Editor’s Message

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi.

Ryan Howard
Editor

Support@Verifirst.com
www.Verifirst.com

NEWS

School Safety Checks Lagging; Backlog Delaying Scrutiny of Educators' Criminal Histories:

Hundreds of longtime Ohio educators whose criminal histories haven't been examined in years, if ever, will return to their classrooms in the next few weeks without background checks, the state says. The state didn't even require fingerprints to be submitted until Sept. 5, after the start of school in most districts, but a backlog in federal background checks means it could take much longer before the Ohio Department of Education examines the results. In addition, the department's priority is to check the background of new licensees before looking to see whether longtime school workers have criminal records. All school workers must be fingerprinted for state and federal background checks under a state law enacted last fall. The new law, the first of two enacted in response to the Dispatch series "The ABCs of Betrayal" about the state's educator-discipline system, requires checks of both licensed employees, such as teachers, and unlicensed workers such as secretaries, bus drivers and food-service workers. "When you're doing 100,000 (checks) a month, there's always going to be instances where it takes longer," Potts said, noting that most FBI results are now complete within 30 days. The backlog didn't solely stem from teachers, she said. Medical workers, foster-care workers and camp employees all must undergo checks, too.

For More Information Go To: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/08/17/slowchecks.ART_ART_08-17-08_B1_KFB22ON.html?sid=101

LEGAL ISSUES

Five years after California's landmark SB 1386, our interactive map shows you which 38 states have passed laws requiring companies to notify consumers whose personal information has been compromised. [UPDATED 7/28/2008] This map will help you sort them out the varying requirements of these laws. Click on any state to see highlights from that state's law. (The gray states do not yet have disclosure laws - exceptions noted above.) For more explanation, see the text below the map.http://www.csoonline.com/article/221322/CSO_Disclosure_Series_Data_Breach_Notification_tate

Justice Issues Guidance on Discrimination During Employment Verification

The Department of Justice’s Office of Special Counsel (OSC) warns that an employer who receives a no-match letter from the Social Security Administration and terminates employees without attempting to resolve the mismatches, or who treats employees differently “or otherwise acts with the purpose or intent to discriminate based upon national origin or other prohibited characteristics,” may be charged with discrimination.

(Get additional guidance on the Justice Department’s discrimination policy from the OSC web site. Employers may contact the agency at 1-800-255-8155 (1-800-237-2515 for the hearing impaired).

California AB2918 - Employment: Usage Of Consumer Credit Reports.

This bill would prohibit the user of a consumer credit report, with the exception of certain financial institutions, from obtaining a consumer credit report for employment purposes unless the information is (1) substantially job related, meaning that the information in the consumercredit report relates to the position for which the person who is the subject of the report is being evaluated because the position has one or more specified characteristics is a highly compensated or managerial one, or (2) required by law to be disclosed to or obtained by the userof the report. The bill also would extend the exemption from liability for the maintenance of reasonable procedures to ensure compliance with the provisions specified in state law to encompass the new prohibition.

For More Information Go To: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/asm/ab_2901-2950/ab_2918_bill_20080626_amended_sen_v95.pdf

DRUG TESTING ISSUES

US Transportation Workers Face Tougher Drug Testing Procedures: Observed Collections Designed

More than 8 million regulated workers in the transportation and pipeline industries face more stringent drug testing collection procedures that went into effect August 25, 2008. The new rules, which are included in and modify 49 C.F.R. Part 40, address "specimen validity" and seek to deal with what appear to be widespread efforts by workers to "beat" drug tests. The new final rules include various mandatory laboratory-based tests intended to improve the detection of samples that have been adulterated by masking agents or diluted by water. Concern about the proliferation of mechanical devices designed to be worn by an individual to simulate the act of urination while delivering a "clean" urine sample has also triggered new, broader requirements for observed collections. Commencing with the rule's effective date, all return-to-work and follow-up urine collections must be observed collections. Affected workers will be required "to raise their shirts, blouses, or dresses/skirts above the waist, and lower their pants and underpants, to show the observer, by turning around, that they do not have a prosthetic device on their person. After this is done, they may return their clothing to its proper position," and produce a specimen "in such a manner that the observer can see the urine exiting directly from the individual into the collection container." Observed collections will continue to be monitored by same-gender collection site personnel.

To Read The Full Article Go To: http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=64574&email_access=on (The new regulations can be found in the Federal Register at 73 Fed. Reg. 33735 (June 13, 2008) and are effective August 25, 2008.)

To Test or Not to Test: The ADA and Pre-Employment Drug Tests

Today’s business professionals, well aware of the high costs associated with employee turnover, know that they can ill afford to make hiring mistakes, especially in a volatile business climate in which belt-tightening is the norm. Thus, organizations are pulling out all the stops to vet applicants properly, even as fewer dollars are allocated to recruiting and training new employees. Verifying experience and educational credentials, as well as confirming employment histories and checking references, have been staples of the recruiting process. However, in light of some disturbing revelations about illicit drug use in the workplace, many employers demand that applicants submit to pre-employment drug tests. OSHA found that 12.9 million (74.8 percent of illicit drug users) were employed either full or part time and employees who abuse drugs bring their problems with them to work in the form of lower productivity, increased absenteeism and turnover, increased health care costs, and a higher incidence of workplace theft and violence. However, before instituting a drug testing policy employers should be aware of how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) views pre-employment drug tests.

