| BACKGROUND
SCREENING NEWS |
Seven
"Non-Negotiables" to Prevent a Bad Hire
A recent
survey by Career Builder reports that more than two-thirds of
employers were affected by a bad hire last year. Of nearly 2,700
employers surveyed, 41% estimate a single bad hire cost $25,000;
a quarter estimate a bad choice cost $50,000 or more - not to
mention the demoralizing effect of the issue on other employees
and on the new hire. To avoid bad hires, one company uses an
unconventional hiring strategy, which gives more weight to seven
personal characteristics rather than relevant skills and experience.
These characteristics are: respect, belief, loyalty, commitment,
trust, courage and gratitude. Ideal hires bring traditional
and job-specific capabilities and high proficiencies in these
seven core traits. First, the company asks potential candidates
to tell them about situations where they have exemplified each
of the non-negotiable traits. They also ask the same questions
of the individual's references - not the references they list
on their resume, but of their former co-workers, associates
and bosses that they identify independently. As a result, the
company has built an extremely loyal, talented and well-rounded
base of employees.
To read
more, click here
Audit: Half of Inmates Back to Prison in 5 Years
/12
About half of New Mexico's paroled inmates return to prison
within five years, according to a legislative audit. By reducing
inmate recidivism, the state can save money on corrections and
slow a growing prison population. If nothing is done, New Mexico
will run out of prison space within in the next decade and will
have to consider building a new prison or expanding existing
ones. Significant budget cuts to successful court-supervised
drug treatment programs, which are intended to help keep offenders
out of prison, has contributed to the problem. Legislative auditors
said the Corrections Department could reduce recidivism by focusing
on programs with a proven success record, such as drug treatment,
vocational and adult education courses and correctional industries
that offer inmates a chance to work. The report faulted the
prison system for not targeting treatment based on inmate needs
or risks.
To read more, click
here
EEOC
Questions is That Diploma Really Necessary?
A recent
EEOC discussion letter opines that adopting education requirements
for jobs may screen out certain applicants, and that employers
shouldn't apply the standard unless they can show that the requirement
is job-related. "The EEOC has taken a particular interest in
hiring criteria, from credit checks to arrest and criminal records
to education requirements," said David James, shareholder and
chair of the labor and employment practice group of the Nilan
Johnson Lewis law firm. "The EEOC views such screening tools
as having a disparate impact on minority applicants and other
protected classes, and hopes to reduce or even eliminate the
use of these criteria." The letter states employers shouldn't
list a high-school diploma as a job requirement if the job functions
could be performed by individuals without one. Removal of such
requirements may aid individuals without high-school diplomas,
but it may have the opposite effect on other would-be employees
who are already struggling to find jobs. While including education
requirements in job listings isn't likely to become illegal,
HR professionals may want to rethink asking about candidates'
educational backgrounds.
To read
more, click
here
Background Screening Industry Denounces NCLC Study as
Inaccurate and Inflammatory
The National
Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS) announces
information from a recent study of background screening companies
affirming the accuracy of background checks, refuting a report
recently issued by the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC).
The study found that 98% of background screening providers surveyed
encounter consumer disputes less than 5% of the time out of
millions of applicants screened annually. Of the small number
of reports that are disputed by a consumer, more than 95% are
ultimately found to be accurate. The NAPBS study responds to
the recent report released by NCLC regarding the accuracy of
background checks, which accuses background screening providers
of "routinely making mistakes". NAPBS refutes the report as
inaccurate and inflammatory and points to the fact that the
NCLC fails to offer any empirical data to back up its findings.
To read
more, click
here
Retail
Industry Update - June 2012: Using Conviction
Records as a Screening Tool
Many retailers
believe that the best means of preventing internal theft is
to hire honest employees who do not steal. Common sense dictates
that applicants who have been convicted of crimes are less likely
to be honest and more likely to steal. Even though this practice
is facially race neutral, the resulting "adverse impact" makes
the practice unlawful under Title VII - unless the employer
can prove the practice is job related and "consistent with business
necessity." The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
(EEOC) recently issued updated guidance on the use of criminal
background checks in employment. The guidance suggests employers
should individually analyze each hiring decision based on an
individual's criminal history. In the meantime, employers must
decide whether the risks of lawsuits and defending a common
sense understanding of human behavior is outweighed by the risks
of increased theft from hiring more convicted criminals.
To read
more, click
here
New Law to Protect Tenants Goes into Effect
A new law,
the Fair Tenant Screening Act, will help protect Washington
renters from discrimination. Renters will still have to fill
out an application and get screened for things like credit and
criminal history. But now, if the landlord denies the person
housing, the renter now has the right to ask why. The renter
can request the landlord fill out a new form called an Adverse
Action Report, which will explain in writing why the person
didn't meet requirements. This will guarantee the landlord has
a legal reason to turn the person away. It also gives renters
the opportunity to fix incorrect information, and sometimes
resolve issues they never even knew about.
