Using a Background Check Company is Smart

November 26, 2010 by

Using a Background Check Company is Smart

Companies do what companies do.  By that I mean that a company whose business is manufacturing clothespins probably does a great job at producing quality clothespins, but would not do so well if asked to make a wristwatch.  For that, a purchaser would fine a watch manufacturing company.

There are employers using other types of companies rather than a dedicated  background check company to provide various levels of background checks used in the hiring process.  Other types of companies include payroll processors, HR consultants, and private detectives.  All or these companies are great at what they do, but their main business is not background checks.

A background check company will keep its clients up to date on issues of compliance, be available to the client, and belong to a national professional organization such as the NAPSB, the National Association of Background Screeners.

A professional background check company will make available to its clients realistic turn around times because they know their providers and have good working relationships with them.

Your background check company will be dedicated to providing you with the best possible quality product and the best value because background checks are their business.

The background check company, because of the nature of its business, will be close to the source of the information employers need to make smart hiring decisions, and will deliver it quickly and economically.

Need a background check company?  Call 770-426-0547 or click here for information.

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The Importance of Pre Employment Screening

November 18, 2010 by

People always ask me if I believe that employee background checks are really necessary and I always reply with the same story: A couple of years ago I interviewed a young man who was absolutely perfect for the position. He was professional, knowledgeable and eager to get to work. So I had him fill out all the necessary paperwork and sent him for a drug screening.

Several days later my GM walks into my office wearing a huge grin, he could hardly contain himself. He slid a single sheet of paper across the desk to me; drug screening results. Before I could read it he blurted out “There were so many drugs in his system he nearly burnt a hole in the cup!” I was slightly embarrassed to have advocated such an obviously bad choice, but extremely relieved to find out about his history prior to hiring him.

Employee background checks include background and criminal checks, psychometric testing and, of course, the afore mentioned drug screenings. Due to a sharp increase in security concerns, corporate scandals and workplace violence the use of a criminal background check has gone up from 66% in 1996 to over 96% today according to The Society for Human Resource Management Workplace Violence Survey. Unfortunately we no longer live in a society where a couple of phone calls to someone’s previous employer is enough to determine their suitability for employment in your organization.

Today a company can be held liable for the actions of an employee and risk a potential negligent-hiring lawsuit, especially if they did not perform employee background checks . Additionally you may learn vital information such as a history of mental instability or numerous previous worker’s compensation claims that may influence your decision on bringing an individual into your organization. Whether we like it or not, the world is changing and in the present job climate a pre employment screening should be a mandatory part of your hiring practices.

For more information about our background check company contact us: employee background checks or call 1.770.426.0547

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Using a Background Check Company

November 16, 2010 by

The use of a background check company can come in handy for many reasons. Let’s face it, as a small business owner there is rarely, if ever, a time where you can say “I need to find something to do.” You’re as busy as a one-legged rock kicker and an employment screening can be time consuming. Therefore, outsourcing that task may be beneficial to you and your organization.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act, or FCRA, requires that you have all applicants sign a disclosure form authorizing you to perform employee background checks . In certain states you, the employer, are restricted from using certain information in the employment screening process. The American with Disabilities Act, or ADA, has their own set of rules restricting employers from using certain medical and disability information in the hiring process. There are even certain questions you are forbidden from asking during the interview process. Can you honestly say you’re well versed in all these rules and how they apply to you in the state which you do business? If not then the use of a background check company may be just the thing for you.

A background check company can assist you in finding accurate information on candidates and they should also be able to give you relevant legal advice on what information you can and can’t use during the hiring process. You have profit/ loss statements, inventory, employee performance and a litany of other issues to deal with. This is their only business, so it’s fair to assume they would be much more informed and thorough than you alone would be. Using a background check company can be an excellent tool to assist you in the accuracy of information and your own time management.

Employee background checks keep your company from making a fatal mistake in hiring.

For more information on employment screening , employee background checks or criminal background check contact us at background check company or call 1.770.426.0547

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Making a Federal Case out of Background Checks

November 14, 2010 by

Making a Federal Case out of Background Checks

Many employers don’t have their background check company look in the federal courts for violations because they feel that if someone has been prosecuted for a crime in Federal Court, surely they must be a career criminal and have other charges in local courts, or they don’t understand the nature of federal courts.

For a federal court to have jurisdiction, the crime must have been created by constitutional authority, or have occurred on property owned or controlled by the federal government.

The constitutional authority is extremely broad as at one time or another interpretations have granted jurisdiction over common law crimes if state boundaries have been crossed in their commission, or occur relating to a regulated agency such as the FAA (on airplanes), Commerce (bank robbery), and Immigration.  And of course tax law violations fall under federal courts as well.

Examples of property owned or controlled by the US include national parks, federal courthouses, buildings, prisons, and military bases (civilians only), and Washington, D.C.

