Michelle Amal Cater joined employeescreenIQ in May as an Intern. Michelle is majoring in Industrial/Organizational Psychology at John Carroll University. Michelle has previous work experience in research studies and as a Teacher’s Assistant for Experimental Design Psychology

Tiffany Graham joined employeescreenIQ in May as a Background Specialist. Tiffany has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications from Cleveland State University. Tiffany has previous experience in the mortgage and staffing industries.

Jonah Green joined employeescreenIQ in May as a Background Specialist. Jonah has a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics/Pre-Law from Ohio University. Jonah comes to employeescreenIQ after nine years with the Cedar Point Games Department

Jacqulene Hounshell joined employeescreenIQ in May as a Data Entry Processor. Jacqulene has an Associate of Science degree from Mercyhurst College. Jacqulene brings previous experience as a Sales Associate and Data Entry Clerk to employeescreenIQ.

Allison McClain joined employeescreenIQ in June as a Client Relations Associate. Allison has a Masters Degree in Literature and undergraduate degrees in Communications and English from the University of Toledo.

Anthony Pampanini joined employeescreenIQ in June as a Background Specialist. Anthony graduated in May from Case Western Reserve University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management and concentration in Information Systems. Anthony is a member of (i)Cleveland.

Dawn Shanklin joined employeescreenIQ in May as a Criminal Records Specialist-Data Entry. Dawn will be graduating in August from Cleveland State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology with a concentration in Criminology

Natalie Beck has been promoted to New Client Liaison. Natalie has been with employeescreenIQ since June 2003.

Kathy Caputo has been promoted to Client Relations Associate. Kathy has been with employeescreenIQ since July 2004.

Nichole Janis has been promoted to Client Relations Associate. Nichole has been with employeescreenIQ since January 2006.

Andrea Mass has been promoted to Senior Background Specialist. Andrea has been with employeescreenIQ since July 2005.

Cristina Oligeri has been promoted to Account Executive. Cristina has been with employeescreenIQ since May 2004.

Lauren Valenty has been promoted to Client Relations Associate. Lauren has been with employeescreenIQ since October 2004.

Client Relations Associate. Lauren has been with employeescreenIQ since October 2004.

• The Make a Wish Foundation of Ohio
• The American Cancer Society
• March of Dimes
• Celiac Disease Foundation
• Prevent Child Abuse America
• The Gathering Place
• Urban Community School
• New Directions
• Big Brothers Big Sisters
• MedWish International

If you wish to make a contribution to these worthy causes, please click on the attached links.

Few employeescreenIQ clients are surprised to learn that all screening candidates must sign a release form, or that they must keep all information provided by a Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA) confidential between HR staff, hiring managers, and the candidate her/himself. Virtually all hiring and security managers are aware of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the importance of observing its requirements to protect the privacy of their candidates and the integrity of their hiring decisions.

What frequently comes as a surprise to new clients is that CRAs must conduct a physical site inspection of the commercial business location before initiating any services on behalf of that client. Since July 2003, the credit bureaus have mandated that all CRAs must physically inspect all client locations that will receive Consumer Reports. For multi-site organizations that screen employees on a decentralized basis, or local levels, this means each facility that receives, maintains, or houses consumer reports must be inspected. CRAs originally had the discretion to decide whether to conduct this inspection on their own, or hire a third party service to conduct it. In October 2005, the credit bureaus removed this discretion; now all CRAs must use one of a select few organizations, approved by the credit bureaus, to conduct these physical site inspections.

WHAT CAN I EXPECT?
The inspection itself is a straightforward process. It simply represents validation that the organization setting up the account is a legitimate business entity with a permissible use for Consumer Report information, and that it is reasonably apparent that the information will be used for employment decisions. At the present time, there is no existing technology that could be used to automate this process. The mere existence of a business might be reasonably established by researching the internet. However, that does nothing to stem one of the most notorious causes of identity theft: criminals attempting to set up an account with a CRA by fraudulently claiming to represent a legitimate business when they in fact have no connection to that business. The inspection serves to validate the existence and physical location of the business, that the individual(s) setting up the account intends to obtain Consumer Reports for employment purposes, and that reasonable security is present at the facility to protect the privacy and confidentiality of consumer information.

