Tag Archives: Criminal Background Check

Penn State puts stronger background check policy in place

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The effects of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse case will be echoing through Happy Valley for a long time, and in many ways. One of the latest came last week, when a new Penn State University background check policy went into effect. The policy requires final job candidates and third-party employees who are offered employment undergo a criminal background check before they are hired to work at the university.

Three of the university’s existing policies (HR69, HR95 and HR96) were combined into the new HR99 policy, “Background Check Process,” which has incorporated a more comprehensive procedure that also ensures compliance with recently issued federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidelines on background checks.

The new policy establishes a clear process to ensure that a candidate’s criminal history and any potential child abuse records are reviewed. Background checks will be used solely to evaluate candidates’ eligibility to be engaged in any work capacity by the university. In addition, current employees who are considered to be in “sensitive/critical” positions, as defined in the policy, must complete background checks if they have not already been completed. Positions with responsibility for protected, personal or other sensitive data (auditors; registrars; IT, HR, and payroll staffs); positions with master key access to all offices/facilities within buildings; and positions with responsibility for controlled substances or hazardous materials are among those considered to be sensitive/critical, according to news reports.

The policy also requires all individuals, including current employees, to disclose criminal arrests and/or criminal convictions that are outlined in the self-disclosure form within 72 hours of their occurrence. Candidates who don’t comply or who provide inaccurate information will not be considered for employment.

It will be interesting to see what changes other universities, children’s charities and other organizations make in light of the Sandusky crimes.

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Pepsi agrees to $3.13 million settlement for background check policy that violated Civil Rights Act

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Pepsi Beverages has agreed to pay $3.13 million and provide job offers and training to resolve a charge of race discrimination filed at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) regarding its previous pre-employment screening policy.

According to the press release put out by the EEOC, the commission’s investigation revealed that “more than 300 African-Americans were adversely affected when Pepsi applied a criminal background check policy that disproportionately excluded black applicants from permanent employment. Under Pepsi’s former policy, job applicants who had been arrested pending prosecution were not hired for a permanent job even if they had never been convicted of any offense.”

The press release continues: “Pepsi’s former policy also denied employment to applicants from employment who had been arrested or convicted of certain minor offenses. The use of arrest and conviction records to deny employment can be illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, when it is not relevant for the job, because it can limit the employment opportunities of applicants or workers based on their race or ethnicity.”

Pepsi has since adopted a new criminal background check policy. The settlement will mostly be divided among black applicants for positions at Pepsi.

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There’s more to a criminal background check than meets the eye

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Did you know there are different levels to a criminal background check? If you’re using an inexpensive online service that advertises “criminal background checks that are fast and cheap,” chances are you’re getting results that are fast and cheap — and highly incomplete.

There are several levels to a criminal background check, and a reputable employment screening service will take the time and resources necessary for a thorough search on every level. At Verify Protect, our background screening services cover the following levels, depending on your criteria and unique needs:

  • County Criminal: A real-time search for felonies and misdemeanors for a particular county, going back at least seven years.
  • Statewide Criminal: A statewide search of felonies and misdemeanors as reported by the counties. This may contain wants/warrants from other states as well, but is not available in all states.
  • Multi-State Criminal Database: An instant search of over 300 million criminal records from hundreds of sources in all 50 states as well as some international records. This also includes sex offender registries with over 3.5 million pictures.
  • Federal Criminal: A search for crimes prosecuted at the federal level, which can include cases of embezzlement, fraud, drug trafficking and other federal crimes. This covers all 84 U.S. District Courts in one search. (A single district search is also available.)

 

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Hotel Crime Shows Importance of Background Checks for Employees

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The case of a hotel worker in central Florida who recently was arrested and accused of raping a hotel guest underscores the importance of all employees working in the hospitality field to undergo criminal background checks. According to a report from an NBC affiliate in Orlando, an employee who lived and worked in the hotel used his master key to enter a female guest’s hotel room in the middle of the night and sexually assault her. The man had been in and out of state prison seven times for crimes ranging from burglary to battery.