"I've actually
talked to many tenants who didn't even know that they were named
in an eviction lawsuit," said Michele Thomas, Washington Low
Income Housing Alliance Director of Policy and Advocacy. "So
this is a lot of disclosure to the tenant."
To read more, click
here
Spokea
Fined $800,000 for Marketing Consumer Profiles to Employers
Without Complying with FCRA
In its
first enforcement action under the Fair Credit Reporting Act
(FCRA) to address the sale of Internet and social media data
in the employment screening context, the Federal Trade Commission
(FTC) has announced that it had entered into a $800,000 settlement
with an online data broker, Spokeo, for allegedly marketing
consumer profiles to employers and recruiters without complying
with the requirements of FCRA. In addition, Spokeo settled charges
that it violated Section 5 of the FTC Act by posting surreptitious
endorsements of its service under the names of others. According
to the FTC's complaint, Spokeo collected personal information
about consumers from hundreds of online and offline data sources,
including social networks, merged that information into detailed
personal profiles and marketed these profiles to businesses.
Despite Spokeo having a disclaimer stating that it was not a
consumer reporting agency subject to FCRA, the FTC disagreed.
Therefore, because Spokeo did not comply with the obligations
of FCRA-covered entities, it was subject to statutory penalties
under FCRA of up to $3,500 per violation.
To read more, click here
| 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 John Fay, Vice President of Products and Services and General
Counsel at LawLogix, Inc
for providing the expertise for this valuable endeavor. In his
current role, John serves as, a leading provider of Electronic
I-9 Compliance, E-Verify and Immigration Case Management Software
and is responsible for overseeing product design and functionality
while ensuring compliance with rapidly changing immigration and
employment eligibility rules.
For information
regarding the answers to the Legal Challenge Questions, please
contact Ann Cun, Ann Cun Counsel and Principal Editor, LawLogix
Group, Inc. at(602) 357-4240 and for more information about LawLogix
e-verify and immigration support services please visit www.Lawlogix.com
Please choose
your answer by clicking on it:
Bill
Introduced in Ohio Legislature to Restrict Employer Social Media
Password Inquiries
State Senator
Charleta Tavares of Columbus has introduced a bill that would
prohibit employers from asking applicants or employees for their
social media password. The bill follows a trend started in Maryland
and followed by at least 11 other states (plus Congress) that
would prohibit this employer practice. Though this type of legislation
seems to be "trending" nationwide, the examples of employers that
actually require their applicants or employees to turn over their
passwords are actually few and far between and do not necessarily
merit a legislative fix. In most industries, employers don't have
any real need or obligation to look through anything other than
what the individual makes public through their chosen privacy
settings. In those limited instances where an employer may have
a legitimate need to inquire further -- think law enforcement,
financial sector and daycare settings, for instance -- they should
be able to ask applicants for access to their Facebook pages.
It's up to the applicant to decide whether to provide it.
To read more, click here
Vermont
Becomes the Eighth State to Restrict the Use of Credit Reports
for Employment Purposes
On May 17,
2012, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin signed Vermont Act No. 154
(S. 95), which prohibits employers, subject to certain exceptions,
from using or inquiring into an applicant or employee's credit
report or "credit history" for employment purposes. The legislature
stated that the new law was necessary because "information contained
in a credit report has no correlation to job performance" and
"credit reports do not provide meaningful insight into a candidate's
character, responsibility, or prospective job performance." Effective
July 1, 2012, Vermont is the eighth state to regulate the use
of credit-related information for employment purposes, following
on the heels of laws enacted in California, Connecticut, Hawaii,
Illinois, Maryland, Oregon and Washington. Employers who use credit
reports for employment purposes in any of these eight states therefore
should review and, if appropriate, modify their policies for compliance.
All employers should continue to stay abreast of additional developments
in this dynamic area of employment law.
To read more,
click here
Medical
Marijuana Use Not Protected by ADA: Appeals Court
California
cities are not violating the Americans with Disabilities Act when
they crack down on marijuana dispensers, said a federal appellate
court in a case brought by disabled California residents.The lawsuit
in Marla James vs. the City of Costa Mesa was brought by severely
disabled plaintiffs who said conventional medications had not
alleviated the pain caused by their impairments, according to
the May 21 ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in
San Francisco. The plaintiffs obtain medical marijuana, which
is permitted under state law, through collectives in Costa Mesa,
California, and Lake Forest, California, but these cities have
taken steps to close marijuana dispensing facilities that operate
within their boundaries, according to the ruling. The plaintiffs
charge the cities' actions violate Title II of the ADA, which
prohibits discrimination in providing public services.
"We also
acknowledge that Californians embraced marijuana as an effective
treatment for individuals like the plaintiffs who face debilitating
pain. Congress has made clear, however, that the ADA defines 'illegal
drug use' by reference to federal, rather than state, law, and
federal law does not authorize the plaintiffs' medical marijuana
use. We therefore necessarily conclude that the plaintiffs' medical
marijuana use is not protected by the ADA."