WHY ALL THE DRAMA?
Information contained in Consumer Reports is personal in nature and could be used for many purposes that are not permissible or legal under the FCRA. Examples include loan decisions by predatory lenders who have been barred access to credit information or identity theft by criminals who are able to gain access to consumer information. The intent, obviously, is to provide an additional measure of security and protection to consumers such that their personally identifying information will not be used for illegitimate purposes.

OUR RESPONSIBILITY
As a Consumer Reporting Agency, BIS holds no responsibility higher than that of representing our clients as professionally as possible, and protecting the privacy of the individuals we obtain information on in the course of that representation. Observing the strict letter of the myriad federal and state laws nationwide, as well as non-legislative industry mandates provides unsurpassed risk management for our entire client base and ensures any job applicant screened by BIS receives the full rights and recourse allowed under the law, and then some.

Rob Thomson is the Communications Manager for Cleveland-based employeescreenIQ, a best practices provider of pre-employment screening services throughout the U.S. and worldwide. Rob can be reached at (800) 235-3954 ext. 438 or rthomson@employeescreen.com.

Ask any HR executive about their I-9 process and their eyes begin to water before they can spit the words out. Names spelled wrong, social security numbers don’t match, proper identification isn’t verified. Let’s face it, it’s a time consuming process that often is executed incorrectly and the penalties for lax policies are scary. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 mandates that US employers verify the employment eligibility status of new employees. Until recently, this was accomplished most typically by examining a few pieces of identification while hoping the ID documents were authentic, entering the relevant information on the I-9 form, and filing it away in the employee file. It was pretty much forgotten at this point unless and until the government decided to audit your I-9 files to make sure you were not employing illegal workers. Still, many employers are fined for incorrectly filling out the I-9, even though they are employing legal workers. There was no external oversight or feasible process available to gain assurance that you are indeed employing legal workers, or gain the peace of mind that your documentation was all in order every time.

What Can You Do?
Fortunately, this problem is common to all organizations and now employeescreenIQ offers Employment Eligibility Verification and Electronic I-9 Filing through our partnership with Form I-9 Compliance LLC. These tools can reduce your workload and keep you in compliance. The product that Form I-9 has developed allows employers the ability to fill out a “smart” I-9 form on-line that ensures it is filled out completely and correctly. From there, an employer can simply store the document in an on-line archive or can seamlessly and electronically verify employment eligibility instantly through the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Within moments the system will give you a confirmation of the employee’s eligibility or it will indicate a non-confirmation. In occurrences of non-confirmation, the system will walk the employer step by step through the error and illustrate how to resolve the issue. Some of the common issues may be resolved with a few keystrokes. Others require follow-up from both you and your employee; the Form I-9 system will send you regular reminders indicating the number of days your employee has to resolve the non-confirmation. If the non-confirmed employee fails to respond through the appropriate channels within the legally mandated grace period, or if employment eligibility is ultimately found ineligible for employment, the system will indicate that the employee must be terminated. You may continue to employ workers who have received the initial non-confirmation until their employment eligibility has been confirmed through these channels.

The system can also be used for re-verifications, such as when an individual legally changes their name or when a foreign employee’s Green Card expires and is re-issued. The system will track and notify you of upcoming expiration dates for workers without permanent authorization.

Realize Instant Measurable Benefits
The Form I-9 system produces instant results. It will allow your organization to improve the efficiency of your process while decreasing, in fact eliminating processing errors. Further, it will allow you to minimize risk as it relates to non-compliance and the expenses incurred as a result of non-compliance. Lastly, it can aid your organization’s transition to a paperless environment with a reliable archival system.

Why Is I-9 Compliance Important
As mentioned above, the penalties for non-compliance even with the absence of intent to circumvent the process are strict. See below.

• For employers who fail to properly complete, retain, or make I-9 Forms available for inspection, fines range from $100 to $1,100 per individual I-9.
• For employers who knowingly hire or knowingly continue to employ unauthorized workers, civil penalties range from $250 to $11,000 per violation.
• For employers engaging in a pattern or practice of knowingly hiring or continuing to employ unauthorized workers, fines can be as much as $3,000 per employee and/or 6 months of imprisonment.

