by Nick Fishman

Employers Cut Fewer Jobs In April, Jobless Rate Falls

Economists seem to be encouraged by the U.S. Labor Department announcement that only 20,000 jobs were lost in April. They were expecting losses of up to 75,000 jobs. 81,000 jobs were lost in March. I guess this is good news for all of us and the economy as long as we aren’t one of the 20,000 people who lost our jobs.

Hopefully there will be more good news to follow in the coming months.

See the Labor Department Release

See the Commissioner’s Statement

by Natalie Beck

Yet another shining example of someone working with children that should not have been. This just goes to show that school officials should make sure that the proper screening procedures are followed before a person is placed in a position of authority at a school. It’s one thing for the employee/volunteer to have a criminal past, but quite another when this person is contributing to the delinquency of those he is supposed to be supervising.

Click here for the story

by Nick Fishman

We just published the 2008 2nd Quarter issue of The Verifier, employeescreenIQ’s background-screening quarterly newsletter.   Take a peek when you get a chance.

The Verifier

by Nick Fishman

Herbalife, a publicly traded corporation just confirmed that their president and Chief Operating Officer failed to complete the MBA he claimed to receive on his resume (Herbalife Statement).  Isn’t it amazing how often we see stories such as these?  Not really!  Face it people, in this information age there are no secrets.  What amazes me is that this information was never revealed in a background check.  You would think it might be important for Herbalife to know this information, right? A simple Education Verification would have provided them with the 411.

Here’s the thing.  I don’t know this individual or about his job performance, but you have to do a lot of impressive things to become a president of a globally recognized publicly traded company.  My guess is his experience and hard work got him to the top.  Unfortunately, it is a little “inconsequential” lie that will surely lead to great consequences.

by Jason Morris

Here is an interesting case related to doing employment background investigations! I have been in this industry for a long time and have yet to see a case like this.  This could be an interesting test of the FCRA, EEOC Title VII and I am certain several State Statutes.  If they are unable to settle this outside of court I guarantee this won’t be the last time you hear about this case.

Plaintiff wins round in transgender case

By MARY FLOOD
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

She says she didn’t get the job because she was born male.

The company says it wasn’t that, claiming she misrepresented herself.

In a letter rescinding the job, the employer complained she presented herself as a woman at her interview, but the background check revealed she was a man.

And the judge said that despite requests to end the case now, this closely watched lawsuit will go forward to mediation and, if necessary, to a jury.

More

by Jason Morris

More often than not we write our blog articles about background checks in relation to employment. In my opinion one of the most important laws we have in place today is the Brady Bill. The Brady Bill while still flawed in many ways has brought the concept of background checks to the forefront. Officially called The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993, it was signed into law by President Clinton in November of 1993. The act was named after James Brady, who was shot by John Hinckley, Jr. during an attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981.

According to bradycampaign.org, a group devoted to prevent gun violence, the US Department of Justice has released some new figures.

The U.S. Department of Justice just released Brady background check figures for 2006, and they show continued success for this life-saving law:

• Almost 1.5 million prohibited purchasers have been denied at the point of sale since 1994.

• Between 1999 and 2006, 11,058 denied purchasers were arrested by the authorities after they attempted to purchase a gun, with 1,314 arrests in 2006 alone.

• Nearly 40% of the denials in 2006 involved individuals with felony records attempting to purchase firearms. (In fact, 6 out of every 1,000 applications in 2006 were made by felons.)

• From 1999-2006, 183,714 NICS denials were appealed, or 15.5% of total denials during that period (almost 1.2 million), and of those appeals, only 65,695, or about 5.5% of total denials, were reversed.

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by Nick Fishman

Careerbuilder.com recently released a survey on the “10 Wackiest Mistakes Candidates Made in Job Interviews“. This is hysterical and well worth the read.

The list includes the following whoopers:

• Candidate answered cell phone and asked the interviewer to leave her own office because it was a “private” conversation.
• Candidate told the interviewer he wouldn’t be able to stay with the job long because he thought he might get an inheritance if his uncle died - and his uncle wasn’t “looking too good.”
• Candidate asked the interviewer for a ride home after the interview.
• Candidate smelled his armpits on the way to the interview room.
• Candidate said she could not provide a writing sample because all of her writing had been for the CIA and it was “classified.”
• Candidate told the interviewer he was fired for beating up his last boss.
• When applicant was offered food before the interview, he declined saying he didn’t want to line his stomach with grease before going out drinking.
• A candidate for an accounting position said she was a “people person” not a “numbers person.”
• Candidate flushed the toilet while talking to interviewer during phone interview.
• Candidate took out a hair brush and brushed her hair.

by Nick Fishman

Our good friend Keith Greene is leaving the Society of Human Resource Managers (SHRM) effective tomorrow (4/4/08) to pursue greener pastures. Keith has been a pillar over there for sometime now and he will definitely be missed. He certainly has earned our respect and we have a great deal of admiration for him. Here’s hoping we have an opportunity to work with Keith again no matter where he goes from here.

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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