by Nick Fishman

Hayes International just completed its 19th Annual Retail Theft Survey and I found the results to be very interesting. See in particular some bullet points related to employee theft. Remaining highlights of the study can be viewed by clicking the hyperlink above.

Employee Theft
• In 2006, survey participants apprehended 66,507 dishonest employees, an increase of 6.57 percent over 2005’s apprehensions.
• Dollars recovered from dishonest employee apprehensions totaled over $56.6 million in 2006, a substantial increase of 16.44 percent over 2005’s recovery dollars ($48.6 million).
• One out of every 27.9 employees was apprehended for theft from their employer in 2006. (Based on comparison data of over 1.85 million employees.)
• The average dishonest employee case value in 2006 was $851.44, a 9.26 percent increase over 2005 ($779.27).

by Nick Fishman

Beware colleges and universities. If you end up getting called out in this blog for failure to protect your school, it is only a matter of time until you change your tune. Last month we highlighted an incident at Colorado University where a school employer with a criminal past stabbed a student. No background check was conducted. This blogger was the first to tell you about it (maybe not) and the school quickly announced that their non-screening days were over.

So it was no surprise to me when the University of Kansas said that they will reconsider their policies on conducting employee background checks after we called them out earlier this week. (Please feel free to clap for me while I am patting myself on the back).

Seriously, it is a wonder to me that in this day and age any organization, corporation or academic institution needs to be convinced that employment background checks are a good idea. Not conducting them is simply mismanagement and neglect of the organization itself, its employees and the people they serve. It does seem that the last bastion of those putting their heads in the sand are our nation’s universities and it is time for change.

by Jason Morris

by Jason Morris

I am an avid user of Digg and today they had a funny posting. CNN Fortune is listing the 10 dumbest job-interview moves! Enjoy!

by Nick Fishman

The Wall Street Journal recently published an article entitled Silence Is Golden Rule For Résumés of People Who Have Broken It. It talks about a book written by author Wendy Enelow which seeks to educate ex-convicts how to mislead employers with their resumes. One example is of an applicant who put on their resume that they spent the last four years working for State Use Industries. This happens to be the state of Maryland’s prison industry arm.

While I don’t necessarily like the fact that people are being taught to fudge resumes, I think that this serves as an interesting case study. First, employers need to vigilant in checking references as well as conducting criminal background checks. Second, the author of this book should be careful about the advice she provides. Yes, people with past convictions often times have trouble finding gainful employment. This is a problem. However, even if the resume with misleading facts gets past the first stage, the employee still needs to answer the question on the job application as to whether they have been convicted of a crime. If they answer “yes”, they are still in the same boat they were in before sending the resume. If they answer “no”, they have now falsified an application which is usually grounds for termination. If the company runs a thorough background check and, or conducts employment verifications, they are going to find this information.

The author also says the same advice applies to people who have experienced extensive illness which has caused them to have gaps in employment. Maybe I’m naive, but lying and misleading about such gaps seems like bad advice. Why not write a cover letter explaining the gap? Again, if the employer feels like you’ve intentionally covered something up, who wins?

Admittedly, I have not read the book. Just the article as it was presented by the Wall Street Journal, but I certainly hope that the author of this book explains the shortfalls of engaging in practices such as those mentioned.

by Nick Fishman

So instead of slamming the Cincinnati Public School system for not conducting background checks up until now, I’ll congratulate them on making a wise decision and use the findings published in the Cincinnati Enquirer as a cautionary tale for those responsible for protecting our students what you might be exposing yourself and the people you represent to if you do not. After conducting a cursory database criminal records check, the schools found the 1 in 4 drivers had some type of criminal record. Records were are serious as drunken driving and domestic violence. That’s a little scary. Imagine what they would have found it they did a more thorough check!

by Nick Fishman

I found an article on NorthJersey.com about the importance of conducting a background check on new employees and I thought it would be a good idea to discuss criminal background checks in the state of New Jersey. Of course, I agree that it is a good practice to conduct background checks wherever you are located however, I believe that employers also need to know what type of information they can obtain.

In the state of New Jersey’s case, did you know that misdemeanor convictions are not made publicly available in the Upper Courts? Therefore a standard criminal background check in the Upper Court in this state will not include such convictions. You can still get felonies, but misdemeanors are not provided. Misdemeanors convictions are maintained in the municipal courts, but since there are so many of these courts, you would have to check all of them to identify any criminal records. Therefore, the only realistic way to research misdemeanor convictions is to know that they exist and in what court they were prosecuted.

This wouldn’t cause me to tell employers to abandon their screening practices when hiring in this state, it’s just important to have all the facts. I don’t know why the state has done this, but I strongly disagree with the policy. It makes the process that much more difficult for employers that want to evaluate such convictions before making an informed hiring decision.

by Jason Morris

I was quoted in this months Security Management Magazine, a publication put out by ASIS International. The article is entitled “Checking IT Backgrounds”, Enjoy!

by Nick Fishman

Today, September 11, 2007 marks the 6th anniversary of arguably the worst attack on U.S. soil in our nation’s history. We all know where we were when this horrible tradgedy unfolded and it is my hope that for at least one day we can all reflect on the events of that day and remember those who lost their lives and, or loved ones.

by Jason Morris

(CBS) NEW YORK Your child’s soccer coach, your landscaper, the handyman? Do you know who these people are?

“There are essentially unhealthy people out there, predators that come into our lives looking like and acting like they’re just good natured people,” said security expert, Robert Siciliano. So to be sure you know who you’re dealing with, take your own precautions.

More - Including footage from employeescreenIQ President Jason B. Morris