How Can You Take Advantage of this Product?
Contact your BIS representative to schedule a demonstration of this revolutionary product or visit our Partners page a click on the Form I-9 icon for further information.

Quick Tips for I-9 Compliance
* Did you know that you have to see the approved original identification documents in person in order to certify authenticity? Facsimile documents can be accepted. * Did you know that the I-9 form must be completed within the three business days that your employee begins work? * Did you know that employers must retain the original I-9 form for each employee either for three (3) years after the date of hire, or one (1) year after employment is terminated, whichever is later.

Nick Fishman is the Chief Marketing Officer for Cleveland-based employeescreenIQ, a best practices provider of pre-employment screening services throughout the U.S. and worldwide. Nick can be reached at (800) 235-3954 ext. 441 or nfishman@employeescreen.com.

Today, I am thrilled to report that we are no longer having the “Why screen?” conversation anymore. In fact, I don’t remember the last time I even had such a discussion with a prospective customer. I was recently speaking with a friend who is a high level decision maker for a rather large company. When he told me that his company doesn’t conduct background checks on their job applicants I didn’t even attempt to utilize my old “Why Screen?” spiel. My response was simple: YOU’RE CRAZY, pass the nuts! Any HR consultant will tell you the same thing; the importance of managing risk through an effective employment screening strategy is more crucial than ever. There are more than enough horror stories out there to convince a second grader that not screening your employees is as foolish as not locking your doors, not using passwords, or loaning your car or wallet to a complete stranger at the grocery store. I find it inconceivable that any business would fail to properly vet its employees.

Now that we have established what this letter is about, what am I getting at? The rapid growth in the industry is responsible for this evolutionary shift in thinking, and a greater understanding of what I have been teaching for years. I don’t spend time anymore talking about the importance of screening. My time is spent discussing the importance of doing it properly. Even these conversations are getting easier. I think people are finally getting this whole “Pre-employment screening” concept. Best practices, Next practices, Gold standard, High Level etc…, it all means the same thing. Just do it right! Don’t cut corners to save a buck; it can cost you many times over in the long run.

There are two types of customers in our industry: First is the customer that screens its employees simply because someone (boss, supervisor, legal mandate, etc) has directed them to do so, so they go find the quickest and cheapest method. The second is the client who sees the value in what is being done and uses it as a risk management tool in the hiring process. It happens much more than you would think that we gain clients who we had originally spoken with a month or a year earlier after they experienced problems using a cheap instant background check.

I recently had a conversation with an HR Manager at a multi-national corporation; she said they do screen their employees, and they “try” to do the best job they can under a limited budget. In the faithful words of an old jedi master, “do or do not, there is no try” (Yoda). It’s very easy, even on a limited budget to screen properly; you must have the desire and willingness to do so.

“Failing to prepare is preparing to fail” (John Wooden, Legendary Basketball Coach of the UCLA Bruins). Setting up a solid pre-employment screening program takes time. It’s very important to look at the responsibilities your employees have and what your risks are. It’s even more important to know what your budget is and concentrate on where your organization has the greatest risk.

I couldn’t be more proud of the fact that we have reached the point we no longer have to convince people WHY they should screen employees, but we have an equally daunting task ahead of educating people HOW they should screen employees. To get a return on your screening investment, you need to feel confident about two things: 1) that the information you’re getting is allowing you to hire better people; and 2) that your strategy is truly managing risk, that is to say, in the event of negligent hiring litigation, your screening strategy must be sufficiently in-depth and applied consistently.

Contact employeescreenIQ to help your company create a screening program that will manage risk while meeting your budget, and improve the quality of your hiring decisions.

Criminal records researchers utilize multiple pieces of information while conducting your background checks in county courthouses throughout the country. A crucial piece of risk management and FCRA compliance in any employment screening strategy is the ability to positively tie any criminal record found to a particular individual using more than a simple name match. Commonly called “personal identifiers,” a few key pieces of information provided by your applicants allow our researchers to conclusively identify whether or not criminal records found belong to a particular individual. The absence of any personal identifiers other than a name match means the information cannot be reported to you or used (legally) in your hiring decision.

