by Jason Morris

I am not a fan of reality television, I don’t watch a single one of them.  I wish I knew about The Apprentice on the BBC in the UK, I understand it has sparked a nationwide debate on CV lies.  I wrote about this last week without understanding the true impact, this guy flat out lied on national television. This story will now be included in my future presentations. Lee McQueen will now be mentioned with the same vigor as George O’leary, Marilee Jones and Robert Irvine! Its nice to see the importance of doing background checks get some international attention.

Michelle Rodger: Liar beware: porkies on your CV will come back to haunt you

By Michelle Rodger

I UNDERSTAND Sir Alan Sugar is already looking for new victims (sorry, contestants) for next year’s Apprentice. The recruitment advert on the BBC Apprentice website makes for interesting reading: “As usual he will be looking for someone ‘drop dead shrewd’ – someone with some business experience and obvious real potential, a leader with a wide range of skills, who is creative, sparky and bright.”

Sounds about right, doesn’t it? But wait a minute, there’s something missing, what could it be? Spelling ability? No, that isn’t important for an Apprenticeship. Oh, that’s it, there’s no mention of skills in CV-manipulation. Nor an ability to turn four months into two years.

Step up Lee McQueen, Apprentice contestant, time traveller and alleged university graduate. Tut tut tut. What a naughty boy.

I have to be honest, Lee wouldn’t have got past the very first stage in my company recruitment process. Did you see the spelling and grammar on his CV (”tommorrow”, “ambtion” and “recoinged” just for starters)? Interview him? I think not. Appalling. But worse, much worse, was his dishonesty.

Lying on his CV about the dates he attended university was bad enough, but when caught out by Sir Alan’s Viglen chief executive Bordan Tkachuk, he blatantly lied again and failed to apologise when backed so far into a corner his backside must have been positively triangular.

Surely BBC researchers would have checked the facts when Lee applied to take part? Or did they already know and allow him through, knowing it would all come tumbling out in the end to make for great Wednesday night viewing?

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by Jason Morris

Don’t Get Caught out Like Sir Alan When Hiring your Next Apprentice

Wednesday’s edition of The Apprentice contained the revelation that one of Sir Alan Sugar’s potential apprentices, Lee McQueen, had lied on his CV about his education.

Angus Sim, director in PricewaterhouseCoopers forensics practice has the following advice for companies looking to avoid a similar pitfall:

“Clearly the discovery of fraud on Lee’s CV at such a late stage in the competition was embarrassing for Sir Alan, but he is one of many bosses throughout the UK having the wool pulled over their eyes by potential employees. Research shows that up to 25% of jobseekers in the UK lie on their CVs to impress their prospective boss.

“It is tempting to say that CV fraud has always been in existence, but there are a number of factors exacerbating this. For example, the flexible and increasingly mobile labour market makes it easier for people to leave details of their past behind as they move from one place to another. In addition, there is far greater emphasis being placed on getting a candidate on board quickly at the expense of any real effort taken to perform basic checks.

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by Jason Morris

Its obvious this teachers “union” does not read the employeescreenIQ blog.  Its even more obvious that this group has not done any research on safety in our schools. I can’t believe that this Union can oppose this with a straight face! I empower and encourage all of them to read the articles and postings at employeescreen University.

Teachers call criminal record check law useless
Janet Steffenhagen, Vancouver Sun
Published: Monday, June 02, 2008

BRITISH COLUMBIA - The B.C. College of Teachers is mounting a campaign against a new law requiring adults who work with children to have criminal record checks every five years.

The college says the law, as it pertains to teachers, is useless and it hopes to persuade trustees, principals, parents, school staff and first nations to join its call for government to fix it.

It has invited all education partners to a forum June 17 to discuss what could be done instead to better protect children in schools.

“This legislation is bizarre,” Richard Walker, chair of the college’s governing council, said of the law that took effect Jan. 1.

“It’s useless and it’s going to be very costly at the end of the day.”

The B.C. School Trustees’ Association shares the college’s concerns about the law.

“We’re not convinced it is the most effective way of improving student safety,” president Connie Denesiuk said in an interview, adding that she is looking forward to hearing the college’s presentation at the forum.

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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 Natalie Beck

I find it difficult to accurately convey my thoughts on this story as I think the title speaks volumes by itself. And, quite honestly, I’m extremely dumbfounded that almost seven years after 9/11, this type of oversight on the part of a major airline has even occurred.

