by Nick Fishman

Check out our podcast of This Week in Background Checks from the Week of November 3rd.  Topics discussed include:

• Recap of the ERE Conference
• Governor of Ohio’s Background Check on “Joe The Plumber”
• Affects of the Presidential Election on Background
• FTC Red Flags Guidelines
• Fake Claims of Military Honors

Enjoy!  Have a great weekend.

by Nick Fishman

Have you missed TWIB Notes?  Okay, pretend you did.  Sorry we haven’t done this in a while.  October usually brings a heavy travel schedule and this year has been no different.  So let’s catch up with some highlights from employeescreen University over the past couple weeks.

Legislative Updates

• The FTC “Red Flag” Guidelines take effect November 1, 2008.  Among those affected are any employers who conduct background checks.  So if you are actually reading this post, this probably means you.  We just recorded at Webinar with labor and employment attorney Pam Devata of Seyfarth Shaw which describes what these guidelines are and how you can get in compliance.  The Free Webinar can be downloaded at http://university.employeescreen.com/white_papers
• The Governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed California Assembly Bill #2918 which would have severely restricted employers’ use of credit reports when conducting background checks in California.  This was a surprising turn of events and a big win for the states’ employers.

Conference Wrap Ups and Upcoming Events

• HR Technology Conference (Discussed in Podcast version of TWIB Notes)
• ASHHRA Conference (Discussed in Podcast version of TWIB Notes)
• NAPBS Mid Year Meeting (Discussed in Podcast version of TWIB Notes)
• BNHRA Speaking Engagement- On October 23rd, I will be speaking on Top Technology Trends in Background Checks
• ERE Fall Expo- We will be exhibiting October 29th and 30th

Research

• We recently conducted a study which revealed the nearly 10% of job applicants falsify their academic credentials
• As a follow up to the study we published our internal resource to identify known diploma mills.  This resource can be downloaded at our white paper site

Special Announcements

• employeescreenIQ has recently announced a strategic alliance with applicant tracking solutions provider, myStaffingPro as a pre-integrated solution

Okay, that’s all we’ve got for this installment.  Check out the podcast version of these TWIB Notes below.

by Nick Fishman

Happy Friday!  I’ll dispose of our normal intro to this segment and jump right into this week’s TWIB Notes (This Week in Background Checks).  Here’s what you missed:

• White Paper: employeescreenIQ’s Guide to Identifying Diploma Mills and Other Fake Academic Credentials- This free white paper is a must for employers who want to reduce the opportunity of hiring those with fake degrees.
• Nevada Agency Releases Flawed Background Checks- Evidently the state was using the wrong criteria for making hiring decisions and denied employment to many who should have qualified.  To make matters worse, they never notified applicants’ as to why they were denied employment
• Proposed Legislation in Pennsylvania Could Lead to More Expunged Records
• International Recruiting- American nurses are in short supply!  Should overseas candidate’s be screened?
• employeescreenIQ Named to Fastest Growing Company List for 4th Consecutive Year- Just living the dream!

That’s all we’ve got.  See you next week.  For those masochists out there, check out our podcast of this week’s TWIB Notes below.

by Jason Morris

Time again for our TWIB Notes (This Week in Backgrounds).   If you hadn’t had time to check our blog or employeescreen University, here’s what you’ve missed.

A few blog stories we wanted to highlight this week:

City of Tallahassee Ending Background Checks.  They site the fact that of the 714 checks that they’ve performed on those seeking promotions, only one check has caused them to deny a promotion.

A Pittsburgh newspaper reports sports officials have criminal records. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette launched a 9-month investigation into the backgrounds of registered Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletics Association (PIAA) referees and can you guess what they found?  They discovered ”dozens of officials had convictions involving child pornography, molestation charges, drug offenses and assaults, among other offenses.”

Hurricane Ike. As you know, the city of Houston, TX and surrounding areas suffered heavy damages caused by Hurricane Ike.  Currently (at the time of this post) 93% of those in Harris County (Houston) are without power.  Neighboring counties of Brazoria, Montgomery and Fort Bend are also largely without power.  And of course, many people are returning to severely damaged homes.

Blog Rumble. We have been pretty vocal about our opposition to the use of Social Networking Sites for employment screening purposes and have not heard many counter arguments from respected voices. Until Now.

We also posted a new guest article on employeesceen Univeristy.  Attorney Seth Brisking writes about Complying with the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

You can also download a podcast of This Week in Backgrounds (TWIB Notes) on our iTunes Channel or by listening below:

by Nick Fishman

We’re happy to provide this week’s TWIB Notes as you head into your Labor Day Weekend.  In case you missed our various blog posts and employeescreen University news and notes, here’s a recap of the highlights:

Newsworthy Items

• More Fallout from St. Regis Diploma Mill Scam- Poor Regis University is caught in the aftermath
• Background Checks in Schools- We finally found a positive story about background checks in school.  As we send our kids back to school, usually scratch our heads and ask why schools can’t get this right

Court Closures

• Many state of Louisiana Parishes have announced court closures as they brace for Hurricane Gustav
• All U.S. Courts will be closed for Labor Day Monday, September 1st

Legislative Update

• California Employers Beware on AB 2918 - If passed this bill would severely restrict the use of employment credit reports by California employers.

That’s all I’ve got!  Have a great long, happy and safe Labor Day weekend.

Listen to the TWIB Podcast below:

by Jason Morris

In addition to the subject matter content expert podcast interviews from this year’s SHRM Conference, we also  conducted “man [or woman] on the street” interviews with some of the attendees that stopped by the employeescreenIQ booth.  Today, we are excited to posting the last of these interviews.  Among the topics discussed were their thoughts and attitudes and employment screening and background checks. Our favorite responses came when we asked about the biggest resume lies they had seen over the years.

Derek Moss, Director ISR HR - University of Michigan

Veronica Michie, Director of HR - Howard County Health Department

Letie Spiak, HR Director - Tuthill

Tanisha Morris, HR - RJ O'Brien & Associates

by Jason Morris

In addition to the subject matter content expert podcast interviews from this year’s SHRM Conference, we also conducted “man [or woman] on the street” interviews with some of the attendees that stopped by the employeescreenIQ booth.  Last week we posted the first few attendee interviews.  Here are three more!  Among the topics discussed were their thoughts and attitudes and employment screening and background checks. Our favorite responses came when we asked about the biggest resume lies they had seen over the years.

Karen Conaway, SR HR Rep at Delta Faucet

Carrie Tuma, HR Specialist - Villa St. Benedict

Ryan Anderson, HR Rep - Foundation Coal West, Inc.

by Jason Morris

In addition to the subject matter content expert podcast interviews from this year’s SHRM Conference, we also conducted “man [or woman] on the street” interviews with some of the attendees that stopped by the employeescreenIQ booth.  Today, we are excited to post the first few attendee interviews.  Among the topics discussed were their thoughts and attitudes and employment screening and background checks. Our favorite responses came when we asked about the biggest resume lies they had seen over the years.

Moira Long, Director of HR at the Mann Eye Institute

Steven Wolf, President of Pendeo Homecare

Erica Leezer, HR Generalist at Harley Davidson Financial Services

by Jason Morris

The employeescreenIQ podcast channel is now live on our blog.  Since the beginning of July we have been posting some exciting podcasts from this year’s SHRM Conference.  In the coming weeks you will find many more exciting podcasts covering a myriad of topics and issues. If you have suggestions on future broadcasts, feel free to email us!

Visit the Podcast Channel Here!

Subscribe to iTunes Channel Here!

by Jason Morris