For More Information Go To: http://www.hrtutor.com/en/news_rss/articles/2008/08-14-ADA-Pre-Employment-Drug-Tests.aspx

DATA PROTECTION, FRAUD & THEFT

5 Steps For Stopping The Insider Threat

The threat of insider fraud appears to be increasing. Insider data theft accounted for nearly 16 percent of all data breaches in 2008, up from 6 percent a year earlier, according to a study by the Identity Theft Resource Center. And perhaps more alarming, customer data stolen by an employee is misused more frequently than data obtained through an external breach, a recent study by ID Analytics reveals. Phil Neray, VP of database security company Guardium, says there are two main reasons for the rise in the insider threat: Demand for sensitive corporate data has increased, and there is now a thriving black market where fraudsters can buy and sell this type of data. "Also, most corporations have spent the last 10 years focusing on tighter controls around the perimeter of networks," Neray adds. "It's getting harder to break into firms from the outside in traditional hacking attacks, so the bad guys are focusing on how to use insiders to get to the data." So what can companies do to prevent the insider threat? Neray offers the following five steps:

For More Information Go To: http://www.wallstreetandtech.com/advancedtrading/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=NCFYCZLN
3UDOUQSNDLPCKHSCJUNN2JVN?articleID=210004190

Gangs Get Into Identity Theft

Identity theft is soaring in California, and street gangs are angling for a piece of the action. Recent cases point to an interest in identity fraud by organizations as diverse as a Long Beach chapter of the Crips, the Armenian Power gang and the prison-based Mexican Mafia, according to law enforcement officials and fraud experts. Gang members sometimes recruit corporate insiders, said Linda Foley, co-founder of the Identity Theft Resource Center, a San Diego nonprofit group. They visit restaurants and other hangouts, listening for people complaining about money troubles, then offer cash in exchange for information they can use in identity theft. Credit card fraud is the most common form of the crime in California, as it is in the nation. Employment-related fraud is No. 2. In California, that category tops the U.S. rate, which the study attributes to undocumented workers using stolen Social Security numbers. The value of that nine-digit identifier has risen, because new laws are making it riskier for businesses to employ illegal immigrants.

For More Information Go To: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/valley/la-fi-idtheft12-2008aug12,0,5321183.story

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Can You Be 80% Ethical?

A recent report shows trends that reflect today's values. The report was based on a study conducted across twelve Indian cities and the respondents were executives at the entry and middle levels.· About 55% said it was OK to fudge expense accounts. · Another 60% found nothing wrong in carrying office stationery to their homes· 62% considered offering someone a bribe "normal and ethical" behavior.These findings along with others from several major cities and across different industry sectors, inevitably lead to the question, "Are we witnessing the downside of ethics in the workplace?" More worrisome is the rationale of the respondents - when top management can charge millions on the expense account, what's wrong with our doing it at the level of hundreds or thousands? Thus, the effect of leadership on organizational culture is also brought into sharp focus.

For More Information Go To: http://discussionleader.hbsp.com/krishnamurthy/2008/08/can-you-be-80-ethical.html

Background Checking And Job Applicant Testing Outside The US: A Guide To Multinational Pre-Hire Screening

Applicant screening methods in the US have proven helpful for keeping firms from hiring a criminal, someone with a bad work or credit history, an uncredentialed resume liar or an applicant whose skills or aptitudes don’t meet our needs. Perhaps our business case for screening out these bad applicants is every bit as strong overseas, where terminations are so complex and expensive. And if our business case for screening is global, why not align our practices globally? There is good news and bad news for US-based multinationals striving to align pre-hire screening globally.13 The good news is that multinationals can indeed craft a globally-aligned approach to pre-employment screening. The bad news is that doing so requires clearing some high legal and cultural hurdles, and adapting American methods for use abroad. Laws overseas that reach pre-employment screening are complex and varied. They reach background checks and written applicant tests in surprising ways. To craft a workable, globally-aligned approach to applicant screening, a multinational should take four steps: (a) Choose tools, (b) get local guidance, (c) adapt aspirations to foreign realities and (d) launch proactive Speaking broadly, the lesson here is that US-based multinationals might well be ahead of their overseas counterparts in appreciating the need to screen applicants by gathering information going beyond what the applicants themselves volunteer. But laws abroad, especially data privacy laws, erect compliance hurdles. Launching a global background-checking or pre-hire testing initiative takes patience, resources and a carefully considered strategy. In the end, though, the effort will quite likely produce valuable results.

To view all formatting for this article (eg, tables, footnotes), please access the original here. http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=15b96adc-a907-47ec-8254-d73a320782f0&l=6J3E6N2