We cannot stress enough how important it is for employers to conduct background checks on their employees. Furthermore, it is equally important to screen those who are working for your business in any capacity – volunteers, contractors, part-time, seasonal, etc. For the safety and security of your employees, customers, students, friends, and/or family that enter the confines of your business, you just have to know who you have working for you. You are taking a very big risk if you don’t.

Afghan Hijacker Found Working as Cleaner at Heathrow Airport

FOX News - Friday, May 16, 2008

An Afghan hijacker who won the right to live in England is working at Heathrow Airport in London as a cleaner in the British Airways training center, the Daily Mail reported.

Nazamuddin Mohammidy, 34, was among nine hijackers who in 2000 diverted an Ariana Airlines flight with 160 passengers on board to Stansted Airport in Essex, England.

The group, armed with guns and hand grenades, claimed it was fleeing the Taliban and threatened to kill all the passengers unless they were granted asylum. It took four days for the hijackers to surrender.

Mohammidy appeared in court this week after police pulled him over while he was driving a car around the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow, the Daily Mail reported.

At first authorities thought he was an unlicensed cab driver but were shocked to discover he was one of the hijackers and had a British Airways pass on him.

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by Jason Morris

The results were ignored? Whats the point!! Screening employees in Australia has been a hot topic “down under” over the years. From our research Australia, like the US, embraces the concept of employment screening.

Meagher defends disgraced doctor reference check claims

New South Wales Health Minister Reba Meagher has rejected suggestions she misled State Parliament by saying no background checks were performed on a far south coast disgraced doctor.

The State Opposition has released a diary note from a senior Health Department executive which it says shows one of Dr Graeme Reeves’ referees warning the doctor was not meant to do obstetrics.

The Opposition says the diary entry shows background checks were done on Dr Reeves, but were then ignored.

Ms Meagher has told Parliament she stands by her previous comments.

“The Opposition are being quite disingenuous with the way they are waving around a handwritten note … and trying to purport that in fact that is in some way an official record of a background check because it is simply not,” she said.

State Labor MP Mick Veitch has also been drawn into the scandal involving the disgraced doctor.

Mr Veitch used to be the deputy chairman of the Southern Area Health Service and its board minutes show that in 2002 he personally signed off on the appointment of Dr Reeves.

Opposition health spokeswoman Jillian Skinner says there are now even more questions to be answered about the appointment of the doctor.

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by Nick Fishman

A new study on Substance Abuse conducted in Perth, Australia shows that 1 in 3 meth users admit to getting high on the job. 4% of the Australian workers surveyed admitted to recent use of ice, speed or other forms of methamphetamine. This results of this survey shouldn’t really shock anyone. You might recall a U.S. study released in July, 2007 showed that 1 in 12 U.S. workers had used drugs within a month of the time of the study. These two studies scream out to employers the need to conduct Substance Abuse Screening on all new hires.

by Kevin Bachman

An interesting article about doing background checks in Australia. It seems in theory that our Aussie friends are a few years behind us, but still seeing the importance of doing employment screening. Check out this article, Protect yourself from fraud in the Herald Sun.

by Jason Morris

One of the newest trends in the employment screening industry is the rise in International Background Checks. For years U.S. employers have searched for ways to screen their foreign employees with little success. In fact, for many years employeescreenIQ was one of the few companies that was able to adequately offer this service on a consistent basis. employeescreenIQ has not only serviced our thousands of U.S. clients internationally but also helped many foreign companies as well. Our client base spans many different nations including a few that our supporting our troops in the middle east. We were one of the first firms to be Safe Harbor Certified and have maintained this certification since 2004.

The National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS) has formed a new committee to help screening companies expand their services in a legal compliant manner. As many of you know I have been very involved in NAPBS since the beginning and I applaud the association on this effort.

See Release:

New International Alliance Aims to Strengthen Background Screening and Security Worldwide

American Organization Takes Lead Role in Effort

Durham, NC (PRWEB) November 5, 2007 — As global terrorism and violence have become a strong reality in our current era, security has developed as a focal issue for companies and organizations that seek to hire talent from other countries and/or establish operations abroad. In response, the representatives of the global background investigation and screening community have formed an international alliance designed to facilitate collaboration and networking among screening firms on all continents, and in countries as diverse as Canada and India. More