The general rule of thumb is the more personal identifiers, the easier and more accurate the criminal records search will be. None are more important though, than the Name, Social Security Number and Date of Birth of your applicant. Performing any criminal background check without these three pieces of information can reduce your company’s legal protection and increase the risk that legitimate criminal record information will not be provided by the Court.

Why are these three pieces of information so vital? There are well over 3,000 county courthouses we can check for felony and misdemeanor records in the United States. Each individual courthouse determines its own methods for conducting a proper criminal record search. The method for finding criminal records in one county could be completely opposite the method in the county right next to it. Even within a single county courthouse, there can be one method to search for felony records, another to search for misdemeanors. Each county, and each court within the county, can dictate the manner in which they make criminal records available to the public. In today’s judicial system though, criminal records are most commonly cataloged either by Name, DOB, or SSN.

Now, in every criminal county, we may not need every single identifier. But, because each county is different, it is imperative to have all three to ensure the most complete criminal search. For example, let’s say your applicant has lived, worked, or gone to school in three counties. Those three counties will be the basis of your criminal records search. In County One, the search may be done by name, but County Two is an SSN driven search, while County Three is DOB dependent. We did not need all three identifiers for each county, but we did need all three identifiers to do a complete background check.

Additionally, some counties offer the ability to do a criminal search using one identifier, but return far better results once a second one is added. We have seen several instances where a court returns no records for a client that searched by Name, but then does so once the DOB is also provided. The more identifying information on your applicant we can provide the court, the more criminal record information we can find for you.

Currently, some clients are reluctant to provide dates of birth because they do not want to increase their risk of age discrimination litigation. We respect and understand that position, but in the interests of due diligence, must highlight that a lower risk in one area causes a higher risk in another. While it is not permissible to ask for DOB on a job application, it is permissible to ask for this information on the Disclosure form an applicant signs giving consent to run a background check. While this may be seen as a technicality, it increases your chances of finding criminal records while at the same time offering additional protection from a negligent hiring lawsuit.

Background Information Services, Inc. has created two additional solutions that will not compromise the integrity of the screening process for clients who still do not want to obtain the dates of birth for their applicant. The first option is to direct your applicants to call our DOB Hotline, an 800# created just for this purpose. The second option is a link on to our website, www.employeescreen.com, where applicants can also provide this information. Unfortunately, solutions like this may increase the amount of time your background checks take to complete, because the search does not start until your applicant calls or logs onto our website. However, as some clients have said, the speed at which that is done is a good indicator of how much or how little they want the job.

Please understand that while Name, DOB, and SSN are the three identifiers most closely linked to conducting a compliant, accurate, timely background check, we remain open as to how that information is provided to us. Background Information Services, Inc. continues to remain committed to crafting flexible pre-employment screening solutions, to give you a background check you can use with confidence to make an informed hiring decision.

Kevin Bachman is Vice President of Quality Service for Cleveland-based employeescreenIQ, a best practices provider of pre-employment screening services throughout the U.S. and worldwide. Kevin can be reached at (800) 235-3954 ext. 450 or kbachman@employeescreen.com.

“A background check is a background check, right?” Not so much. Accuracy in employment screening is something every background check vendor preaches, but alarmingly few understand or truly accomplish. The most crucial concept to grasp is that it is simply not possible to achieve 100% certainty that you know absolutely everything there is to know about an individual when you hire them. Similarly, a thorough and comprehensive background check that reveals no adverse information cannot be considered irrefutable proof that some adverse information from that person’s past won’t crop up in the future. Why then even bother with employment screening?

