be required to hire someone
who has committed a crime in the arena in which the business
specializes.
Read more
Whole Foods Sued Over Worker Background-Check Procedure
Whole Foods
Market California Inc. was slapped with a proposed nationwide
class action accusing the company of using a legally invalid
form to get job applicants to consent to background checks as
part of the hiring process. The complaint claims that the form
Whole Foods uses as part of its online application to get permission
from applicants to carry out consumer reports, including criminal
background checks, credit checks and other similar reports,
is facially invalid under the FCRA. The complaint alleges that
Whole Food's online authorization form contains language releasing
those who obtained the consumer reports from all liability,
in violation of the FCRA's requirement that the authorizations
be pristine documents that contain nothing other than the required
disclosures and the requested authorization. "It's not only
illegal but also has a lot of negative ramifications when companies
don't properly comply with the law," said Craig J. Ackermann
of Ackermann & Tilajef PC, who represents the plaintiff.
The suit alleges that the use of the invalid form constitutes
a willful violation of FCRA's requirement that the authorization
forms be set forth in a document that consists solely of the
disclosure.
Read
more
Background Check Forms Face Increased Scrutiny in Federal
Court
Businesses
should check their background check consent forms and their
pre-adverse action waiting periods, after a recent federal court
decision. In Reardon v. Closetmaid Corporation, the district
court granted summary judgment in favor of a class of more than
1,800 job applicants. The Court ruled that the employer's consent
and disclosure form was improper because it contained a waiver
of liability, even though the inclusion of such waiver language
is commonplace. The Court also granted summary judgment to a
subclass of job applicants who were properly sent a pre-adverse
action notification form, as required under the FCRA, but whose
applications were then denied within fewer days than what this
Court considered a "reasonable time period." Because the Court
also determined that the employer's background check procedures
were unreasonable, the company faces statutory liability of
$100 to $1,000 per applicant, plus punitive damages and attorneys'
fees. Yet, there is no indication that any of the class members
suffered any injury whatsoever. As a result, cautious employers
should consider removing from their consent and disclosure forms
any waiver language, and implementing an internal policy of
waiting five business days between sending a pre-adverse action
notice and taking any adverse action.
Read more
More Restrictions on Criminal Background
Checks
California
appears to be the latest state to join the criminal-background-restriction
bandwagon. A new law enacted last month amends the California
Labor Code to prohibit public and private employers from asking
job applicants about criminal records that have been expunged,
sealed or dismissed. "The good news is that [the law] doesn't
break entirely new ground, but instead modifies existing law,"
says Brian Inamine, a LeClairRyan labor and employment attorney.
"The bad news is that it represents one more hurdle that businesses
have to contend with."
To date,
43 cities, counties and municipalities, and 10 states have passed
"ban the box" legislation for public-only or public and private
employers, making questions about criminal convictions on job
applications illegal.
Read more
| Welcome
to the U.S. Legal Challenge Question! |
Sponsored By:
As the background
screening industry continues to get more competitive the firms
that will ultimately succeed will be those that create competitive
advantage through their people by offering continuous learning
opportunities to heightened their knowledge and capabilities.
We believe that having employees that are very knowledgeable about
the legal landscape of background screening is essential to continued
success.
We are grateful
to Larry D. Henry who began his law career with the Army JAGC
where he tried over 2,000 cases. After the Army he relocated to
Tulsa. In 1981, the founder of DAC Services contacted Mr. Henry's
firm for assistance in creating a background screening company.
Since Mr. Henry's practice was employment law, the firm believed
this fell within his area and as they say: "the rest is history".
His practice has kept him in continual contact with the background
screening industry, and he is a nationally recognized expert in
the area of background screening.
Mr. Henry's
practice is concentrated on employment law and in specific, background
screening of employees. He represents consumer reporting agencies
throughout the United States and two national trade associations.
He is the author of the Criminal Records Manual and the on line
reference site:CRAHelpDesk.com, and he is a frequent presenter
across the country on various topics dealing with background screening.
Please choose
your answer by clicking on it:
Class
Action Lawsuit Challenges Legality of Retail Theft Databases in
California for Background Checks
Les Rosen
The use of
a "Retail Theft Contributory Database" in California is being
challenged in a class action lawsuit filed in federal Court in
San Francisco on January 31, 2013. The lawsuit alleges that this
type of database violates both federal and state laws by providing
information to retailers about detentions for suspicion of theft
or fraud but did not result in a conviction. The lawsuit seeks
damages of up to $1,000 for every California consumer that was
the subject of a negative report within the last two years where
there was not a conviction, as well as legal fees and other damages.