So the reach of the federal court can be wide and encompass a variety of violations and crimes from littering in a national park to terrorism.

Although federal criminal searches are less frequently requested by an employer of their background check company, there is still the possibility that derogatory information may exist outside the more popular searches of county and state records.

Complete background checks should include federal searches.

For more information on this topic and others, call 770-426-0547 or click here.

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Pre employment screening not the commodity it appears to be

November 14, 2010 by

If you do a search on google for pre employment screening you will find there are 1,460,000 results listed.  There are thousands of resources available to employers today to conduct pre employment screening and just about every company out there does background checks on potential hires today.

So how will you know who you should trust to conduct your pre employment screening  background checks?  Look for one who does more than just the county the candidate lives in for a criminal background check.  You will find there are many many options for where to look when conducting a criminal background check, be sure your source is thorough.

Are they offering a social security number trace?  How about a Motor Vehicle report?  And if there is a multi state residence history are they conducting the searches in all states or just the current one?

Typically a background check company who has actual human beings looking over your pre employment screening results before sending them over will find patterns, discrepancies, red flags etc… that an automated click and get instant results sent to your inbox solution will not deliver.  If you are serious about your employee background checks you will want to be sure to interview your source and ensure they have staff people who are experienced in  background checks looking over your candidate files.

Form more information visit: pre employment screening

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Timeliness of Employee Background Checks

November 8, 2010 by

Timeliness of Employee Background Checks

During the 2010 SHRM Annual Conference, attendees were asked to complete a survey on background screening and employee background checks.  Based on priority ranking, the top three challenges that responders would like to see changed were:

§ Accuracy of data
§ Timeliness of service
§ Cost

Most employers expect the data that they receive from their provider to be accurate and understand the source of the information.

Employers also expect their requests be completed and results returned to them in a timely manner.  But there is sometimes a misunderstanding on why some searches, particularly the criminal background check, may take longer than others.

Each jurisdiction has its own rules and procedures to follow when releasing criminal history information.  They range from being openly available on line to what is known as a “clerk search” court.

In the worst case, a request is submitted to the court, and the clerk checks for a record when there is time.  If a record is found, the submitter is contacted and returns to the courthouse and retrieves the record.  The time line for this can stretch up to two weeks.  Also, because of decreased budgets and personnel furloughs, some court administration offices are running reduced hours and with fewer people.  In most cases, inconsistencies in the return of criminal records is out of the control of the background check company.

Cost of the criminal background check is also somewhat dependent of the court, as access fees and administrative costs vary widely from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.  Most providers pass these additional fees on the customer, so that the cost of the record retrieval may also be inconsistent.

Your provider will let you know up front if there are any extra fees by providing a listing of the jurisdictions that charge.  Be careful of any provider who charges one price for all criminal history checks.

There is a story of a mechanic who had a sign in his shop stating, “Our work is good, fast, and cheap…  You can pick any two!”

This also applies to employee background checks.

For further information call 770-426-0547 or click here.

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Why Use a Background Check Company?

October 29, 2010 by

Why Use a Background Check Company?

Employers are aware that they should conduct background checks of some sort on their prospective employees.  Depending on the level of employee they are considering, the might want to know: criminal history; credit history; judgments or liens; driving record; residence information; education and employment confirmation; and the list can go on and on.

Employers could probably gather all this information together themselves, but it would take a lot of time and effort to make it happen.  The smarter move would be to use a background check company that has the expertise and the contacts to get employers the information they need when they need it, and at a price that is a good value.

When shopping for a background check company, don’t be afraid to ask questions regarding where they obtain their information, how soon do they return the results to the employers, and are there any additional charges or fees.  A respectable background company will gladly provide this information to their potential clients so that there are no questions later.  The company conducting background checks, because of the volume they produce, are generally able to leverage good pricing and service from their suppliers and pass the speed and savings on to their own customers.

Also ask if there are any discounts for packages of services or for volume of requests.  Most any background check company will negotiate if there are large amounts of services requested by the customer.

Find out who at the background check company will be your point of contact and be comfortable that your questions will be answered by someone with experience and knowledge in conducting background checks.

For answers to your questions about background checks, call 770-426-0547 or click here to email an expert.

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Background Checks and Social Media

October 27, 2010 by

Background Checks and Social Media

If your pre employment screening efforts consist of Google and Facebook, you are not getting the information you need to make a good hiring decision.  In fact, the information you get from the internet may be worse than no information at all.

In the world of corporate HR, two words you will hear fairly consistently are… fairly and consistently.

Using a social site like MySpace or Facebook as a pre employment tool poses several potential problems.  Are you checking every applicant online, or just a few?  What if the applicant’s personal page shows that he or she is of a particular religion or race?  Suppose they belong to a group whose views you don’t happen to agree with?  How about if there is a picture of the applicant in a bar?  And remember, most of the content that is on an applicant’s social media site is information that he or she is putting out there for everyone to see.  It may not actually be representative of the individual or his behavior.