"The case
doesn't change things for employers," but "it does strike a blow
against the expansion of medical marijuana rights" for employees
as more states pass laws permitting medical marijuana's use, said
Mr. Valenza.
To read more
click
here (access to full article may require complimentary registration
at workforce.com)
Indiana
Passes New Legislation Restricting Criminal History Information
Reported in Background Checks
Indiana is
the latest state to past legislation restricting criminal history
reporting. Indiana
House Bill 1033, which, starting July 1, 2012, will, in part:
(1) prohibit certain pre-employment inquiries; (2) restrict the
types of criminal history information that employers and background
report providers (known as "consumer reporting agencies" or CRAs)
can obtain from Indiana state court clerks; and (3) restrict the
types of criminal history information that CRAs can report to
employers in background reports.
The law provides
that, effective July 1, 2012, residents of Indiana with restricted
or sealed criminal records may legally state on an "application
for employment or any other document" that they have not been
adjudicated, arrested or convicted of the offense recorded in
the restricted records. In addition, covered employers will be
prohibited from asking an "employee, contract employee, or applicant"
about sealed and restricted criminal records. The law does not
define the term "employer," and does not specifically address
what it means for applicants and employees to be able to "legally"
state on documents that they do not have certain previous criminal
records.
Also effective
July 1, 2012, the law will restrict information that individuals
and businesses such as employers and CRAs can obtain from Indiana
state court clerks.
To read more
click here
New Jersey Senate Votes to Restrict Use of Credit Checks
Seven states have implemented laws limiting the use of credit
checks: California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Oregon
and Washington. [Indiana] Nineteen other states and the District
of Columbia are considering similar legislation. New Jersey may
be the eighth state to prohibit the use of credit checks in the
employment process.
The New Jersey Senate passed a bill on May 31, 2012, that would
prohibit employers from performing credit checks on job applicants
and employees. There are limited exceptions to this prohibition
for job positions that, by law, require credit checks, as well
as jobs where a credit history is a bona fide occupational requirement,
including those that oversee the company's financial controls,
have access to assets of the business or customers, or use expense
accounts for travel or entertainment. Law enforcement and security
positions are also exempt from the prohibition. The exceptions,
however, are narrowly drawn and specifically exclude retail cashier
positions even though employees in these positions deal with cash
and credit transactions on a daily basis.
To read more
click here
Innovative
Enterprises Launchs Completely Redesigned Screeningmarketplace.Com
Innovative
Enterprises, Inc., a strategic partner to the background screening
industry and expert provider of court research information products,
smart data solutions and ancillary services, today launched the
completely redesigned ScreeningMarketplace.com. The web based
solution lets consumer reporting agencies and other screening
industry professionals set their own pricing for the services
they most commonly use in their background screening businesses.
In just minutes
using the ScreeningMarketplace.com portal, potential users answer
a few, brief questions about the screening products they currently
use, along with what they'd like to pay. The submission is then
reviewed by Innovative's team of industry veterans. Since its
launch in March of 2009, the service has helped a number of professional
screeners make significant improvements to both the level of service
they offer their clients as well as their costs of doing business.
"Screeners historically were faced with having to choose between
quality and efficiency or cost," stated Clifford J. Williams,
Innovative's Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. "The
Screening Marketplace is a proven concept used by many organizations
to upgrade their product offerings while simultaneously improving
the bottom line."
To find out
more, please visit http://www.screeningmarketplace.com
.
Edge
Information Management, Inc. Launches New Paperless, Electronic
I-9 Management System, i9AdvantEdge.
Edge
Information Management, Inc. (Edge), a prominent provider
of employment and drug screening services launchs its newest product,
i9AdvantEdge. i9AdvantEdge helps companies complete the Form I-9
process quickly, without the need of paper documentation or filing,
by electronically storing all the government required information
on their employees. The system also offers the option to connect
to E-Verify for instant confirmation of identity and work authorization
through Homeland Security. This is becoming a very important detail
in completing the employment screening process, as audit fines
and penalties for non-compliance continue to increase in amount
and frequency.
Joe Langford,
President of Edge Information Management, Inc., commented on the
new product, "i9AdvantEdge is an excellent tool for companies
that want to move away from their paper process of collecting
and storing I-9 forms to a simple and efficient electronic method.
The integration of this automated I-9 solution into our current
background screening application, WebScreen, conveniently consolidates
two critical aspects of the hiring process and greatly reduces
the number of errors typically made on I-9 forms. We are very
excited to deliver such a smooth system that gives all companies,
regardless of size, the capability to both streamline and monitor
their I-9 process at an economical rate."
For more
information click here
Edge
Information Management, Inc. Launches Employment Screening Services
on Taleo Solution Exchange
Edge Information
Management, Inc., a prominent provider of background and drug
screening services, announced today that its employment screening
solutions are now available on the Taleo Solution Exchange, one
of the world's largest cloud communities for talent management.
