A St. John’s-based taxi company has said that provincial privacy law is preventing it from accurately checking employees’ driving history. A company representative said his organization can mandate that drivers produce a certified driving record and ask drivers to update any changes to their record, but beyond that, provincial law prevents the company from further investigation. “They don’t give us the power to phone in motor vehicles and ask for a particular person’s driver’s license, if it expired or not,” the representative said. Drivers can give written permission to have their records checked, but this would cost companies thousands of dollars every month. The taxi company is calling for a return to the old system, when a city inspector licensed the drivers. Unfortunately for the cab companies, however, City Hall is not interested in going back.
W. Barry Nixon is the COO, PreemploymentDirectory.com the leading background screening information portal and online worldwide directory of professional background screening firms and Suppliers to the background screening industry. He co-authored the landmark book, Background Screening & Investigations: Managing Hiring Risk from the HR and Security Perspective. He also is the publisher of award winning newsletters, The Background Buzz and The Global Background Screener, and the author of the Background Checks column in PI Magazine.
In addition, Barry is a past recipient of the elite ‘Top 25 Influential People in Security’ by Security Magazine and past Co-Chair, International Committee for the National Association for Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS). He currently serves as a Global Ambassador for NAPBS.
You can contact Barry at 1-949-770-5264 or online at wbnixon@preemploymentdirectory.com