According
to the Complaint filed in Court, the background screening firm
that is subject of the class action lawsuit sold memberships to
retail merchants that required each merchant to contribute suspected
theft or shoplifting records of employees or customers to a database
shared by all members, essentially creating a retail employment
blacklist.
This case
was filed in United States District Court, Northern District of
California, on January 31, 2014 (CV 14-0493).
Read more
Proposal
Would Force All Kansas Teachers To Be Fingerprinted
A new plan
to require criminal background checks for all Kansas educators
is generating a lot of buzz across the state. The proposal would
require teachers to be fingerprinted in order to renew their teaching
licenses. For teachers who were hired after 2002, the plan doesn't
involve anything new for them. Fingerprints have been part of
the requirements to get an initial teaching license for the past
12 years.
The Kansas
Department of Education estimated about 35,000 teachers were hired
before those rules were in place.
Read more
Colorado
Supreme Court to review "lawful" use of medical marijuana
The Colorado
Supreme Court agreed on January 27, 2014 to review a case holding
that an employer did not violate the state's "legal activities"
law when it dismissed an employee who used "medical marijuana"
while off duty. Coats v. Dish Network, No. 13SC394 (CO.
Jan. 27, 2014). For a detailed discussion of the facts of the
case and the appellate court's decision, see the article on our
website,
Colorado Court Rules Use of 'Medical Marijuana' Not 'Lawful'
under State's 'Legal Activities' Law.
Read more
U.S.
Congress Ready to Enact Data Security and Breach Notification
Rules After Recent Consumer Data Breaches
In view of the recent
spate of cyber attacks on retailers and the patchwork of existing
laws that greatly complicate a company's data breach response,
Congress appears ready to create a national data protection and
breach notification law that, in theory, would increase the security
of consumers' personal information and simplify the data breach
notification process.
Statements made publicly
during Congressional hearings this past week evidence a tacit
agreement between Democrats and Republicans that a national data
protection and breach notification law should not mandate a particular
security standard, given that technology is rapidly advancing
and that every data breach is factually distinct.
Read
more
FTC Has Scrutiny of Alternative Scoring Products on Their Agenda
Many data brokers offer companies scores to predict
trends and the behavior of their customers. Companies are using
predictive scores for a variety of purposes, ranging from identity
verification and fraud prevention to marketing and advertising.
For example, companies are using scores to predict
the likelihood that a person has committed identity fraud; the
likelihood that a certain transaction will result in fraud; the
credit risk associated with certain mortgage loan applications;
whether contacting a consumer by mail or phone will lead to successful
debt collection; whether sending a catalog to a certain address
will result in an in-store or online purchase; the likelihood
that an individual is taking his or her medication; a person’s
presence on the Internet and his or her influence over others;
or whether a customer is pregnant, and if so, when the baby is
due.
According to media reports, these scores are
determining whether transactions trigger further scrutiny.
Consumers are largely unaware of these scores, and have little
to no access to the underlying data that comprises the scores.
As a result, these predictive scores raise a variety of potential
privacy concerns and questions.
Read
more
Don’t
Pay The Price Of Keeping Your FCRA Disclosures Hidden In The Closet
On December 2, 2013, the U.S. District Court for the Western District
of Pennsylvania opined on when employers’ deficient disclosures
can make them liable under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”)
in Reardon v. ClosetMaid Corporation, No. 2:08-CV-01730, 2013
U.S. Dist. LEXIS 169821 (W.D. Pa. Dec. 2, 2013).
In this FCRA class action, Plaintiffs, a group of former job applicants,
alleged that ClosetMaid had a standard practice of disqualifying
job applicants for employment on the basis of their consumer reports
in violation of the FCRA. Plaintiffs specifically alleged, among
other things, that ClosetMaid did not send them a standalone FCRA
disclosure. Instead, most Plaintiffs received a combined FCRA
disclosure/authorization that contained a liability waiver. The
Court agreed with Plaintiffs that the company’s failure
to utilize a standalone FCRA disclosure could, and in this case
did, violate the FCRA.
This opinion is important for two reasons. First,
Reardon is the second published decision to address whether the
inclusion of a liability waiver in an FCRA disclosure invalidates
the disclosure. After Reardon, two federal district courts have
now held that liability waivers invalidate FCRA disclosures as
a matter of law. Only one federal district court has held otherwise.
Second, the Reardon case shows how such a simple mistake could
subject a large employer that receives thousands of applications
and conducts thousands of background checks to significant liability
on a class-wide basis.