Taleo Corporation, a global leader of SaaS-based Talent Management
solutions, was recently acquired by Oracle. The employment screening
solutions will allow users to simplify the hiring process, by
providing access to paperless, turn-key screening solutions. Customers
will be able to increase efficiency during the overall hiring
process. Edge Information Management's employment screening solutions
integrate with Taleo Enterprise.
"We are extremely
proud to offer Taleo Enterprise customers the opportunity to enhance
their talent management process with this pre-integrated employment
screening solution," said Joe Langford, President of Edge Information
Management, Inc. "We recognize that the HR community is looking
for best practice options and providers within the Taleo Solution
Exchange and we are excited to become a valued addition."
For more
information click here
Latest
Talemetry Launch Simplifies Candidate Screenings and Assessments
Talent Technology Corporation, the leading provider of talent
generation solutions, has announced the release of the latest
module in their Talemetry talent generation suite: TalemetryTM
Verify. Talemetry Verify is a software-as-a-service app that allows
recruiters and human resources professionals to access multiple
HR services through an expansive and growing network of third-party
pre-employment screening and assessment vendors directly from
within the applicant tracking system (ATS) through a single integration.
Previously, HR departments have been forced to either manually
transfer candidate data between their ATS and various background
check, drug testing, and skills assessment vendor platforms, or
get their ATS provider to build custom, one-off integrations that
were costly to build and maintain and would often tie the recruiter
to one provider. Talemetry Verify streamlines the current process
of manual information transfer between the employer, candidate,
and third-party vendor, creating a more seamless, efficient process
for the recruiter, while providing a single integration point
for ATS vendors to deliver pre-employment screening and assessments.
To read more,
click here
Public
Record Update
Sponsored by:
Public
Record Update
By Mike Sankey, PRRN
|
Mobile
Apps Becoming More Popular for Accessing State Record
Data |
|
|
|
A trend appears to be in the making as yet several
more states recently announced new mobile web
applications to allow access to public record
documents and services.
The Hawaii Department of Commerce
and Consumer Affairs recently launched its second
mobile web app. This app provides business filers
the ability to renew their annual filings. The
previous app (released in September 2011) allow
user to search for business information and purchase
certificates of good standing and other documents
- from a smart phone or tablet. To access, mobile
users would go to
http://hawaii.gov/dcca/breg/online
on their mobile device, and a mobile version
of the DCCA Business Registration Division website
is automatically displayed. (From a PC, see last
item on page.)
Texas.gov , recently announced
the launch of m.texas.gov - a mobile-friendly
site for access to government services and information.
On m.texas.gov
, one can complete secure transactions for
Vehicle Registration Renewal, Driver Records,
and Birth Certificates. Users also have access
to many state agency points of contact as well
as a myriad of state information.
The New Jersey Division of Consumer
Affairs launched a free "Charity Lookup" application
for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. The app
is updated weekly, with information from the Division's
database on the financial records of 26,000 charities
and nonprofits registered to solicit in New Jersey.
The Charity Lookup app currently is available
only for Apple mobile devices, but will eventually
be made available for users of the Android and
other devices. It can be downloaded directly at
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/new-jersey-charity-search/id503535534?ls=1&mt=8
.
The "New Jersey Professional
License" app, launched in June 2011, allows users
to access data from its license and registration
database. There are approximately 600,000 individuals
with occupational licenses searchable.
Several Maine.gov online services
are now available for mobile devices at www.maine.gov/portal/mobile
, including a number of professional licensing
and permit holder searches.
A driving force for many of these applications
is NIC eGovernment Solutions
( egov.com
). All of the above mentioned sites and services,
with the exception of New Jersey, were the result
of a collaborative partnership between the state
and one of the state subsidiaries of NIC.
To Read more click here. (hyperlink - www.brbpublications.com/updates.aspx
) Please address your comments to Michael
Sankey at mike@brbpublications.com
or to 480-829-7475.
|
Safe
Screening Takes Cititec into the Pre-employment Cloud
Safe
Screening, a part of the Safe Computing group, has signed
up Cititec Associates onto its cloud based pre-employment
screening and compliance technology. Cititec is a leading
recruitment business focused on the banking and technology
sectors and is based in London, Singapore and the Netherlands.
The purpose of moving ahead with Safe Screening is to
deliver new and innovative on-boarding, screening and
compliance processes to all Cititec's clients and candidates.
Safe have invested heavily in its new cloud based architecture,
as well as integrating the platform into the Safe portfolio
of staffing solutions. The functionality on the Safe Screening
platform allows a business like Cititec to define pre-employment
processes, complete on-line background checks via Safe
data partners and ensure that every stage of the compliance
workflow is concluded as part of the on-boarding process.
Examples of this include passport verification, credit
footprints, reference capture, CRB, disclosures and key
document collection and verification.
To
read more, click here
|
Manpower
Survey Says That U.S. Hiring is Expected to Inch Up in Q3
Hiring confidence
among U.S. employers continues to inch up as all states, regions
and industries surveyed report a positive Net Employment Outlook,
according to the latest Manpower
Employment Outlook Survey.
