Background Investigation Blogs

A story came across our desk recently from the Central State Hospital in Georgia. They recently required hundreds of their employees to undergo fingerprinting and new background checks. The reason: hundreds of old files were lost or discarded during a move.

It’s a sobering thought to think of mass amounts of confidential, personal information just floating around somewhere. Employers have a responsibility to safeguard sensitive financial or personal data and prevent that data from falling into the hands of identity thieves or others with unauthorized access. Section 216 of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act of 2003 (FACTA) requires employers to take “reasonable measures” to secure information pertaining to or derived from a “consumer report.”

Employment Background Investigations, a background screening firm, recommends these best practices for the security of files and document destruction:

· Always properly secure consumer information. Do not allow information in either hardcopy or electronic format to be openly available and visible within your entire office and workspace.

· Secure all documents from outside vendors and contractors and any unauthorized personnel.

· Never discard consumer reports or information related to such in the general office garbage.

· When you have reached your designated timeframe for destruction of files, always place consumer reports and any supporting documentation in secured and locked garbage/recycle containers which can only be accessed by authorized personnel.

· Use a certified or reputable document destruction firm to carry out the functions of proper paper and even electronic document destruction.

· Audit and test your destruction policy on a regular basis.

· Continually train and update your staff on proper destruction strategies and policies.

Early this month, elementary schools in Fort Worth and Crowley, Texas, discovered a 79-year-old registered sex offender had worked several elections in 2008 held at the schools. Donald Maunder had pleaded guilty to sexual activity with two teenage boys and served eight years in prison. He completed parole in 2002; he was not under any “child safety zone” restrictions. Criminal background checks are not required by Texas law for poll workers. Crowley schools now screen election workers by scanning visitors’ driver’s licenses and searching a national database of sex offenders. It raises the question – how can you be sure who the person working next to you really is?

Adding a criminal search widens the scope, and looks at all criminal records regardless of nature or gravity. Consider screening companies like Employment Background Investigations that offer integrated databases which include County and State searches, Sex Offender Searches, and Global Homeland Security. As an employer, you need to consider your liability – you need the entire story of an individual to make a reasonable assessment. You need to do due diligence for high risk areas such as child care, healthcare, and even eldercare.

The city of Ocala, Florida had reason to hope – Ricky Lee Bunch, the president of KenRick Medical, Inc., (manufacturer of state-of-the-art hospital beds) was bringing his worldwide headquarters and 2,500 new jobs to an area that boasts one of the highest unemployment rates in Florida. It turned out to be a case of “to good to be true.” Local authorities picked up Mr. Bunch at his home on a Marion County warrant for organized fraud.

What captured our attention on this story was that job seekers for potential KenRick jobs were charged a $24 up-front-fee for a pre-employment background check. Investigators claim the jobs did not exist, that no background checks were conducted, and that the company pocketed the money.

There are take away lessons from this story for both employers and applicants. For employers, contract with background screening firms, such as Employment Background Investigations, who are active members in good standing with the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS). NAPBS holds its members to a strict code of conduct. For applicants, be sure and verify the company you are applying to is viable by checking company name, address and phone number through the yellow pages or the Better Business Bureau. If a company asks you for payment for your background check, which is not a normal practice, ask questions. Ask which company/service will be performing the check, and if the fee is reimbursable back to you if you are hired. 

Heated debates of who has the right to work within the United States have been tossed around for awhile. Recently, there’s been a shift in focus by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) from the individual illegal worker to the employer who hires them.

Last month, the ICE raided Yamato Engine Specialists in Bellingham, WA, and arrested 28 illegal workers who gained employment by using fake social security numbers and counterfeit documents. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano just announced a delay in proposed raids to increase due diligence and target employers. The employer has just stepped into a very large pressure cooker.

Over 36 states have enacted some type of legislation that mandates employers to ensure that they are not hiring illegal immigrants. The result of not following these guidelines is large financial penalties and prison. Employers need to become very serious about ensuring that there workforce is legal and compliant. They need to implement compliance procedures by using the government voluntary program, E-Verify, and adapting electronic means for processing and storing Form I-9s from solutions providers such as Employment Background Investigations (EBI), or other designated agents.

Spring is just around the corner and so is a favorite American pastime – baseball. With teams hitting the training camps this week, the excitement is in the air, and so is the amount of news stories surrounding the upcoming season. One story hitting the newswires recently was about a top baseball prospect for the Washington Nationals, Esmailyn “Smiley” Gonzalez, age 19, who received a $1.4 million signing bonus. The Club has discovered that Gonzalez is really 23 year old Carlos David Alvarez Lugo. The matter is under investigation.

How well do you know your employees? To ensure you correctly identify your personnel, consider the essential background screens: SSN trace, E-Verify (Form I-9), Criminal Check, and Employment and Education Verification. A Social Security Number (SSN) trace confirms the applicant’s name and discloses all addresses used by that applicant. I-9 Compliance verifies an employee’s legal right to work. The Criminal Checks can be narrow (state and county) or wide (federal, national, and international) and will divulge criminal records such as theft and fraud. Employment Verification ensures the candidate has the experience you need. And corroborating Education eliminates fraudulent diplomas.

In any successful enterprise, be it business or ball club, it is imperative to select and put in place screening solutions that ensure identity, lessen the threat of negligent hiring and retention, reduce workplace violence, and decrease the cost of training and staff turnover.

Stories of the ‘Drunken Pirate’ dominated the blogosphere late last year. Here’s a quick recap: a then 25-year old student teacher, Stacy Snyder, posted a photo on her MySpace page in which she was wearing a pirate hat and drinking from a plastic cup. The University caught wind of the photo and included it as one of the contributing reasons to deny her a teaching degree. Stacy sued the University, siting her First Amendment rights were violated. In December, she lost the suit, with the circuit court judge ruling in favor of the school.

The Internet has become an all encompassing “recruiting and hiring tool” for recruiters and HR professionals. In particular, the perusal of social networking sites has started to become the norm when it comes to digging up dirt on a possible candidate or even on a fellow co-worker. These days the juiciest water cooler discussions seem to stem from information found on the Internet about staff members’ after hour activities. The use of this information has crossed over the line from a useful tool for finding a pool of good recruits to a tool for screening, verifications, and even the decision-making process on a new hire.

There is a definite moral to the “Drunken Pirate’ story for employers. Robert Capwell, Chief Knowledge Officer with Employment Background Investigations, Inc., will present a free webcast, sponsored by the Human Capital Institute, on Wednesday, February 25, 2009, at 1:00pm ET, that takes a closer look at how employer’s can maximize the Internet as a resource for research and recruiting, and use it as a cautionary resource for screening and verification purposes.

New Mexico House Bill 103 would remove identifiers, such as social security numbers and dates of birth, from public records. The “Nightmare” movie series instantly comes to mind.

Without a date of birth, or any other critical identifier, employers can’t be assured of receiving accurate data on an applicant criminal background check. In fact, employers can’t be assured of receiving much data at all except for a name. The question then becomes how can an employer be guaranteed they have the right applicant, based only on a name, for the criminal criteria uncovered? The answer is simple: they can’t.

The courts aren’t to blame for initiating or inspiring this type of legislation; they just don’t fully understand the intended use and need by background screening firms. And New Mexico is not the only state to consider this type of legislation; several states have tried. Screening firms, such as Employment Background Investigations, Inc., in conjunction with the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS), have used their voice and reasoning to actively defeat these bills.

We need identifiers in place to capture accurate criminal records data. This will help provide employers with the right tools to make informed decisions and promote a safer workplace.