by Nick Fishman

We posted a legislative update on employeescreen University last week, detailing a ruling by the State of Oklahoma Supreme Court which would remove identifiers such as dates of birth off conviction records. This is being done to protect the privacy of those who have records, however an unintended consequence of this ruling will leave those who conduct background checks in the state of Oklahoma with no way to confirm that the criminal records they have found actually belong to their candidates. This measure would effectively kill the ability of employers (and anyone else who searches public records) to conduct background checks.

Interested in getting involved? The National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS) has developed an advocacy letter for its members to send to the court detailing our concerns. employeescreenIQ as well as hundreds of other Consumer Reporting Agencies have already sent this letter.

NAPBS was kind enough to let me adapt their letter for any employer that was interested in participating as well. I have attached that letter below. All you have to do is insert your name and company name where appropriate, put it in an envelope with a stamp and mail it to the address included on the letter.

Not sure you want to waste the effort? Trust me, I’m the eternal pessimist when it comes to stuff like this. But it actually works. NAPBS alone has positively influenced decisions such as these in states throughout the country. This does work and you can help with very little effort.

State of Oklahoma Advocacy Letter

by Jason Morris

A few weeks ago I spent time in Washington DC lobbying on behalf of our industry. Included in this NAPBS “Day on the Hill” was a very productive meeting with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). DHS along with many of our members came up with some great ideas on how to expedite Tentative Non Confirmations (TNC’s) and other issues facing employers using E-Verify. I came across the following article this morning while reading BLR’s HR section, a great resource for HR Professionals and Employment Lawyers. E-Verify and other automated I9 Services are being used by approximately 5% of U.S. employers, this number will go up significantly in the coming years.

March 24, 2008

Gov’t Adjusts No-Match Rule, Aiming to Address Court Ruling

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released a Supplemental Proposed Rulemaking for the No-Match Rule previously issued on August 15, 2007, aiming to address three issues cited in a decision of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California blocking the original rule. The August 2007 rule outlined steps an employer should take if it receives a letter indicating that the information submitted for an employee fails to match the government’s records.

Specifically, the court questioned whether DHS had: (1) supplied a reasoned analysis to justify what the court viewed as a change in the department’s position–that a no-match letter may be sufficient, by itself, to put an employer on notice, and thus impart constructive knowledge, that employees referenced in the letter may not be authorized to work in the United States; (2) exceeded its authority by interpreting the anti-discrimination provisions of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA); and (3) violated the Regulatory Flexibility Act by not conducting a regulatory flexibility analysis.

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by Jason Morris

EDITORIAL: Poor judgment on janitor

Monday, March 24, 2008

St. Tammany Parish school officials say that a state-mandated criminal background check did not exclude the hiring of Dino Jay Schwertz, a 41-year-old school custodian who is accused of raping children in an elementary school restroom.

But there were red flags in Mr. Schwertz’s record that were revealed by the background check, and they should have prompted school officials to reject this job applicant. Instead, he was hired for a temporary job at Abney Elementary School in Slidell, where police say that he raped two 10-year-old boys and molested an 8-year-old and 11-year-old.

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by Jason Morris

It doesn’t surprise me when the most obvious institutions fail to  conduct adequate background checks which should include sex offender registry searches.  A quote I use in every speaking engagement states: “Temptation knocks only once while opportunity leans on the doorbell!”  Sex offenders put themselves in situations where they are around potential victims.

Ogden School District volunteer dismissed when found on sex offender list

Police chief says district should have conducted background check

The Associated Press

Article Last Updated: 03/23/2008 11:42:54 AM MDT

Posted: 11:33 AM- OGDEN - Ogden School District officials say the district didn’t violate state law when it failed to run a criminal background check on school volunteer who was later identified as a convicted sex offender.

District officials say the law requires checks only when a volunteer will have unsupervised contact with school kids - and that wasn’t the case. The volunteer directed traffic in the parking lot at Bonneville Elementary School.