The seasonally
adjusted Net Employment Outlook for Q3 is +11 percent, slightly
up from +10 percent in Q2 and +8 percent during the same period
last year.Of the more than 18,000 U.S. employers surveyed, 21%
anticipate an increase in staff levels in Q3, while 6 percent
expect a decrease, resulting in a Net Employment Outlook of +15
percent. When seasonally adjusted, the Outlook becomes +11 percent.
Some 71 percent of employers expect no change in hiring plans,
and 2 percent are undecided.
Source: Manpower
Group
To view the
complete survey results - including detailed
breakdowns by industry, country, region, state and MSA - are available
here.
May
"Employment Trends Index" At 45-Month High
The
Conference Board's Employment Trends Index (a composite index
of eight individual labor-market indicators) increased in May
by 0.29% to 108.34, up from April's revised reading of 108.3 (see
chart above). On a monthly basis, the Employment Trends Index
(ETI) has increased in 11 out of the last 12 months. On an annual
basis, the May ETI was 7.6% above its year-ago level, following
a 7% year-over-year improvement in April.
"While growth
in employment has slowed significantly in recent months, the Employment
Trends Index does not signal further slowing in the coming months,"
said Gad Levanon, Director of Macroeconomic Research at The Conference
Board. "Employers have been very cautious in hiring in the past
two months, but at the moment, economic activity in the U.S. is
just strong enough to require a modestly growing workforce."
To read more
click here
Surveys
Say Tech Hiring Is Accelerating
Dice, CFO
magazine, and Silicon Valley Bank all say the same thing: Tech
hiring is accelerating. To put that another way, if you think
it's hard hiring IT professionals now, just wait a few months.From
startups to mature firms, companies say they'll be adding tech
workers now and into next year at a faster pace than they have
been. Even CFOs, who say they expect their overall company hiring
to increase by 2.5 percent, predict they'll be hiring tech workers
at twice that rate.
Among startups,
83 percent told Silicon Valley Bank they'll add IT staff in the
next year. The survey found 90 percent of startup software companies
will be hiring, with smaller, but still high numbers of hardware,
and life sciences startups also planning to add tech staff. "
To read more
click here
Drug
Abuse Kills 200,000 People Each Year: UN Report
Drug abuse
kills about 200,000 people worldwide each year, according to a
new United Nations (UN) report. Global treatment for drug abuse
would cost $250 billion per year if everyone who needed help received
proper care, according to the UN. Fewer than one in five people
who need treatment actually receive it, according to the Associated
Press. Crimes committed by people who need money to finance their
drug habit, as well as loss of productivity, add tremendous costs
for many countries, the report notes.
To read more
click here
The
Case for NAPBS Accreditation
Some things seem like a really good idea, a really
good strategy—until we start them and wonder what was I
thinking?
The case for not getting NAPBS accreditation
is evident from the first reading of any clause in the accreditation
criteria:
- difficulty,
- time and
- commitment.
After reading the standard, all of a sudden,
tasks like making cold calls to prospects, having that disciplinary
meeting or paying your bills seem more pressing and pleasant.
But, hold on! Don’t rush to judgment because
there is a case to be made for accreditation. When you put all
the reasons together they boil down to one of your favorite words—profit.
How does the accreditation process make companies
more profitable? In speaking with accredited firms (and those
in the process of getting accredited) several things come up repeatedly.
To read more
click
here
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.
Hiring
Wisdom: Do You Know the Truth About Checking References?
When it comes
to checking job applicant references, people who come with great
references can turn out to be duds on the job, and people with
poor references could very well be great employees. Employers
may give bad references on a great person to try to keep the employee
onboard, to keep them from taking his/her skills to the competition,
retaliatory discrimination, etc. On the same token, employers
may give a good reference on a poor employee to avoid potential
legal liabilities of giving a bad reference, to get the poor employee
off the payroll, to "make up" for firing or laying the person
off, etc. Even though you can't count on references as a predictor
of success on the job, failing to check them leaves you wide open
to negligent hiring lawsuits. Even if former employers will only
confirm "name, rank, and serial number," you expose yourself to
undue risk if you fail to meet due diligence standards.
To read more, click here
One
Site! Many Suppliers! |
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.
2012
Winter Edition of Suppliers to the Background Screening industry
Guide
Now Available!
Click
here or on image to get a copy
Contact
Barry Nixon at wbnixon@aol.com
for information on getting your firm listed in the Summer Edition.
Fresh Raids
Target Illegal Hiring
The Department
of Homeland Security has ordered hundreds of companies to submit
their hiring records in an effort to crack down on the hiring
of illegal immigrants.The first "silent raids" of the year haven't
been publicly announced by Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE), the DHS agency that conducts these raids, but an ICE spokesperson
recently confirmed that as of March 29, the agency had notified
500 businesses "of all sizes and types" to submit I-9 employment-eligibility
forms and other documents."These inspections will determine whether
or not the businesses are complying with their employment-eligibility
verification requirements," said ICE Deputy Press Secretary Gillian
Christensen. "No one industry is targeted, nor is any one industry
immune from scrutiny."
