by Jason Morris

I would like to think it was the power of the employeescreen blog, but it wasn’t.  If you read yesterdays article,  Alabama  Education Association sues to stop background checks, you will not be surprised to learn that the background checks will proceed.

Employee criminal checks to proceed

MONTGOMERY | The Department of Postsecondary Education will start criminal background checks of its 10,000 employees next month under an agreement worked out with the Alabama Education Association in federal court on Wednesday.

The AEA sued Postsecondary Chancellor Bradley Byrne after he announced plans to conduct the background checks.

The suit was resolved when U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson approved a new background check consent form. The original form would have required employees to release their Social Security numbers to a private company, while the new one makes it optional.

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by Jason Morris

After reading this article you may say to yourself; Do Alabama educators read the newspapers? I can’t believe that in todays society an employee of any organization, let alone a college, would want to work beside someone who has never had a background check run on them.  I could go a million ways with this argument but instead I will be good, I’ll be civil and let you make your own determination.

Alabama Education Association sues to stop background checks

Associated Press - April 23, 2008 4:14 PM ET

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - The Alabama Education Association is suing to stop background checks on employees of Alabama’s 2-year colleges.

A suit filed in federal court in Montgomery argues that it is a violation of federal privacy laws to require junior college employees to give their Social Security numbers to a private company to do the background checks.

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by Jason Morris

Today is Earth Day!  Earth Day reminds us that we must be conscious about the environment and our planet.  According to wikipedia; Earth Day is either of two different observances, both held annually during spring in the northern hemisphere, and autumn in the southern hemisphere. These are intended to inspire awareness of and appreciation for the Earth’s environment. The United Nations celebrates an Earth Day each year on the March equinox, a tradition which was founded by peace activist John McConnell in 1969. A second Earth Day, which was founded by U.S. politician Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in in the late 1960s, is celebrated in many countries each year on April 22.

employeescreenIQ has several ‘green initiatives’.  Among these is our massive shredding and recycling program.  We were just notified that last year alone we saved over 53 trees!

Happy Earth Day Everyone!

by Jason Morris

Imagine this, you hire a CPA as your CFO and he doesn’t know a CPA from a CAT. In the employment screening business we see this every day. Now maybe this is a radical example but people lie on their resumes every day; See Employment Screening 101: Education and Employment Verifications-Part 8. In fact we just posted a great article on employeescreen University called Liar, Liar, resume on fire.

An even more publicized event has Criminal Charges Lodged Against a Fake Attorney:

Brian T. Valery, the man who passed himself off as an attorney in two states and worked for a major New York law firm, will soon get to appear in a Connecticut courtroom. But this time, his appearance won’t be pro hoc vice in Stamford Superior Court. It will be as a criminal defendant.

Valery, 32, surrendered to authorities in Stamford on Jan. 10 and was arrested on charges of perjury, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, and the unauthorized practice of law, a misdemeanor with a maximum two-month sentence.

The paralegal, who lied to his former employer — Anderson Kill & Olick in Manhattan — about attending law school and passing the New York bar exam, will be arraigned in Stamford Superior Court on Wednesday.

A simple verification of a professional license can save a company a lot of embarrassment. The services Includes a review and verification of professional license and registration status of any license or certification required by industry or organizational standards. A verification of all licenses and certifications provided by the candidate directly with the issuing or accrediting organization.

by Jason Morris

In 1999 when we founded employeescreenIQ our focus was on retail employment screening. We quickly found out that while doing comprehensive employment background investigations, substance abuse testing became very important. At the core of any inclusive background screening program is a candidate’s complete history and a drug test.

Why should our organization conduct substance abuse screening?

• About 75% of current illicit drug users 18 and older are employed… that’s more than 10 million US workers.(1)
• A recent US Labor study reveals that US businesses lose $74 to $200 billion annually to problems related to employee substance abuse.(2)
• 15.9 million Americans aged 12 or older admit to current (in the last 30 days) illicit drug use.(3)
• 36 million Americans aged 12 and older admit to abusing prescription drugs in their lifetime.(3)
• On a daily basis, at least 42,000 Americans are coming to work stoned or are getting “high” while on the job.(1)
• Workforce drug use contributes to increased workplace turnover, absenteeism, accidents and diminished productivity.(1)

1 William F. Current Drug Testing: How Both Employer and Employees Benefit Seton Alerts for Safety February 2003 Edition

2 William F. Current In Favor of a Drug-Free Workplace: Why Drug Testing? 1999

3 (NHSDA) 2001 Household Survey on Drug Abuse

Drug testing will become a hot topic in the news in the coming months as we approach the summer Olympics and as the Major League Baseball season progresses. Obviously substance abuse testing has been in the news a lot in the past six months especially with the Roger Clemens story and various congressional hearings. Recently, the Olympics have revealed their new drug testing system.

Some states including Ohio and Florida offer discounts on Workers Compensation insurance for companies who create Drug Free Workplace programs. Incorporating a Substance Abuse Screening Program into your hiring process has never been so easy. employeescreenIQ offers Urine, Hair and Saliva testing at over 8000 Patient Service Centers across the United States. Screens can be used for pre-employment, random and post-accident programs. All results are reviewed by a board-certified Medical Review Officer (MRO), and handled in full compliance with federal DOT regulations and guidelines. Negative results are posted in 1-2 days.

Look for more information in the coming months about substance abuse testing on employeescreen University.

by Jason Morris

In the employment screening business sometimes we are faced with industries that require very specific searches. One of these searches is called an OIG (Office of Inspector General) GSA (General Services Administration) Search. Both of these are government disbarment list searches.