Read
more
Public
Record Update
Sponsored by:
Public
Record Update
By Mike Sankey, PRRN
| BRB's
FREE RESOURCE CENTER |
For the MOST
COMPREHENSIVE RESOURCE describing all access methods, restrictions,
fees, and search procedures on over 26,000 government and private
agencies visit the Public Record Research System (PRRS-Web) .
We provide the extensive details and in-depth data you will not
find doing a Google search!
For more
information contact Michael Sankey at mike@brbpublications.com
or visit www.brbpublications.com/updates.aspx
Compliance with the myriad of state laws is a complex
subject affecting CRAs and their clients. The State Rules Register
provides an uncomplicated explanation in plain English of state
laws for what is reportable to the client, usable by the client,
and the necessary steps to take to be in compliance with state
laws. Also included are best practices, practical tips, and ongoing
notification when state and federal laws change. Create your own
matrix reports. Use the special Resource Tabs of Guidelines and
Special Instructions.
For more
information contact Michael Sankey at mike@brbpublications.com
or visit www.brbpublications.com/updates.aspx
Bill
Would Prevent Employers from Asking About Arrests in Initial Job
Applications
These days,
a common question on job applications is whether you've ever been
arrested. But a growing number of states, including Minnesota
and Massachusetts, have adopted laws to remove questions about
criminal history from initial job applications. Sponsors of a
bill in Olympia hope to add Washington to that list. House
Bill 2545 would prevent employers from asking for non-conviction
information in initial job applications.
Among the
bill's supporters is Spokane County Superior Court Judge Harold
Clarke, who for years presided over drug court and currently serves
as the president of the Washington State Association of Drug Court
Professionals.
Read more
"I Did It…But Don't Tell!" Rejected Job Applicant Says Background
Report Should Have Excluded his Admission of Fraud against Former
Employer
Tsang, a
plaintiff, sued the operator of the Esteem criminal background
database-LexisNexis and First Advantage-alleging that they gave
prohibited information to potential employers, which ultimately
barred him from getting a job.
Tsang v. LexisNexis Risk Solutions, Inc. , No. CV-14-0493
(N.D. Cal. Jan. 31, 2014).  Tsang explains in his
complaint that his former employer investigated and ultimately
terminated him for refund fraud after he admitted guilt. He claims,
however, that he was coerced into signing an admission statement,
and he was never formally convicted of the crime. Nevertheless,
his forced admission made its way into the Esteem database and
was ultimately reported to prospective employers.
Tsang claims
that, because he was never convicted of a crime, the Esteem database
should not have included any information related to the refund
fraud-despite his admission of guilt.
Read more
| DATA
PROTECTION AND PRIVACY |
2014
Data Protection and Breach Readiness Guide
2014
Breach Report Highlights:
- 89% of
breaches and data loss incidents could have been prevented
- 740 million
records disclosed
- 31% of
insiders were due to insider threats or mistakes
- 21% of
the incidents were the result of physical loss (PC, drive, notebooks,
paper documents..)
- 40% of
the top breaches recorded to-date occurred in 2013
- 76% of
breaches were the result of weak or stolen account credentials
- 29% of
compromises were via social engineering
Get
the full report
Health
Care Worker Drug Testing Bill Advances in New Hampshire
The first
law in the nation to require the widespread drug testing of health
care employees may be on its way to passage, as the New Hampshire
House of Representatives has passed by a vote of 289-48, without
debate, "An Act relative to the drug-free workplaces for licensed
health care facilities and providers," on January 22. The measure
(H.B. 597-FN) would mandate that licensed entities establish "procedures
for drug testing which shall include, at a minimum, testing where
reasonable suspicion exists," as part of a broader "drug misuse
and diversion prevention policy" providing for the "prevention,
detection, and resolution of controlled substance abuse, misuse
and diversion." The policy would apply to "employees, contractors,
and agents of the facility who provide direct or hands on care
to clients when acting within the scope of their employment or
representation"; the facility would have to designate an employee
or interdisciplinary team of employees to be responsible for the
policy.
Read more
Accurate
Background Attains U.S. EU Safe Harbor Status and Earns TRUSTe
Certified Privacy
Accurate
Background, Inc., a leader in the background screening industry,
announced its participation in the TRUSTe® U.S.- EU Safe
Harbor Certification program and its certification to display
the TRUSTe Certified Privacy Seal. This further demonstrates Accurate
Background's global commitment to dependability, integrity and
client satisfaction, and serves as the foundation of online privacy.
