employeescreenIQ

If you've ever been convicted of a crime, or even accused of one, you know how much it can change nearly every aspect of your life, and potentially harm your chances of future employment.

However, many companies are willing to hire people who have had certain criminal convictions, so that should not deter you from searching for and applying to open positions. So what shows up in a background check if you've been accused or convicted of a crime?

As dictated by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a background check can reveal a number of facts about criminals, including:

• Court records
• Incarceration records
• Criminal records
• Drug test records
• Sex offender lists

For those who have been accused of a crime, there is some information that employers are not legally allowed to access through a background check. That information includes: civil suits, civil judgments and records of arrest after seven years, as well as other negative information, except criminal convictions, after seven years.

Fortunately for employers, the FBI has reported that law enforcement agencies throughout the nation saw a 4.4 percent decrease in the number of violent crimes during the first six months of last year when compared to the first six months of 2008.

In addition, property crimes throughout the country decreased by 6.1 percent during that same period, while arson decreased by 8.2 percent.

These statistics are a nice change from previous years, when both violent and property crimes mainly increased, as shown in the graph below from the Bureau of Justice Statistics:

Labels: What shows up in a background check

Whether you're a recruiter, employer or job seeker, it's important to know what the top criminal background check tends will be this year. Visit http://employeescreen.com to learn more.

Employment Screening Resources recently its "Third Annual Top Ten Trends in the Pre-Employment Background Screening Industry" report for this year. The report includes new trends that are beginning to make a difference and old trends that have evolved over time.

The top 10 criminal background check trends are:

1. Increased focus on whether credit reports and criminal records are discriminatory.
2. More lawsuits, including class action litigation over accuracy, privacy and consumer rights.
3. Increased pressure on privacy and data protection, especially as it relates to the location of the data.
4. The battle over databases will continue - with the latest issue being the proliferation of cheap "do-it-yourself" Web sites and iPhone apps.
5. Increased need for employer vigilance.
6. Lawsuits for using social networking sites.
7. Increased technology, signaling the end of paper and faxing for employment screening.
8. I-9 and other government requirements will grow.
9. Screening will expand beyond new employees to vendors and others on premises.
10. International screening will be more prevalent.

Another big trend will be the increased professionalism of the screening industry. This comes about with the growing presence of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners, which has established itself as the voice of the screening industry and is fostering higher levels of professionalism.

The organization, which was founded in 2003, was formed "to promote ethical business practices, promote compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act and foster awareness of issues related to consumer protection and privacy rights within the background screening industry."

As of late, the NAPBS has pushed for its members to approve an accreditation program, which would give employers more confidence when selecting a background check company. An accreditation program would provide a baseline of professional competency that employers can rely on.

Labels: Criminal background check

While employers in nearly every industry are now conducting background checks on potential candidates, it is perhaps most important for employees in the healthcare industry to undergo these checks.

Healthcare workers are among the most trusted by the general public - they receive all kinds of confidential information and are often left alone with vulnerable people - and are sometimes literally responsible for holding a patient's life in their hands.

Here is a sample background check for fictional John Doe, who is applying for Las Vegas nursing jobs, as if it were completed by EmployeeScreenIQ:

Social Security number traces (address history search):
-Verifies that the Social Security number provided by Doe is associated with an individual of the same name and that the date of issue range aligns with his birth date.
-Provides an address history that corresponds with the areas of the country where Doe has lived, worked, attended school or spent other significant time.
-Provides a road map for court jurisdictions that should be researched for Doe's criminal records.
-Provides any alias names associated with Doe.

County criminal checks:
-Searches the superior, upper, lower and municipal court records available for Doe in each county.
-Doe's records would include: arrest, date of filing, charges, level of charges, disposition date, final disposition of charges and any applicable sentence or penalty.

Federal criminal court searches:
-Identifies any of Doe's criminal activity prosecuted through the federal court system, including: tax evasion, embezzlement, bank robbery, kidnapping or mail fraud.

National criminal checks:
-Collects information on Doe from county court houses, state departments of incarcerations, state record repositories, probation departments, townships and sex offender registries.

Sex offender registry:
-Reveals any sex offender information about Doe from bureaus of investigation, departments of law enforcement, departments of corrections, departments of justice, departments of public safety, sheriff's departments, state attorney generals' offices and state police.

Education verifications:
-Confirms the schools Doe attended, the dates he attended those schools and the degrees and certificates he was awarded.

Employment verifications:
-Verifies the information on Doe's resume, including dates of employment, starting and ending positions, salaries, reason for termination and eligibility for rehire.

EmployeeScreenIQ's healthcare screening services also includes substance abuse screening, professional license verification and OIG/GSA sanctions check.

Labels: Sample background check

The number of background checks and criminal records checks being conducted by employers is continuing to increase, especially on candidates who would be working in trusted positions, such as those with the elderly, children or other vulnerable people.

This has been most obvious as of late based on the number of schools throughout the country that are implementing rules requiring teachers, volunteers and other personnel to undergo background checks.

Most recently, Boulder Valley School District officials passed a measure requiring all volunteers to undergo a background check. Although the district has long performed background checks on employees, checks on volunteers were never consistent from school to school.

Under the new policy, anyone who regularly volunteers in the school, chaperons overnight trips or coaches must undergo a background check. Those who only volunteer occasionally will have their names cross-checked with Colorado's sex offender registry.

