by Jason Morris

Gun control articles always spark a nice debate on our blog.  This Newsweek article lends to the stance our industry has had for years.  A quality criminal background check must be conducted at the county level.  Criminal records get diluted the further you get away from the source.  Relying on a Statewide or FBI record check sets your system up for failure.

NICS databases are “very complete” when it comes to tracking fugitives from justice, felony indictments and convictions, dishonorable discharges and some other factors that disqualify a person from purchasing a firearm. However, it appears that a lot of critical data gathered at the local level, involving things like restraining orders and commitments to mental institutions, are not filtering up to the federal level.

The Science of Gun Control
Local background checks are more effective at reducing suicides and homicides than federal checks.

There’s nothing simple about gun control, a tangle of legal, political and public-health issues complicated by cultural preferences and regional biases. Passions run high on all sides. Lifelong hunters who grew up with firearms, urban victims of gun violence, Second Amendment scholars, NRA lobbyists, chiefs of police—they’ve all got cases to make and they make them well, often contentiously.

For the past 15 years, much of the debate has centered on the effectiveness of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, the federal gun-control bill that was passed in 1993. Critics say the focus on law-abiding gun buyers doesn’t address the real issue—bad guys who acquire their weapons illegally. Supporters say that the bill stops thousands of illegal gun purchases and deters crime and violence. Now medical research has come to the rescue, sifting through the data to figure out which legal measures work best to reduce firearm suicides and homicides.

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by Nick Fishman

This E-Verify update comes us from our good friends at Greenberg Traurig. Evidently, the federal government is getting ready to mandate the use of E-Verify for all federal contractors.  You might recall that E-Verify (formerly known as the “Basic Pilot Program” is designed to allow employers to confirm employment eligibility and right to work status.  See excerpt from their alert below:

Major changes are on the way for federal contractors, who will soon be required to use
the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) E-Verify system to electronically verify
the employment eligibility of many of their employees. Although Congress is in the
process of evaluating the integrity and future of the E-Verify Program as it considers
reauthorizing the program, the Administration pushed on with its enforcement agenda.

On Friday, June 6, President Bush issued an executive order that will require all federal
contractors to use the E-Verify employment verification system once they enter into a
contract with an Executive Department or Agency. Also, on June 9, DHS Secretary
Chertoff announced that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) had completed
review of a rule-making that will amend the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) to
impose the same requirement on all federal contractors. While it is not unusual for
federal contractors to be held to different or higher standards than other U.S.
employers, this is a major development and will have significant effects on federal
contractors. This GT Alert discusses some of the issues raised by the executive order. A
future Alert will discuss the new rule once it is published.

Read the full article here:

GT Alert on E-Verify

by Jason Morris

This is a step in the right direction.  With international screening becoming more important across the globe this could be a big win for screening firms.  Nothing will come out of this directly for background firms but its a step that could make more records available in the future.

EU aims to share criminal records with its members

The European Commission has proposed the establishment of the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS) a computerised database allowing European Union member states to share the criminal records of their citizens.

Announcing the ECRIS proposals, European Commission Vice-president Jacques Barrot, the Commissioner responsible for Justice Freedom and Security said in a statement: “To reinforce the European Area of Security and Justice, and to ensure the security of citizens, it is important to establish at European level a concrete and user-friendly system which will enable an efficient exchange of information on previous convictions of criminals.

“Information about previous conviction shall circulate between judges and prosecutors as well as police authorities. This is essential in order to provide adequate responses to crime but also to prevent new crimes from being committed,” explained the Commissioner, who recently took over the portfolio in an internal reshuffle of the Barroso Commission.