Accurate Background joins more than 5,000 TRUSTe-certified businesses
in recognizing privacy's ability to accelerate commerce and information
exchange.
Participation
in TRUSTe privacy program signifies that a business is compliant
with the U.S.- EU Safe Harbor Framework -- a legal safe harbor
established by the Department of Commerce that allows U.S. companies
to satisfy EU privacy directives protecting the personal information
of European citizens. TRUSTe awards its seal to companies that
complete TRUSTe certification, submit to ongoing site monitoring,
and participate in the TRUSTe Dispute Resolution process.
Read
more
Data
Facts, Inc Announces CEO Induction into the Society of Entreprenuers
Daphne Large,
CEO of Data Facts, Inc. will be inducted into the Society of Entrepreneurs
in Memphis TN. Some of the esteemed members calling Memphis their
home include Fred Smith (FedEx), Pitt Hyde (Auto Zone), Debbi
Fields (Mrs. Fields Cookies) along with the late Kemmons Wilson
(Holiday Inns), Abe Plough (Schering-Plough Corp) and Clarence
Saunders (Piggly Wiggly Co.).
Pearson Crutcher,
the Society of Entrepreneur's Executive Director, is confident
Daphne will make a great addition. "Daphne is a wonderful example
of all of the characteristics needed to be selected as a member
of the Society of Entrepreneurs - personal business achievement,
self-direction, leadership, personal integrity, determination,
creativity and the ability to transform a vision into a dynamic
business achievement. I am so proud of Daphne and all that she
has accomplished!"
Daphne is
honored by the opportunity to be inducted into the Society. "It
is awe inspiring to be associated with this group of entrepreneurs.
I am excited to be able to represent Data Facts in this prestigious
organization."
Read more
 As you can see, the
Accio Enterprise platform is constantly evolving to become even
more powerful and flexible. How can you keep up? Join us for Accio
University. On the second Wednesday of each month Ryan Jones,
Accio's Director of Customer Experience, will show current customers
some of the best ways to use the platform.
Read more
Data Facts Inc Donates Thousands to Charities in 2013
Data Facts Inc. has long been a leader in charitable contributions
in both national and local communities they serve. In 2013, Data
Facts, Inc. contributed thousands of dollars to local and national
charities through its "Data Facts Gives Back" Program. These contributions
included donations raised in partnership with their customers,
supplemented with matching donations by Data Facts, Inc.
Data Facts'
aim is to be a positive and productive member of their community
by not only contributing and dedicating financial resources, but
also through the employee volunteerism program. "We're proud of
our associates who help make our giving possible. Thanks to them,
we're making a difference!" says Daphne Large, President of Data
Facts, Inc. This is just one way Data Facts has brought a positive
and lasting change to not only the communities they serve, but
also to their diverse staff.
Read more
SEC Awards Parker Tide Contract for Background Investigation Services
The U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has recently awarded
Parker Tide a one year contract with four option years to provide
background investigation and adjudication support services. Under
the contract, Parker Tide will specifically provide assistance
managing workflow of scheduling background investigations, performing
suitability risk assessments, adjudicating background investigations,
and identifying and sponsoring HSPD-12 credentialing badge renewals.
These functions include collecting personal information, processing
investigations, conducting additional criminal history research
as needed, performing adjudications, and managing related records.
Read more
myHRdesk Strengthens Its Marketing with Seasoned Veteran
myHRdesk,
Inc., a leading provider of software which permits Consumer Reporting
Agencies (CRAs) to uniquely utilize Human Resource centric features
announced today that it has entered into a marketing agreement
with Connex Services, Inc. of Conroe, TX to market its products
and services to the Background Screening Industry.
Tony Cordaro,
President and CEO of Connex Services will be the primary liaison
representing myHRdesk to the Background Screening Industry. Cordaro,
with over 30 years of marketing experience stated, "myHRdesk brings
unique opportunities to the clients of the background screening
companies that will add significant value into the mix without
having to expand their client base."
Shawn Matthews,
COO of myHRdesk stated, "We are fortunate to have the opportunity
to partner with Tony Cordaro and the Connex Service's team. They
bring a wealth of expertise and knowledge that will be a great
resource in presenting our products and services to the background
screening industry."
For more
information contact Tony at tcordaro@myHRdesk.com
The
Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI)
for the U.S. increased 0.3 percent in
January to 99.5 (2004 = 100), following no change in December,
and a 0.9 percent increase in November.
"The U.S.