Ogden Police Chief Jon Greiner disagrees.   He says the district skirted state law and that checks are required no matter what job a volunteer performs. He says the county attorney should review the situation to see if legal action is warranted.

The district dismissed the man last week after a parent found him listed on Utah’s sex offender registry.

by Jason Morris

This morning I came across another article regarding new public access rules developed by the Oklahoma Supreme Court.  employeescreenIQ and many members of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS) are working hard to reverse this decision before June when it takes effect.  Background check results would be severely impacted if this policy stands.

Court’s new record policy would affect background screening business

By M. Scott Carter

Transcript Staff Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY — New public access rules developed by the Oklahoma Supreme Court would make it more difficult for companies that do prehiring background checks, officials with those companies said this week.

by Nick Fishman

I just read this article in the Wall Street Journal and am extremely impressed with the GOSO initiative (Get Out Stay and Staying Out) pioneered by former Revlon executive, Mark Goldsmith.  GOSO is a non-profit organization designed to help young inmates (age 18-24) in New York-area prisons become productive members of society following their release.  He helps counsel them on how to find jobs and how to stay out of trouble once they are released and he’s getting tremendous results.  There is only a 10% recidivism rate among those enrolled in Mr. Goldsmith’s program.  Compare that to a national recidivism rate of 66%.  Mr. Goldsmith’s efforts are indeed admirable and so are the efforts of these young people who realize the value of this program.

A commonly help misconception of the general public is that Consumer Reporting Agencies (those who execute background checks), do so to prevent those with criminal records from attaining gainful employment.  Our job is to provide employers with the information they need to make informed decisions about the people they wish to hire.  I also think we should support the efforts of organizations such as GOSO.  One thing I would like to see GOSO do is come up with some sort of certificate that can be shared with potential employers when these people look for jobs.  It would be a good way for a those with criminal records to say, “I’ve made mistakes, but look what I’ve done to better myself”.  Perhaps, those that would automatically be rejected from jobs could use the certificate to demonstrate their worthiness for employment.  

Read the full story . . .

by Nick Fishman

One of our favorites, W. Barry Nixon from The National Institute For The Prevention of Workplace Violence  contacted Jason Morris and I about a year ago and asked if we would be interested in writing a chapter about International Background Checks for a book he intended to publish for those interested in learning how to manage hiring risks.  Together Jason and I collaborated with Les Rosen and Michael Damm to describe a process that at best had been sparsely addressed in the past.

The book entitled “Background Screening and Investigations: Managing Hiring Risk from the HR and Security Perspectives” was recently released and contains expert content from the most respected people in the screening industry today.  Those who deal with background checks in both HR and security can greatly benefit from this advanced level guide to mitigating hiring risk.

We are very proud to be included and think that interested readers can definitely benefit from our collective insights.

If you are interested in purchasing this book, it is available on Amazon.com now.

Click here to get the book now!

by Jason Morris

By A.J. Perez, USA TODAY

Major League Baseball for the first time is conducting background checks on hundreds of team employees whose duties take them into clubhouses.

The effort covers more than 300 people, including strength coaches, trainers, translators and equipment managers. It doesn’t cover general managers, field managers, coaches or players.

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by Jason Morris

This is another example of why Nan’s Law should be implemented nationwide. I had the pleasure of speaking before the Pennsylvania State Legislature a few years back in support of this law, so far it appears nothing has happened with it. This story helps justify why background checks are so important, especially in the hotel industry. Its ironic that this article came out the day I returned from speaking at the HR in Hospitality Conference, I used similar examples in my presentation.

Sexual assault has spring breakers concerned about background checks

By: Dave Balut

Clearwater Beach, Florida - A hotel security guard in Panama City Beach is charged with sexually assaulting an 18-year-old woman on spring break and throwing her over a balcony. She survived.

But the attack has some spring breakers in Clearwater Beach wondering about their safety.

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by Jason Morris

By JIM PROVANCE
BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU CHIEF

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