The overriding answer is risk management. While uncommon, there are a number of legitimate reasons adverse information could be missed even though your screening strategy conforms to industry best practices. Conforming to industry best practices accomplishes the following components of risk management:

• Maximizes the probability that existing criminal records will be found
• Minimizes the probability that criminal records will be missed
• Includes oversight to prevent erroneous or illegal information from being used or attributed to the wrong person
• Provides validation/correction mechanisms for candidates who believe information has been reported in error
• Ensures accurate and reliable information is used legally in your hiring decision
• Provides a cost control mechanism so you do not incur unnecessary cost for unproductive resources

Hypothetically speaking, to achieve 100% certainty that you know everything there is to know about a job applicant you would have to spend the time and money to send a professional court researcher into every one of the 3,200+ county court jurisdictions across the country AND each of the many, many more municipal, town, and even village mayoral courts that process, store, and archive criminal records. The President of the United States isn’t even subject to such scrutiny (as far as we know)! Obviously this is not feasible from either practical or financial perspectives.

This all begs the question: What does risk management mean in the context of employment screening? While no one can predict the future, we can look at an individual’s past for potential predictors of future behavior. If there is an incident in your workplace or a crime committed by one of your employees, this is EXACTLY what plaintiff’s attorneys will do to try to establish negligence in your hiring process. We’ve established that there is no feasible way to be 100% certain you know every skeleton that might exist in your candidates’ closets. But if the unthinkable happens, you will be asked to demonstrate that you conducted reasonable due diligence in hiring the individual in question.

BEST PRACTICES
Industry best practices dictate that criminal history research be conducted in each county an individual has lived, worked, or attended school for the past seven years. The seven year address history is obtained through the credit bureaus via Social Security Number Trace, which also will reveal any alias names that have been associated with that SSN. The only thing you can reasonably do beyond this is order a nationwide criminal database check in an effort to identify any “vacation” criminal records that may exist, with the understanding that there is a significant chance that an existing record located outside a county of residence may be missed anyway.

COMMON SHORTCUTS
Shortcuts increase risk. It can’t be put any more simply than that. Statewide and nationwide criminal databases are the siren songs of the industry. They have a seemingly mythical power to make otherwise rational people think background checks are just that easy.

Statewide databases have two main drawbacks: 1) the vast majority of states cannot enforce participation and reporting from every county and court jurisdiction within the state; and 2) processing time to get information into the database once it is reported from the counties can take as long as several months. This means there are holes in the database to begin with, and timeliness issues for data that does get reported.

Regarding nationwide databases, most of the information is sourced from statewide databases, which are already flawed. Then there are several states that do not share any county-based felony/misdemeanor information to the nationwide databases. Multiple research studies have shown that the largest ‘nationwide’ criminal history databases typically cover less than 50% of county court systems across the U.S. Our own internal research study found only 20% of 651 randomly selected, known criminal records were found in a search of one of the largest and most reputable nationwide databases, and half of those contained information inconsistent with that in the true records.

Statewide and nationwide criminal database searches can be considered a reasonable attempt to identify “vacation” records that may exist in jurisdictions where the candidate has never resided. However, they are by no means exhaustive or comprehensive and will contribute precious little to risk management if utilized as the sole component of a criminal background check.

Additionally, be wary of any screening vendor that attempts to oversimplify the process, or claims they have ‘proprietary’ computer networks with direct access to criminal court records. In the vast majority of cases, these vendors are simply using online databases that lack oversight and create risk of missing records or attributing records to the wrong person (often they don’t include the necessary multiple identifiers such as DOB or SSN). There are a very few areas around the country where direct county criminal research is prohibited (New York Office of Court Administration, State of Colorado are a few examples), and in those areas a reputable company must use whatever tools are available. However, in all cases where available, ensuring accuracy and FCRA compliance requires a trained court researcher visiting the court directly and requesting additional case and docket information whenever necessary to positively identify the individual and current status of the complete record.

BOTTOM LINE: SPEED VS. ACCURACY
A famous quote attributed to multiple sources states: “Speed is fine but accuracy is final.” Be wary of shortcuts and oversimplifications; this point cannot be overemphasized. Managing risk means observing best practices and applying them consistently throughout your company so you are protected in the event of employment litigation. Shortcuts ALWAYS negatively impact your ability to manage risk in the long run!

Robert Thomson is the Communications Manager for Cleveland-based employeescreenIQ, a best practices provider of pre-employment screening services throughout the U.S. and worldwide. Rob can be reached at (800) 235-3954 ext. 438 or rthomson@employeescreen.com.