What does this mean?

In a nutshell, various industries are required to verify that a candidate is not on a government disbarment list of firms and individuals excluded by the Federal government from receiving federal contracts or federally approved subcontracts and from certain types of federal financial and non financial assistance and benefits.

According to the Government Services Administration (GSA) Website:

The EPLS (Excluded Parties Lists System) was established to ensure agencies solicit offers from, award contracts, grants, or financial or non-financial assistance and benefits to, and consent to subcontracts with responsible contractors only and not allow a party to participate in any affected program if any Executive department or agency has debarred, suspended, or otherwise excluded (to the extent specified in the exclusion action) that party from participation in an affected program.

Reference FAR Subpart 9.4 (Procurement Programs) and Executive Orders 12549 and 12689 and the Government-wide Nonprocurement Suspension and Debarment Common Rule [68 FR 66533] (Nonprocurement Programs) provide the guidance for using EPLS.

The EPLS is a Federal government system maintained by GSA as required by FAR Subpart 9.4 and Executive Orders 12549 and 12689. EPLS data is received and maintained by Federal debarring/excluding agencies only.

According to the Office of Inspector General (OIG) website:

For many years the Congress of the United States has worked diligently to protect the health and welfare of the nation’s elderly and poor by implementing legislation to prevent certain individuals and businesses from participating in Federally-funded health care programs. The OIG, under this Congressional mandate, established a program to exclude individuals and entities affected by these various legal authorities, contained in sections 1128 and 1156 of the Social Security Act, and maintains a list of all currently excluded parties called the List of Excluded Individuals/Entities.

Bases for exclusion include convictions for program-related fraud and patient abuse, licensing board actions and default on Health Education Assistance Loans.

The effect of an exclusion (not being able to participate) is:

· No payment will be made by any Federal health care program for any items or services furnished, ordered, or prescribed by an excluded individual or entity. Federal health care programs include Medicare, Medicaid, and all other plans and programs that provide health benefits funded directly or indirectly by the United States (other than the Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan). For exclusions implemented prior to August 4, 1997, the exclusion covers the following Federal health care programs: Medicare (Title XVIII), Medicaid (Title XIX), Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant (Title V), Block Grants to States for Social Services (Title XX) and State Children’s Health Insurance (Title XXI) programs.

· No program payment will be made for anything that an excluded person furnishes, orders, or prescribes. This payment prohibition applies to the excluded person, anyone who employs or contracts with the excluded person, any hospital or other provider where the excluded person provides services, and anyone else. The exclusion applies regardless of who submits the claims and applies to all administrative and management services furnished by the excluded person.

· There is a limited exception to exclusions for the provision of certain emergency items or services not provided in a hospital emergency room. See regulations at 42 CFR 1001.1901(c)

Check with your employment screening firm to see if an OIG or GSA search is relevant to your industry.

by Jason Morris

This week I attended the NAPBS (National Association of Professional Background Screeners) conference in New Orleans, LA.  This years conference was a huge success!  Over 650 attendees came to learn about such issues as: FCRA Compliance, International Screening, EEOC Title VII, Privacy, State Record Compliance, I-9 E-Verify and much more.  I myself gave a presentation on the History of NAPBS and the Background Screening Industry.

This conference also marked then end of my tenure on the NAPBS Board of Directors.  As past Co-Chairman I have sat on this board since its inception.  I will remain an active board member as an ex-officio and contribute to various committees.

employeescreenIQ will continue to post valuable industry information on employeescreen University!

by Nick Fishman

Just wanted to take a moment to plug a really cool event we are participating in later this month.  It’s called the Recruiting Road Show and it is produced by well known industry insider John Sumser.  Speakers include our good friends Joel Cheesman of Cheezhead fame and Martin Snyder of PC Recruiter.  employeescreenIQ’s own Jason Morris will also be a featured presenter and will discuss emerging trends in employment screening and background checks.  The event is being held on April 29, 2008 at the offices of PC Recruiter.  If you are interested, please register now.  I understand that they are limited to just 120 attendees and slots are filling up fast.  It should be a great opportunity to learn and network.  And it’s free.  You heard me, free!  (Alright, I’ll retire as a used car salesman after this post)

Click here to register

by Nick Fishman

Greetings from the Nashville airport. I’m finally headed home after a couple days at SHRM’s Staffing Management Conference and realized I hadn’t posted anything is while (hold the applause). This year’s conference was . . . well, interesting I guess. The conference was sold out both for exhibitor’s and attendees. With both the economy and Nashville (no offense Tennessee readers), that kind of surprised me, but I’m not complaining. This year there were only 8 background screening firms represented compared to approx. 20 last year. (I’m also not complaining about this!). I suppose that my proposed conference name change to “The Employment Screeners Conference” doesn’t apply any longer.

We spoke with a lot of people at this year’s show. With a few exceptions, no one told us that the economy was drastically affecting their company. Everyone seemed rightfully concerned. Things have slowed down, but we didn’t hear about any anticipated layoffs, hiring freezes, etc. I think everyone has their fingers crossed that things will begin improving from here. Cheers to that!

Overall, attendees were very pleased with the educational opportunities offered at the conference. You’d have to be brain-dead not to notice a theme: everyone is looking for faster, more efficient ways to hire and train people. Any opportunities for consolidation an reduction of duplication is key.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by to learn about our employment screening services and to our valued client/partners who continued to heap on the praise (it never gets old).

Talk to you again soon.

by Nick Fishman