If you then don’t hire the candidate, could there be a problem?  Possibly.

Using the Google Search Engine may also present problems, as results being returned to you might not be the person you are interested in.  Even unusual names can be duplicated in the vastness of the internet, so that your results may be totally inaccurate.  Then it is up to you to determine if the person is the correct one.  And accuracy is what you want in pre employment background checks, and you want to apply all your employment screening standards fairly and consistently.

Neither of these will provide information that is actually useful on its own in pre employment screening.  At best, it should be used only in addition to employee background checks conducted by a trusted background check company.

Use your background check company as a valued business partner helping you define an effective employment screening program that is applied fairly and consistently to all applicants.

To discuss your pre employment screening policies, contact us by calling 770-426-0547 or click here to email.

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Pre Employment Screening – What You Don’t Know Could Hurt You

October 25, 2010 by

Pre Employment Screening – What You Don’t Know Could Hurt You

Using your pre employment screening program, reviewing resumes, telephone interviews, in person interviews, you have narrowed your choices down to two candidates for a management position who are more or less equal in experience, ability, and education.  Now it is time for the background check.

The position requires exposure to cash receipts, customer interaction, driving a personal vehicle on various company business, and access to proprietary company information.  In addition, you have specified that a college degree is preferred for this position.

Based on the requirements you have determined to check the following:

§ Criminal history.  A basic check for all your new hires.
§ A social trace to determine previous addresses for the applicant.
§ Employment Credit Report to determine fiscal responsibility.
§ Employment verifications for the previous five years.
§ Education verification for the highest degree attained.

One of the applicants has provided on the employment application that he has worked two jobs in the past five years.  The first he left for other employment, immediately worked for the second employer from whom he was recently downsized; he has lived in the same location for the past five years, and prior to that at a different address in the same town.  He claims a Master’s Degree in Education from East Podunk State Teacher’s College, a small school in Oregon.
He says he has a misdemeanor arrest for disorderly conduct that was dismissed because it was a case of mistaken identity.

You send your request for background checks over to your background check company, and two days later you learn that your applicant was arrested twice for writing bad checks and received probation for one charge and the other was dismissed.  He was also arrested and convicted for felony credit card fraud for which he is currently on probation.

The social trace reveals that he lived in an adjoining state for a year that he failed to mention.  A criminal background check in that jurisdiction shows an arrest and conviction for misdemeanor battery, resulting in a fine and ten days in jail.

The applicant’s credit report shows that he has two judgments for debt outstanding and most of his other accounts are in collections.  All credit cards are at their limit or above.

A verification of his previous employment indicates that he was terminated from his first job six months before he said he was, and he started the second job six months after he said he did, leaving a one-year gap.  His second employer also states that he is not eligible for rehire.

And finally, good old EPSTC is found to be an online only institution that is not accredited by any organization.  Degrees and diplomas are awarded for a $500 tuition fee and for submitting a short essay stating why a degree should be awarded for life experience.

Now, the applicants don’t look nearly so equal, as the other candidate checked out 100%.

Not all of this is likely to show up on one applicant, but variations of each of these examples have and do show up regularly in pre employment screening of candidates.

Use a comprehensive pre employment screening program including employee background checks to fine the answers to questions your applicant nay have reason not answer truthfully.

To find the answers to pre employment screening questions, call 770-426-0547 or click here.

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Pre Employment Screening and Temporary Agencies

October 18, 2010 by

Pre Employment Screening and Staffing Companies

Pre employment screening poses quite a puzzle for temporary agency recruiters and those placing contract workers.  Economically, it would seem to make sense to do as little as possible in this area, and still be able to claim that a background check has been done.  Economics aside, providing a less than suitable candidate to a client can have far reaching consequences to the agency’s reputation and future business.  If an agency places a candidate that erupts in an episode of workplace violence or commits some criminal act such as theft or fraud, the agency’s reputation will certainly suffer.  Bad enough if it happens, but worse if the agency should have known by past behavior of the candidate that such actions might occur.  Conducting an adequate pre employment screening would go a long way in preventing illicit activity, as well as demonstrating due diligence in the placement of candidates.

Frequently, however, the client dictates to the agency the depth and scope of the background investigation, and some are far more stringent in their requirements than others.  When that happens, where does the agency go?  Hopefully, they have developed a relationship with a knowledgeable background check company that will partner with them to provide an acceptable program for the client company.

A background check company should provide advice and direction in developing the pre employment screening program for every position from laborers to CEO’s, without forcing a cookie cutter, same for everybody background report.

For help and advice with your pre employment screening program, call 770-426-0547 or click here.

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