Leading Economic Index continues to fluctuate on a monthly basis,
but the six-month average growth rate has been relatively stable
in recent months, which suggests that the economy will remain
resilient in the first half of 2014 and underlying economic conditions
should continue to improve," said Ataman Ozyildirim, Economist
at The Conference Board. "Correspondingly, the U.S. Coincident
Economic Index, which measures current conditions, has continued
rising steadily."
"The increase
in the Leading Economic Index reflects an economy that is expanding
moderately, although the pace is somewhat held back by persistent
and severe inclement weather in most parts of the country," said
Economist Ken Goldstein. "If the economy is going to move on to
a faster track in 2014 compared to last year, consumer demand
and especially investment will need to pick up significantly from
their current trends.
Read
more
New
Social Media Tool Pushes Employment Screening Frontier
Employment screening company JD Palatine is rolling out a new
social tool for executive-level job seekers. Job
Seeker Insight (JSI), a subsidiary of JD Palatine, is launching
its powerful new tool that allows executives and thought leaders
to control the employment screening process.
LinkedIn
users will be especially excited as Job Seeker Insight allows
them to include a "Digital Verification Badge" on their profile
which will allow employers to access and view a pre-prepared background
check. Executive-level candidates will have the power to control
who accesses their confidential information while impressing potential
employers with the confidence that comes with taking the initiative
in the pre-employment screening process.
Read more
STOP
STRUGGLING WITH WRITING AND PUBLISHING YOUR NEWSLETTER: |
We can help
you have a high quality e-newsletter to help nurture your relationship
with your clients and attract new clients. Our customized newsletter
service will take over your newsletter task or create a new one
for you. We can manage the creation of your newsletter for you.
We are constantly
researching information to use for The Background Buzz and
you can put our research to use for you. Using the information
rich content from The Background Buzz (minus the ads
and competitors information) we will create a custom newsletter
for you.
Use your staff’s
time to do more valuable work and save all the hassle of researching
or writing articles, formatting and managing all the other ezine
tasks with our customized ezine process.
Contact Barry
Nixon at 949-770-5264 or at wbnixon@aol.com
for more information.
What
Can We Do For You in 2014 To Help You Exceed Your Revenue
Goals? |
Targeted
Marketing Support Services for the Background Screening Industry
PreemploymentDirectory.com
Online background
screening directory featuring background screening firms and suppliers
to the background screening industry. Basic, Gold, Platinum and
Diamond levels of advertising are available. Target audience is
the Human Resources, Talent Acquisition and Recruiting community.
New Opportunities:
Annual Background Screening
Industry Buyers Guide
An annual
print and electronic publication featuring U.S. and international
background screening firms, and timely informative articles. The
Guide is launched annually in June at the SHRM Annual Conference
and distributed to 20,000 plus human resources professionals.
Annual Suppliers to
the Background Screening Industry Buyers Guide
An annual
print and electronic publication featuring suppliers to the background
screening industry. The Suppliers guide is distributed to our
database of more than 1,600 background screening firms and at
relevant professional trade shows.
The Background Buzz
A monthly
e-newsletter distributed to the worldwide background screening
industry that offers comprehensive coverage of information and
news relevant to the screening industry. The e-newsletter is distributed
to more than 1,600 firms in the background screening industry
and accordingly, is an exceptional advertising venue to reach
background screening firms.
The Special International
Edition of The Background Buzz
A supplement
to the regular edition of The Background Buzz that is
published on a bi- monthly basis featuring global information
and news on background screening around the world.
eDirect Mail Campaigns
On demand
e-blast service sent to our database of more than 1,600 firms
in the background screening industry. Each e-blast includes your
advertisement and one relevant article.
Media Releases and Announcements
On demand
releases and announcements to targeted media outlets in the background
screening and recruiting industry.
Private Label Newsletter
Service
Custom designed
e-newsletter service. We create a custom designed e-newsletter
including recommending the name, designing the header, template
and providing the content. Distribution frequency options include
monthly, bi-monthly and quarterly.
See
the Marketing Portfolio that matches your market segment
:
1. U.S. Background Screening
Industry Marketing Portfolio
2. International Background
Screening Industry Marketing Portfolio
3. Suppliers to the Background
Screening Industry Marketing Portfolio
Kevin Coy is a Partner in the Washington DC office of Arnall
Golden Gregory LLP. Kevin
advises background screening companies and other clients on a
wide range of privacy and consumer regulatory issues, including
Fair Credit Reporting Act, Gramm Leach Bliley Act,
Drivers' Privacy Protection Act, and Dodd Frank Act compliance
issues, as well as data breach matters. Kevin also represents
clients with matters before the Federal Trade Commission, the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and other consumer protection
agencies.