"The expanding
rate and reach of I-9 audits is starting to chip away at the perception
that only the most egregious employers are at risk of an enforcement
action by ICE," said Julie Myers, who was the chief of ICE under
the Bush administration. "Companies in all industries need to
be vigilant."
To read more
click
here
Learned
Lessons: DOJ sues Tuscany Hotel and Casino LLC
The U.S.
Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on May 29, 2012 it was suing
Tuscany Hotel and Casino, LLC ("Tuscany"), located in Las Vegas,
Nevada. Based on the complaint (dated May 11, 2012), the DOJ's
Office of Special Counsel has been investigating this organization
for months. While we don't report on every single DOJ lawsuit
related to I-9 issues, the facts of this case offer some valuable
lessons to our readers.
According
to the OSC complaint, here's what happened (short version). (These
facts are the government's version and may be disputed by Tuscany.)
In late December 2010, Tuscany allegedly committed document abuse
and discriminated against an employee because of that employee's
citizenship status. Six months later, that employee lodged a complaint
with OSC on June 7, 2011, which triggered OSC's investigation
of Tuscany. In October of 2011, OSC expanded its investigations
of Tuscany to include other patterns and practices that may have
resulted in discriminatory results. During its investigations,
OSC found that from January 2006 to October 2011, Tuscany applied
a different standard of employment eligibility verification practice
to its non-U.S. citizen employees, including Legal Permanent Residents
possessing "green cards":
Although
this is an ongoing case, and assuming all the alleged facts are
true, our readers should be very vigilant about unevenly applied
employment practices when it comes to the Form I-9 employment
eligibility verification process.
To read more
click here
I-9 and E-Verify
Software Due Diligence after Rose Acre Farms
In the world
of electronic I-9 and E-Verify software, the need to conduct due
diligence on the software's legal compliance and the vendor's
expertise is critical (if not more), not only because of the threat
of scrutiny from government agencies, but also from resulting
negative publicity, civil fines, payments of back-wages, legal
fees and other "punitive-like" measures. (Read more examples
here .)
The US Department
of Justice announced
the filing of a lawsuit by the Office of Special Counsel for
Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) against
Rose Acre Farms Inc., a major U.S. egg producer, for discrimination
in the I-9 process. As with other recent OSC defendants and respondents,
Rose Acre is accused of requesting excessive I-9 documentation
(also known as "document abuse") from newly hired non-U.S. citizens
(such as permanent residents, nonimmigrant visa holders, &
those who have work authorization incident to status) in order
to verify employment eligibility.
Unlike recent
cases, however, the OSC specifically charged that Rose Acre purchased
an electronic I-9 software system in June 2009 that may have prompted
human resource officials to demand certain documents from non-U.S.
citizens. Is it possible for an employer, through its electronic
I-9 system, to commit document abuse? And if so, can OSC prevail
in its demand for monetary damages and civil penalties
In light
of these legal developments, how should employers conduct due
diligence of electronic I-9 and E-Verify software?
To read more about document abuse click here and to read more about conducting
due diligence click here
New
White Paper From HR Marketer
White Paper Social Influence:
Thriving in a New World of Media Relations
Social media
has created a world of dizzying potential: it's incredibly easy
to share your news with press, analysts, and decision-makers.
Yet media relations is tougher than ever! As the pendulum swings
from print to online media, the traditional roles of journalists
and analysts are merging into a community of bloggers, HR professionals,
consultants and other influencers.
To
download the free white paper click here
Drug
and Alcohol Testing Issues for Agricultural Workers
Farm workers in New Zealand and Australia's valuable sheep industry
are currently facing the possibility of undergoing mandatory drug
testing. According to Brian Duggan of the National Farmer's Federation,
agricultural workers across the world are watching legal cases
that deal with how much right an employer has to know what goes
on in a worker's private life, including issues of drug testing.
Farming is different from other high-risk industries that have
mandatory testing because many isolated farms may not have access
to reliable testing facilities. Despite these obstacles, other
officials within the sheep shearing industry say that they expect
random alcohol and drug testing to continue to spread from the
"elite level" of sporting shearers to the workplace at farms.
The initiative has also gained support from members of the Australian
Workers Union who say that drug use can be a major hazard in the
shearing sheds, with workers sometimes resorting to amphetamine
abuse to increase productivity.
To read more, click
here
Privacy
Commissioner Looks for Stronger Enforcement Powers, Ability to
Levy Fines
The Federal
Privacy Commissioner appeared before the House of Commons Standing
Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics in its
study on social media and privacy and is calling for greater enforcement
powers. Other countries are moving towards more robust enforcement
regimes, but Canada is at risk of falling behind and that the
existing law - the personal information protection and electronic
documents act (PIPEDA) - is too weak. The legislation currently
doesn't require companies to report a privacy breach to the privacy
commissioner's office or to consumers. Current Privacy Commissioner
Jennifer Stoddart said with barely any penalties for breaching
provisions in PIPEDA, there is little incentive for companies
to invest in better data protection systems.