According to an article by KMGH, the school plans to conduct background checks on 1,500 to 2,000 volunteers this year, which will cost a total of about $6,000. While district officials have considered charging volunteers for more in-depth checks, they don't want to discourage anyone from volunteering.

The Dougherty County School System in Albany, Ga., also recently passed a measure requiring all current and future employees to undergo an FBI background check. While the DCSS Board of Education will pay for all current employees' background checks, new hires will be responsible for footing the $53 bill.

According to an article by WFXL, members of the school board decided to require an extensive background check to make sure that no employee working in the school system has a history of being fired from an out-of-state school for something inappropriate or illegal.

Other efforts to implement background checks in schools within the last year include:

• The Francis Howell School District near St. Louis, Mo. is requiring volunteers who have lived in the state for the last five years to undergo a state check every four years, while those who recently moved to the state have to undergo an FBI check.
• The State of Indiana is requiring teachers to undergo a check so it can create a public database of teachers convicted of drug or sex crimes.
• The State of Texas has been enforcing a law passed in 2007 that requires all new non-certified employees to undergo fingerprint checks and all certified educators, substitute teachers and classroom aides to undergo background checks before 2011.
• An audit by the Utah State Legislature found the current background check system flawed and ineffective, causing many lawmakers and education leaders to push for background checks. Proposed measures include: requiring licensed and classified employees to report any arrests or convictions within 48 hours, implementing a personal database that would alert officials of employee arrests, and requiring employees and teachers renewing their licenses to undergo fingerprint testing.
• The British government is considering a bill that would require parents who home school children to undergo a background check.

Labels: Background checks and criminal records

Another state has joined the ranks of those requiring home care aides to undergo a criminal background check (Click here).

The State of Pennsylvania recently implemented a law requiring agencies and registries that send aides into private homes to be licensed by the state Department of Health. Under the new law, agencies have until February 10 to apply for licenses. So far, more than 700 entities have requested applications.

In order to obtain a license, employees of those agencies must pass a criminal background check, obtain child abuse clearances, and be screened for tuberculosis.

According to an article by The Morning Call, agencies employing those aides must use testing or training courses to prove that caregivers are competent. Agencies and independent contractors also must list their services and fees up front.

To hold up its end of the deal, the health department plans to post information online about the agencies that are licensed, so consumers can check them out. There also will be a complaint hotline.

The need for the new regulation law came from growth in the home care industry as the elderly population continues to expand and more seniors remain in their own homes instead of going to nursing homes.

Pennsylvania currently ranks third in the nation for its percentage of people older than 65. Coinciding with that large population, the Pennsylvania Homecare Association went from having 38 home care member agencies during 2001 to having 254 home care member agencies today.

During 2006, the Pennsylvania General Assembly amended the Health Care Facilities Act, which sets standards for hospitals and other healthcare providers, to include home care agencies.

However, it took three years for licensing rules to be established, because the health department solicited input from several interested parties. The department met with disability rights groups, retirement communities, trade groups and nursing home representatives.

Labels: Criminal background check

Parents and others who home school children in the United Kingdom could soon be subjected to background checks and criminal records checks.

A bill recently proposed by the British government would not only give local educational officials the right to determine whether or not they will register a home education program, but also would require parents to undergo background checks before teaching their own children.

If the bill is passed, the United Kingdom would be one of the first countries to require such measures. Neither the United States nor Canada - where the majority of home schooling takes place - require parents to register, and only two states require home schools to be approved.

In most instances, parents only have to inform the proper authorities that they plan on home schooling their children. While some states impose various testing requirements for home schooled students, most encounter no interference from government.

According to an article by the Home School Legal Defense Association, many British citizens are concerned about the implications of the bill proposed by the government. This has caused a parliament committee to conduct a special inquiry to determine whether the bill was conducted properly.

Some officials have claimed the government has adopted an extreme interpretation of the Untied Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child by granting authorities the right to access home schooled children and gather their views on home education.

In addition, the bill would allow local authorities to terminate registration if parents choose not to cooperate. It also would give some jurisdiction to the Local Safeguarding Children Boards.

Labels: Background checks and criminal records

One St. Louis area school district is changing its criminal background check policy for volunteers.

The Francis Howell School District recently adopted a policy that will require volunteer workers who have lived in Missouri for the last five years to undergo a state criminal records check instead of a national FBI background check.

The in-state check, which is based on a person's name, does not require volunteers to be fingerprinted, making results available faster. However, volunteers who recently moved to the state will still be required to undergo FBI background checks.

In addition, all volunteers will have to undergo a background check every four years, and the district will continue to verify that all volunteers are not sex offenders, according to an article by Suburban Journals.

Officials at Francis Howell School District evaluate the background check of each volunteer depending on different parameters. For instance, someone convicted of child endangerment or drug possession would not be allowed to volunteer at all, while someone convicted of driving while intoxicated may be able to volunteer as long as they are not transporting children in their vehicle.

There is some controversy over the new policy, because while an in-state background check will reveal any open criminal records in Missouri, it will not show if a person was arrested and no charges were filed, if a person was found not guilty or if a person completed a sustained imposition of sentence.

On the positive side, the new policy has the potential to save the district a good amount of money, as the FBI background checks cost $52.50 per person and the Missouri checks only cost $9 per person. The district paid for 700 FBI background checks this year alone.

Labels: Criminal background check