Kevin can
be contacted at Kevin.Coy@agg.com
or 202-677-4034.
THE
WASHINGTON REPORT
February
2014
Last year's
Navy Yard shootings and the performance of USIS in the government
screening process continues to receive attention in Washington.
As we reported in last month's edition ofThe Washington Report,
the Justice Department filed a complaint against USIS on January
22 nd alleging that the company made false claims and
false statements, as well as breached its contract with the Office
of Personnel Management (OPM) in the course of its conduct of
background checks conducted for the government, allegedly resulting
in millions of dollars in payments and performance bonuses to
USIS that the company otherwise would not have received.
On February
11th, the House Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform held a hearing on the Navy Yard shooting entitled "DC Navy
Yard Shooting: Fixing the Security Clearance Process." Witnesses
included, among others, the Director of the Office of Personnel
Management and the CEO of USIS.
On February
10th, Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) and Elijah Cummings (D-MD introduced
H.R. 4022, the "Security Clearance Reform Act of 2014. The bill
would, "Implement a continuous evaluation and monitoring system
across the federal government so that we can immediately identify
and address red flags that arise in a security clearance holder's
background."
The USIS
hearings and litigation to date have not been focused on Fair
Credit Reporting Act issues or background screening generally.
The focus of the House Oversight and Government Reform minority
report on how outsourcing screening functions "may impact national
security", however, could have implications for the broader employment
and tenant screening communities over the longer term. The
Washington Report will continue to monitor developments in
this area.
Read
the full report
One
Site! Many Suppliers! |
2013-2014
SUPPLIERS TO THE BACKGROUND SCREENING
INDUSTRY BUYERS GUIDE NOW AVAILABLE!
Looking for the Top Suppliers in the Industry? Need to find a
new Supplier?
Visit our VENDOR SHOWCASE
which features suppliers to the Background Screening Industry.
Click
here or on image to get a copy
Grab a latte
and pull up a chair and join us for a great interview with John
Wither, Managing Director, Intercity Reliant Limited t/a Priority
Investigations.
 I started our dialogue
by asking John about how he got into the business. He sat back in
his chair, smiled and said "I come from an Investigative family
with many relatives having Police/Military service and/or working
in Private Investigation industry. Our family business has been
in this sector since 1960 and my fathers frontline retirement led
me back into the industry in 2012 whereupon I took control of the
Priority Group (Priority Investigations, Priority International
& Intercity Reliant) in April 2013. The primary focus of our
business since the late 90's has been providing national and international
services in the background screening industry."
Prior to returning to the business John worked in Antarctica for 10 years, where he was a Base Commander for the UK Governments, British Antarctic Survey
and a British Antarctic Territory Magistrate from 2005 to 2012.
He paused, and then beamed as he shared that in 2013 he was awarded the Polar Medal by Her Majesty the Queen for services to the United Kingdom in the
Antarctic.
John, noted that in his former role he spent many months each year with recruitment, short listing, interviewing and hiring. He fully appreciates the work
and effort that it takes to complete a recruitment campaign and the absolute need to ensure that the appropriate candidates are matched to the appropriate
role. This whole process is based upon the hirer having all of the correct and verified information to hand on each applicant so that a fully informed
decision can be made. He said, he now gets great satisfaction in providing his clients the information that they need to make their business decisions and
to play a part in the continued success and growth of their enterprises.
Turning our conversation to the company, he shared that the company's mission is to maintain and build upon the many
relationships that have been developed over the 50 years of work in this sector. We strive to pace ourselves with the fast changing and shrinking business
world to ensure that we continually provide our partners accurate information to enable them to make their business decisions.
He mentioned that the United Kingdom and Ireland are due to introduce the regulation of the Investigative Sector over the next 12 months, bringing both
countries into line with most of the European Union Market. The regulation does appear to include the Screening Sector in some aspects, and it is vitally
important to educate the clients to the advantages of entrusting their assignments to licensed service providers wherever possible.
One point John really emphasized is that over the many
years the company has been in the investigative and screening
sectors they have developed a wide international base of entrusted
and affiliated resources, enabling them to provide a truly global
reach for their clients. He emphatically added that the advantages
of both time and cost saving by utilizing Priority cannot be over
stated.
He went on to say that they work hard at understanding their client's needs, and strive to find answers to all challenges or problems in a speedy, yet
economic way and in accordance with all local controlling legislation plus full compliance with our Company and Association's ethical codes.