"I believe
companies take notice … when they are subject to major fines
or some kind of enforcement action. We have very limited power
in that regard, and I believe more respect would be shown to Canada's
laws if we did have that power," said Stoddart.
To read more, click here
Accused Killer Worked with Toronto Kids
Toronto's policy on police background checks for parks and recreation
employees has been changed after it was revealed that the accused
Eaton Centre shooter worked for the city taking care of kids.
The shooter, Christopher Husbands, was recently arrested and charged
with first-degree murder and six counts of attempted murder. Husbands
had also been previously charged with sexual assault in 2010 and
had a 2008 drug conviction. The city's previous policy allowed
those working with vulnerable populations to provide background
checks up to three months after they started working. Coun. Giorgio
Mammoliti said he's "furious" at the city's bureaucracy for letting
Husbands work more than six months without providing a criminal
record check. At a recent city council meeting, councilors planned
to order a review of the city's policies when it comes to police
background checks on employees who work with kids and other vulnerable
populations.
"We've gotten staff to agree to change the policy so, on an ongoing
basis, anybody hired has to give us those forms before they step
foot (on city property) as an employee," said Mammoliti.
To read more,
click here
Wake
Up Call for Tenant Screening in Canada
A recent
survey found that 34% of Canadians don't believe criminal record
checks are important when it comes to tenancy and property rentals,
even though one in 10 Canadians have a criminal record. A thorough
tenant screening would have revealed red flags for Luka Rocco
Magnotta - who allegedly dismembered a human body in his Quebec
apartment and sent a foot to the Federal Conservatives - and for
Angus Mitchell, who allegedly shot his ex-landlord and two others
in a disgruntled rampage in B.C. The survey also found that 86%
of Canadians would not be discouraged from applying for a property
rental if they had to get a background check.
"Unfortunately,
getting paid the rent is only one aspect of finding a good tenant,"
says Dave Dinesen, President & CEO of BackCheck, Canada's
largest provider of criminal record and employment reference checks.
"A proper screening, which involves credit, criminal, employment
and previous rentals, would have uncovered red flags."
To read more, click
here
China
to Include Fingerprints in Citizens' ID
China will
require its citizens to register their fingerprints when applying
for ID cards from January 2013 in a bid to curb counterfeit ID
cards and ensure faster identification, according to the Ministry
of Public Security. The first version of ID cards, launched in
1985, will be prohibited from use from Jan. 1, 2013. According
to Huang, citizens applying for ID cards for the first time as
well as those applying for replacement cards will be required
to have their fingerprints taken. And those still holding valid
second-version ID cards can register their fingerprints on a voluntary
basis.
The move
came after the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress,
China's top legislature, adopted an amendment to the Resident
Identity Card Law last year to require citizens' fingerprints
recorded when they apply for or change ID cards.
To read more
click
here
Data
Protection Officer Role Will Be Key If You Operate in the E.U.
According
to Patrick Clawson, a veteran of the security industry, the European
Union is considering sweeping new data protection laws that would
mandate many organizations in Europe formally appoint a Data Protection
Officer (DPO). To get ahead of the potential high demand for qualified
candidates, organizations should consider defining their needs
now.The new data protection laws have yet to take final shape,
and most sources agree they won't be implemented any sooner than
2014. But Clawson says that shouldn't stop organizations from
beginning their planning now. He suggests two steps organizations
that do business in the E.U. can take right now to prepare.
"You've got
to be watching what's echoing through the chambers in the E.U.
and what you're hearing about possible changes in legislation,"
he says. "And you should begin looking at the strongest examples
of data protection laws that currently exist within the E.U.,
like Germany and France, and try to measure yourself against those.
I can't imagine it gets much worse than that."
To read more
click here
Joint Statement on the Negotiation of a EU-U.S. Data Privacy and
Protection Agreement
At the EU-U.S. Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial
Meeting, European Commission Vice-President Viviane Reding and
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder released a joint statement highlighting
their "determination to finalize negotiations on a comprehensive
EU-U.S. data privacy and protection agreement that provides a
high level of privacy protection for all individuals and thereby
facilitates the exchange of data needed to fight crime and terrorism."
They stated that such an agreement would allow for even closer
transatlantic cooperation, which would assist in any subsequent
agreements concerning the sharing of a specific set of personal
data. Progress has already been made on important principles such
as data security, transparency of data processing and data protection
oversight and they plan to continue negotiations and revisit these
items at the 2013 ministerial meeting.
To read more,
click here
CNIL
Cloud Guidelines Address Controller vs. Processor Issues
The French CNIL's new guidelines on cloud computing
revisit the tricky question of whether a cloud provider is
a data processor or a data controller. The CNIL says that a cloud
provider will generally be considered the data processor,
but that the provider will become joint controller with
the customer if the cloud customer lacks any real autonomy in
the negotiation of the contract and in defining how the data are
processed.