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by Jason Morris

Does your employment screening firm hold the appropriate licensing in states such as Nevada? There are over twenty (20) states that arguably have Private Investigators licensing laws related to employment screening. Many don’t require you to be licensed if you don’t operate your business or have an office in their state. While others only require you to have a license in the state(s) where you do operate. Nevada is a rare exception. They require screening firms to be licensed by their state if you have any clients there and,or if you are performing any research there. This research could include contacting a University or Employer in Nevada by telephone for a verification. The law in Nevada is very specific:

In Nevada, no unlicensed person may “engage in the business of private investigator” or “advertise his business as such, irrespective of the name or title actually used.” N.R.S. § 648.060. Compliance with the statute and regulations is monitored by the Private Investigator’s Licensing Board (“Board”). N.R.S. § 648.030. The penalties for engaging in the business of private investigator without a license are stiff: (1) a first offense is a misdemeanor; and (2) second or subsequent offenses are gross misdemeanors. N.R.S. § 648.210. Accompanying fines range from $2,500 (first offense) to $10,000 (three or more offenses) per violation. N.R.S. § 648.165. Even a single act of private investigatory work by an unlicensed individual is considered a violation of the statute. N.R.S. § 648.063.

The Nevada board interprets the statute to require that a corporation obtain a license even if it operates through a licensed private investigator with whom it has entered into an independent contractor agreement. When posed with this scenario, a board official stated that the corporation would still be regarded as engaging in investigative activity subject to the licensing requirements. Many States have adopted statues specifically excluding Consumer Reporting Agencies (CRA’s). Ohio, our home state, is a great example:

Ohio Revised Code; Title XLVII, Chapter 4749; § 4749.01. Definitions (H) “Private investigator,” “business of private investigation,” “security guard provider,” and “business of security services” do not include: (3) A consumer reporting agency, as defined in the “Fair Credit Reporting Act,” 84 Stat. 1128, 15 U.S.C.A. 1681a, as amended, provided that the consumer reporting agency is in compliance with the requirements of that act and that the agency’s activities are confined to any of the following: (a) The issuance of consumer credit reports; (b) The conducting of limited background investigations that pertain only to a client’s prospective tenant and that are engaged in with the prior written consent of the prospective tenant; (c) The business of pre-employment background investigation. As used in division (H)(3)(c) of this section, “business of pre-employment background investigation” means, and is limited to, furnishing for hire, in person or through a partner or employees, the conducting of limited background investigations, in-person interviews, telephone interviews, or written inquiries that pertain only to a client’s prospective employee and the employee’s employment and that are engaged in with the prior written consent of the prospective employee.

When doing RFP’s for background screening companies or when you are simply giving your process a “chest x-ray” (Thank you Thomas Friedman - The World is Flat) , be sure to inquire if the proper licensing is in place. While we don’t agree with the law, and either does the industry association NAPBS, we have been unable to challenge it. In 2005, NAPBS did a position paper on the subject. The general consensus was that they agree with PI licensing laws for those in the field of Private Investigations. We don’t believe employment screening should fall under this umbrella. Without getting too technical, PI’s develop information about subjects. CRA’s are given written authority and verify information that is provided. employeescreenIQ is licensed in the state of Nevada to perform Private Investigations and thus Employment Screening. Is your provider?

by Nick Fishman

Reuters is reporting that foreign airport workers with access to commercial aircraft in the UK have not undergone a background check.  (See full story)

This is flat-out scary and the assessment in the article that this unfortunate loophole never represented a security threat is a joke.  If it never represented a threat, then why have they indicated that this oversight needed to be correct right away?

Some thing stinks across the pond!

I don’t believe that the security experts who are paid to sweat the details just forgot that screening needed to take place.  International background screening probably just wasn’t as readily available or as easily understood as it is today.  As time passed, it was probably just forgotten.  With the information available today, there is no excuse for not performing a more thorough search.

by Jason Morris

In our series Employment Screening 101 we discussed a new important service, IQ Review.  Here is a story out of Atlanta proving why perpetual employee screening is so important.

DOT Workers Fired For Violence, Theft, Porn

ATLANTA — More than 40 employees have been fired from the Georgia Department of Transportation for a wide array of misconduct including incidents of assault, drugs pornography and nudity, since the new DOT Commissioner took charge.

Through an open records request WSB-TV Channel 2 obtained documents from the DOT that in some cases read like a police report.

“I had just received a plethora of employee issues that just were absolutely unacceptable,” said DOT commissioner Gena Abraham.

When the new DOT commissioner came under fire for admitting to a romantic relationship with the DOT board chairman some called her a hypocrite for releasing a memo holding her employees to the highest moral and ethical standards.