He pondered as I asked him my favorite question about 'having
a crystal ball and projecting what is coming down the road for
the background screening industry.' He said without a doubt, technology
is making the world smaller and allowing businesses to expand
their operations faster and easier. This trend which he sees accelerating
will increase the ability for staff/contractors/suppliers/clients
to be based worldwide and this will emphasize the need for reliable
international screening to make informed business decisions.
Before ending our discussion, I asked if he had read any interesting
books recently to which he responded he recently finished reading
'Peacemakers: The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and Its Attempt
to End War' by Margaret MacMillan. He thought it was a fascinating
look at the peace conference after World War 1, that in his opinion
shows where the foundations were laid for some of the world's
recent conflicts.
The person he would have really like to have met revealed a
lot about John. He smiled as he said, the Polar Explorer in him
(this explains the picture) would have relished the opportunity
to meet Sir Ernest Shackleton, a truly great leader.
My final question was 'do you have a favorite quote' and he
shared, "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat
it." (George Santayana)
On that note, I want to thank John for a very interesting interview.
If you would like to chat with John he can be reached atJohnw@pilimited.eu.
For more information about Priority Investigations visit www.pilimited.com.
 |
John
Withers MCMI FRGS
Managing Director
Intercity Reliant Limited t/a Priority Investigations
Head Office, PO Box 266
Belfast, BT5 4AQ
United Kingdom
T: + 44 (0) 28 9442 8284
E: johnw@pilimited.eu
|
| ASIA
PACIFIC AREA COUNTRIES |
Employers
To Receive More Access To Cross-Tasman Criminal History Checks
Australian
and New Zealand employers are to have greater access to respective
national criminal history checks for employment vetting purposes.
The move follows a successful trial of criminal history information
sharing between Queensland and New Zealand.
"As the movement of workers between Australia and New Zealand
has grown it makes sense that employers in both Australia and
New Zealand have access to the type of background information
that is available for local workers," Senator Brandis said.
Read more
Pharma Sector Battling With Fraud Among Job
Applicants: Report
It's not
just the US Food & Drug Administration that the Indian pharmaceutical
sector is wary of, but it has a rather unusual problem to deal
with back home. A staggering 35 out of every 100 job applicants
in the pharmaceutical or clinical trial space are lying about
their credentials either by furnishing incorrect educational information
or, what's even worse, creating fake companies, the highest among
any other sector, according to a report released by AuthBridge,
a Delhi-based employee screening firm.
The company
sifted through data for the last three years' applicants and studied
over 500 companies which put out an offer to hire and discovered
that pharma/clinical trials, hospitality/airlines and manufacturing
had the highest employee discrepancies while the BPO/IT, financial
services and management consulting applicants had the lowest.
Read more
Should Employee's Criminal Past Be Taken Into Consideration
In Decision To Hire?
A regional
marketer at a non-profit lottery organisation submitted his candidacy
for the same position in a new tender published by the lottery.
However, his candidacy was rejected after it became known that
he was being investigated on suspicion of bribery in connection
with a previous tender published by the lottery. While his candidacy
was being considered by the committee, the candidate received
an unofficial notice that the case against him had been closed
due to lack of evidence. Nevertheless, his candidacy was rejected.
The candidate appealed to the courts, hoping that the lottery's
decision would be overruled, but his claim was dismissed. The
court argued that the fact that the investigation was pending
and no decision had yet been taken to file an indictment did not
render such suspicion irrelevant.
On its face, this ruling seems to be simple and obvious, since
an employer clearly has a legitimate interest in hiring persons
with a clean record, when forced to choose between two candidates
with equal qualifications, except for the fact that one has a
criminal record and the other does not, a rational employer would
most likely prefer the latter candidate.
However, at what point should a repentant criminal who has paid
his debt to society cease to be punished further. Therefore, the
challenge is to strike the correct balance between an employer's
legitimate interests in protecting its business from candidates
who are convicted criminals and society's legitimate interests
in facilitating the rehabilitation of repentant criminals.
Read
more
Complexity of Background Screening Across Latin
America
For Latin
American hires, HR department are increasingly adopting background
screening practices into their standard recruiting processes.
This task is particularly complex for companies considering candidates
with cross-regional profiles, including professional experiences
and education, from different countries and jurisdictions, as
available information for background checks varies from country
to country. For an HR department hiring people across Latin America,
the differences between conducting searches in Mexico and Brazil
and the rest of the region are clear. Mexico and Brazil both have
the largest number of crimes in absolute terms and, therefore,
the ones with more records in this area. In both countries there
is one federal criminal law and different local criminal codes
establishing whether local or federal authorities are in charge
of the crimes depending on the type. In both Mexico and Brazil
there can be differences in the time period for which litigation
records are available for there are divergences in technology
access and transparency policies across the different states.