If the cloud
customer is not able to give instructions to the cloud provider
and must accept the cloud provider's proposal "as is," the CNIL
will consider the cloud provider as joint controller, jointly
liable with the customer for compliance with French data privacy
laws.
To read more
click here
It's
Landlords Who Need Protection from Tenants
With talk
of proposing a Tenancy Act, some are concerned over the lack of
protection landlords have against the actions of bad tenants.
No matter how good the screening process, it is just sometimes
unlucky to get bad tenants. Despite a comprehensive and airtight
tenancy agreement with the relevant terms and conditions spelled
out clearly and concisely, it tends to be the landlord who suffers
in the end. Poor tenants can hold the landlord at ransom refusing
to move out despite many months of unpaid rental, knowing very
well that the process of eviction is a very time consuming process.
In the meantime, the tenant stays literally for free. If lucky,
the tenant eventually moves out, but the landlord has little recourse
to claim long outstanding rental arrears, unpaid utility bills
and damages to the property other than wear or tear. In addition,
the landlord would not know the next correspondence of the tenant
to deliver the lawyer's letter of demand, which will then lead
to a summons if the former tenant does not pay. Tenants already
have inherent protection and therefore they do not need any additional
protection.
To read more,
click here
Woman
sentenced over fake security course
A woman who
ran a fake security course and pretended to be accredited to NZQA
has been fined. ONE News uncovered the scam which involved students
attending the fake college and getting false NZQA certificates
at the end of it.
It is the
first time such charges have been laid under the Education Act.
"Offending like this really undermines the integrity of the process,
particularly where the qualifications emulate genuine qualifications,"
Judge Emma Aitken said. Maryann Vaafusuaga was ordered to pay
a fine of $7000.
To read more
click
here
Senate
Ratifies Data Privacy Act Bicameral Report
The Philippines
Senate has ratified the bicameral conference committee report
on the Data Privacy Act, which mandates public and private entities
to protect and preserve the integrity, security and confidentiality
of personal data collected in its operations. The Senate approved
the Data Privacy Act under Senate Bill No. 2965, underscoring
the importance of requiring both the public and private institutions
to comply with international data security standards. Based on
the EU Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC, the act would also
establish a National Privacy Commission to implement and enforce
the bill's provisions. Journalists have criticized portions of
the legislation because of strong penalties around "leaked" information.
Once passed into law, the bill adhering to rigorous international
principles and standards will attract investors in the Information
Technology and Business Process Outsourcing (IT-BPO) industry
in the Philippines.
To read
more, click
here
Bid
to Render Privacy Bill Meaningless
A South African
lawyer says the proposed widening of the definition of consent
in the nation's privacy bill will render privacy protections meaningless.
The suggested change to the definition of consent in the Protection
of Personal Information Bill (PPI) would nullify all the data
protection provisions in the law that aimed to cut down information
sharing and spam. Inkatha Freedom Party MP Mario Oriani-Ambrosini
has proposed that the definition of consent be widened to include
data subjects' failure to opt out of the processing of their personal
data within a given time period and dropping the age for the definition
of a child to 13. Attorney Paul Jacobson says these two issues
together spell disaster for children as they may receive an SMS,
not understand it and ignore it, allowing their information to
be processed and retained. In addition, Jacobson says the proposal
puts the burden on an individual to opt out and would change the
underlying basis of the Bill and how it works. The Bill is expected
to be enacted this year.
To read more,
click here
Spain
Changes the Paradigm of International Transfers of Personal Data
Allowing Spanish Data Processors to be "Exporters" Under the Standard
Contractual Clauses for the Transfer of Data
The Spanish
Data Protection Authority (SDPA) has established new procedures
that allow data processors (not data controllers) based in Spain
to obtain authorizations for transferring data processed on behalf
of their customers (the data controllers) to sub-processors based
in Third Countries that are not deemed to have an adequate level
of protection for personal data. In addition, data processors
can enter into Standard Contractual Clauses with their sub-processors.
Previously in Spain, data controllers had to enter into Standard
Contractual Clauses with each of their data processors' sub-processors
in Third Countries and data controllers had to obtain authorizations
from the SDPA for such transfers. It is anticipated that the New
Processor-Sub-processor Clauses in Spain will be a significant
improvement for service providers wanting to contract with sub-processors.
To read more, click here
UK
employment reached three-year peak
The number
of Britons in employment has hit the highest level in more than
three years as the private sector created new jobs to absorb cuts
in the public sector. The rise in employment was driven by the
private sector, where 205,000 additional people were employed.
The figure offsets the 39,000 public sector jobs that were lost.
Despite this
positive news analysts say unemployment will rise this year.
To read more
click
here
World
Information Center:
|
ADVERTISERS IN THIS EDITION |
|  |
|
|
| |
|
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 |
2012
Events ( Click
Here to View full list of 2012 Events ) -
Updated Monthly
SHRM
State Conferences, visit
http://www.shrm.org/Conferences/StateAffilliateConferences/Pages/default.aspx
Drug
and Alcohol Testing Industry Association (DATIA), 2012 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
|
'Bon dia!' 
