It used to be that a resume, completed application and a new set of clothes was all you needed to land that new job,  However, these days many employers are doing pre-employment screening as a common practice.  Included in that process may be your credit report.  Under the Federal FACT ACT everyone is entitled to one free credit report, per year,  from one of the three credit bureaus TransUnion, Experian & Equifax.  It is a good idea to look at your credit report, before your potential employer does, to fix any incorrect information or just to see where you stand.  A credit report should be run only when it directly relates to the position that you are applying for.  However, there are many intrepretations of what is “job related”. You must also authorize the obtaining of the report in writing. To summarize, employers feel that if you cannot handle your own money, they don’t want you to take care of theirs.  There are also some who believe how you handle your money shows character traits and responsible behavior.  What does your credit report say about you?

Popularity: 34% [?]

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Imagine hiring an employee and then finding out he has been accused of rape.  This is just what happened in the case of Andrew Bolsinger. 

 If you do not perform an employment background check prior to hiring, he or someone like him may be your next employee.  Employee screening will show patterns of past behavior.  It is not just the criminal element, there are many warning signs in the employment history and driving history. 

Have your employees screened by professionals with experience.  Then if something happens to your customers or employees you have done your best to prevent it.  A court of law looks favorably on that.  It is called Due Diligence with respect to hiring practices.  Employers Reference Source provides risk assessments at no charge.  How vulnerable are you?

Popularity: 57% [?]

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Do not take things at face value, especially education credentials.  Right now on the internet you can purchase an authentic looking diploma for any degree you wish.  The package also comes with student transcripts, documented membership in student body council and an alumni sticker for your car window.  I am not kidding, an alumni sticker!With all of this possible, it would be foolish to not have education verification as part of your employee screening process. 

 To spot a fake, follow these steps. 

Look closely at how the institution name is spelled.  With a change of one letter, it is not forgery.  Universty of Kentucky?

Call the institution directly, with a phone number you obtain, to verify the degree.  Some applicants will provide false phone numbers and have friends answer the phone with the information.   

Ask the institution to fax you a copy of the diploma and compare it with the diploma that the applicant provides.

 Or, have a professional employment background check done.

The short time it takes to check out the documents will save you much time and headaches in the long run

Popularity: 100% [?]

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Does a National Background Check Exist? In a word, no!  Other employee screening companies may offer a service called a National Background Check, but as of yet there is no one source for all records in the entire nation. There are database searches that might have some records from some counties in some states, but there is no such thing as a database with all records from all counties in all states. For example, California has 58 counties total and at last count, only 11 of these counties report to the databases. Do the math and you can see the probability of missing out on important information! In addition, these 11 counties aren’t even required by law to report anything, so you can see how the accuracy is questionable. Also keep in mind that most counties that do report to these databases only do so quarterly, so you are probably not getting up to date information.  Lastly, an employer will not meet FCRA compliancy if they are only using database information when making a hiring decision. This is why when you are doing an employee screening, it is imperative that you do a county criminal search for each county an applicant has been in for 7 years.   

Popularity: 45% [?]

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Employers must have personal information about their employees including Social Security numbers, date of birth and full name.  This information is crucial to the employer for them to comply with hiring laws.

Recently, Oregon and Washington passed legislation regarding how this information is protected, stored and destroyed.  An article regarding New Employee Privacy Rights in Oregon and Washington explains the requirements.

We would think that common sense would dictate taking special care with employee’s personal information.  Yet, we frequently hear stories of personal information being disposed of improperly or made available to identity thieves.  Now each business must have a security plan and breach notification procedures.  There are regulations that spell out exactly what must be done and the business may be held accountable.

Maybe the new regulations will make a business think twice before handling employee information in an unsecure manner.  What do you think?  Comments Welcome!

Popularity: 55% [?]

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Many businesses feel that they do not have the money to do employee screening. 

Fact:    30% of all business failures are due to employee theft

Fact:     The average award in a Negligent Hiring Lawsuit is $1 Million Dollars

Fact:     The direct and indirect average cost of employee turnover is 1.5 times the

               annual salary of that position.

The cost of employee screening should be considered as an essential part of operating costs.  It is just as important as keeping the lights on and paying the vendors.  It only takes one bad hire to devestate a business. 

 The time and money that is saved by not doing employee screening will be more than lost in defending a negligent hiring lawsuit.

Popularity: 53% [?]

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As a private company, you can be put out of business by the actions of just one employee. As a governmental agency, poor hiring practices can increase insurance costs and cast a negative light on all you do. That’s why employee screening and pre-employment background checks are so important in today’s employment environment.

Employment background checks, employee screening and pre-employment background checks have become one of the best ways for employers to avoid exposure. Pre-employment screening services from ERS can protect your company or agency from liability damages and a negligent hiring suit.

Checking employment references and verifying previous employment can be a time consuming activity for an employer or HR department. Slight embellishments or outright lying on a resume can cause significant problems for a company after a hire is made.

Popularity: 71% [?]

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