Larger populations mean higher levels of difficulty and complexity
in the internal organization of a country. HR Departments need
to take this fact into account for it greatly affects the operation
process, costs and times of their work.
Read more
Sixty People Lose Childcare Jobs after Screening
So far 60
people have lost their official authorisation to work with children
since continuous background checks were introduced in March, according
to social affairs ministry figures.
Most of the
crimes relate to partners of official child-minders. In 28 cases,
the crime was of a violent nature, but 13 involved sex-related
crimes.
Read more
Lie Detector Tests For Job Applicants
Polygraph, or lie detector, tests are now being offered to New
Zealand companies and recruitment agencies for use in pre-employment
checks. The test is part of a growing industry in background checking
of new staff, as employers become more aware of the need to make
sure they are hiring the correct person. But critics claim the
data collection - which can include checks into a person's ACC
history, with their permission - are excessive and take advantage
of desperate job seekers. Resume Check owner James Sutherland,
whose company offers comprehensive background check packages -
including a person's ACC history - said most candidates were accepting
of the process. It is important that the information collected
be relevant to the role. Lie Detector New Zealand director Barry
Newman, said demand in the pre-employment area had been low, with
employers unsure about using the technology in the workplace.
"Before shelling out for a highly intrusive service like polygraph
testing, common sense as well as privacy rules mean you should
check that it's something that you really need and that you have
a really good case which can be justified under the Privacy Act,"
said Assistant privacy commissioner Katrine Evans.
Read
more
Student Visa System 'Abused' to Gain Illegal
Entry to UK
Home Secretary, Theresa May, has launched a clamp down
on alleged abuses of student visas after an investigation found
the system was providing a "free for all" for illegal entry to
the UK. May suspended English language tests set by a major exam
board in the UK and temporarily withdrew accreditation from a
series of colleges and immigration advisers amid evidence of a
thriving market in fraudulent visas. The move came after an undercover
investigation by BBC One's Panorama revealed a network of agents
was helping overseas students pass English language exams, obtain
false documents and doctor their academic records. In one case,
an immigration agency is seen offering a package of fake documents
needed to secure a one-year visa extension. "For too long many
colleges, particularly private or further education colleges,
have been selling visas and not education," said May. "It is time
for them to face up to their responsibilities as purveyors of
education and not abuse." Students need to show they can speak
the language, display an appropriate academic record, provide
a bank statement to prove they have the necessary funds and win
acceptance on to a course run by a Home Office-approved college
or university.
Read more
Organisations Hiring More Overseas Talent But Failing
To Adequately Check CV's
More than
one third of UK organisations do not have an adequate screening
process in place to check the claims of international job candidates,
according to research conducted by HireRight, Ltd. The correct
measures have not been established despite more than three-quarters
of people involved in recruiting from abroad, admitting that it
is more difficult to effectively background screen potential employees
from other countries.
The research
is based on questioning 200 people involved in UK HR and recruitment.
Read more
|
ADVERTISERS IN THIS EDITION |
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Background
Screening Jobs |
|
Visit
the Job Board for the Employment and Tenant Screening Industry.
Here you will find resumes of people with industry experience
and employers seeking applicants with experience in Employment
and Tenant Screening and related businesses.
www.backgroundscreeningjobs.com
|
UPCOMING CONFERENCES, COURSES & EVENTS |
Feature
Education:
 |
FCRA
Basic Certification Webinar Series Update
The
FCRA Basic Certification program series is now available
for purchase.
For
more information |
2014 Events ( Click
Here to View full list of Events ) - Updated
Monthly
SHRM
State Conferences, visit
http://www.shrm.org/Conferences/StateAffilliateConferences/Pages/default.aspx
Drug
and Alcohol Testing Industry Association (DATIA), 2013 Training
Course Schedule, visit
http://datia.org
SAPAA
Training Institute Learning Events, http://www.sapaa.com/
CUPA-HR
Conferences: http://www.cupahr.org/
World
Federation of People Management Associations, Events,
http://www.wfpma.com/events/by-region#quicktabs-tab-view__events__page_3-4
|
Yak spravy? ( how are you?) 
Would it be beneficial to introduce your company to 20,000
HR Managers? 
We
are very pleased to report that our Diamond Sponsors: OPENonline,
HireRight and Peopletrails each contributed an article to
the ' Inside Background Screening' column in our sister
publication, 