But documents obtained by WSB-TV Channel 2 may justify the need for the memo.

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by Jason Morris

My twenty part series on Employment Screening 101 has come to an end! The theme of the series aside from the obvious is accuracy. Answering the question “do you conduct background checks on your employees” is usually an easy question to answer. The difficult question is “are you screening your employees properly?”

Through this series we have taken a look at most facets of a quality employment background check. We started with the first step, The Social Security Number Trace and journeyed through the different types of criminal searches. Beyond criminal records we discovered the many areas of a resume that need to be verified and ended with some very specific types of background investigations. It is hard for me to quantify which particular search is more important than the other; to me they can all be equally important depending on the job responsibilities. Albert Einstein once said “If the facts don’t fit the theory, change the facts.” It’s more important than ever to look beyond the job application and truly verify every aspect of the candidates’ history.

Every presentation I have ever given has started with a famous quote by Aldous Huxley “Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.” At employeescreenIQ our passion for what we do is exemplified in this quote because, we know the facts and that’s why we exist!

by Jason Morris

IQ Review is a perpetual screening program designed for our clients’ current employees. IQ Review was launched last month and the response has been overwhelming. Issues such as workplace violence and employee theft have led employers to want to expand their employment screening program to their current workforce.

While a comprehensive pre-employment background check allows you to make an informed hiring decision and reduce risk in the workplace at the time of hire, it can only provide insight into information available at the time of the background check.

For security conscious organizations, IQ™Review provides assurance that valued employees continue to represent the same professional standards and character demonstrated at the time of hire.

Services offered for IQ Review are:

• Countywide Felony and Misdemeanor Search
• Federal District Criminal Search
• National Database Criminal Record Search
• Motor Vehicle Record Check
• Sex Offender Registry
• Homeland Security Check
• Infinity Screening

For most of these searches it is only necessary to search in their current jurisdiction. Perpetual screening will become more important in the coming years as workplace violence and negligent hiring lawsuits continue to make the news!

by Nick Fishman

If you’ve been following the on-going drama of NASA’s quest to perform background checks on their contractors, I’ve got an update:  Nothing has changed . . . again.  The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected NASA’s request to lift the injunction it imposed earlier to stop them from conducting background checks on a group of 27 contractors (full story).

It seemed that the biggest issue that the contractors had was that they didn’t think NASA should have the right to dig into their personal lives including their sexual orientation and family lives.  You wonder if NASA really needs that type of information.  Stay tuned.  We’ll keep following this soap-opera.

by Jason Morris

Ever peel an onion? I hate the saying but in many ways peeling an onion is like setting up an employment screening program for an organization. In various sections of this series, Employment Screening 101, we have discussed different services to use when screening your candidates. What we have yet to discuss are the industries where very specific services and/or process must be followed. This discussion will not be all inclusive; I will use a few examples so feel free to contact us if you need more information.

Several industries require certain services and others require very specific processes when ordering the background checks. A few of these industries include: Aviation, Transportation (DOT), Insurance, Banking, Heath care and Energy to name a few. One must be very careful to make sure all regulations are being followed and results are being adjudicated accordingly.

Some industries are quite simple. The Insurance industry requires a “lifetime search” due to the Insurance Fraud Prevention Act. This act is part of an Omnibus Crime Bill, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. (18 U.S.C. § 1033). For our purposes the act is specific where it does not allow work in the insurance field after conviction of a crime involving dishonesty. However, the act fails to specifically lay out these crimes. In a nutshell a very comprehensive search must be done to uncover all crimes involving dishonesty for all years since the applicant or candidate was 18 years old. The results bring up an exciting argument of preemption but that’s a topic for a later date.

In aviation there are several mandates and federal laws that must be followed. Commercial airline pilots are required to have a very specific type of background check conducted. Among a slew of screening requirements are FAA Pilot Certifications, Pilots Records Improvement Act (PRIA) Searches, National Drivers Registry (NDR) Searches and a few more. (Listing and explaining all of these would be a series on its own).

Be very careful when setting up your screening program if you are in a regulated industry. Ensure that your screening provider can develop a comprehensive program that not only keeps your workforce safe but also is in compliance with any Local, State and/or Federal Mandates.