The hotel owner hasn’t said whether a criminal background check was done on the employee, but the crime — and the fact that it was preventable — is a prime example of why it’s important for hotel workers to go through a pre-employment screening process. Owners of many smaller hotel chains and single hotels and motels skip this crucial step to save money. But trusting employees with access to guests’ rooms and personal property is a risky endeavor. Hotel owners should always check a prospective employee’s criminal record, and the applicant’s name should be checked against national and state sex offender registries.

Those with criminal histories should be given a second chance to make a life change, to hold a job and prove they are responsible and trustworthy. But checking someone’s criminal past can reveal patterns that make it easier for an employer to make an informed decision about a prospective hire’s potential to do well — or become a liability and a safety risk to those around him.

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Criminal Background Checks Come In All Scopes and Sizes

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As more and more industries are trending toward the safeguard that comes with implementing background checks on its prospective employees, many human resources professionals are scrambling to research the different types of pre-employment screening services available out there and to understand which is called for.

For example, many still believe that there is only one type of criminal background check. This is simply not true. There are, in fact, several different types of searches for a job applicant’s criminal history, and each involves a slightly different scope, both in physical area involved in the search and in the length of time lapsed from a conviction or warrant.

A county criminal search is a real-time search for felonies and misdemeanors for a particular county. This search goes back a minimum of seven years.

A statewide criminal search is of felonies and misdemeanors as reported by all the counties in a particular state. This may contain wants and warrants from other states as well.

A multi-state criminal search includes over 300 million criminal records from hundreds of sources in all 50 states as well as some international records. It also includes sex offender registries with over 3.5 million pictures.

Finally, a federal criminal background check is a search for crimes prosecuted at the federal level. This can include cases of embezzlement, fraud, drug trafficking and other federal crimes.

It pays to know what kind of search your industry calls for, and whether you’ve found a reputable pre-employment screening service that can provide exactly what you need.

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Contractors Who Work At Schools, Health Care Facilities Should Undergo Background Checks

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Employment background screening has been standard protocol for all schools, day care centers, nursing homes and other facilities and businesses that care for and supervise children, the aged and the sick. If you are involved in the school system or in health care, you are no doubt well aware of the policies and procedures necessary when hiring someone. They include a thorough background check, including a criminal background screening and drug testing.

But businesses outside those two categories — health care and education/child care — are increasingly finding themselves in the position of having the backgrounds of their employees called into question when working for or even near schools and health care facilities. For example, a new piece of legislation in Delaware, if passed, would require all employees of contractors and subcontractors working on school premises to undergo a criminal background check and a child protection registry check.

If a contract your company wins means your employees will be working near students or other vulnerable people, chances are they’re going to need to undergo a criminal background screening. It’s best to have such records on file from the start, which is why pre-employment screening is so important for businesses across all industries.

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Is a Sex Offender Working at Your Child’s School?

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A recent press release out of Washington, D.C., has made headlines… and caused many people to rethink the power of thorough, professional background checks.

As recent research is now showing, sex offenders have been consistently given positions of power at schools across the nation.  Whether as teachers or volunteers, they’ve operated “under the radar” and slipped through background checks that are not comprehensive.  (As a side note, that’s where “you get what you pay for” comes into play and why at VerifyProtect we recommend that you not scrimp on your child’s safety.)

What can you do as a parent?  First, make sure you understand how your school hires employees, brings on volunteers, etc.  Also ask about contractors and temporary staff.  Next, if you discover that background checks are not being performed, question the authority.  Finally, hold your school administrators and board members accountable for closing any loopholes in the system.

Your child deserves to feel secure while he or she is learning.  Truly complete background checks are one way to

 

■ An Ohio teacher who worked in multiple public schools from 1993 to 2006 was forced to resign from one position because of inappropriate conduct with female students but received a letter of recommendation from his superintendent. He then landed a job in a neighboring district, where he was convicted of sexual battery against a sixth-grade girl.

■ A teacher and registered sex offender who had lost his license in Texas was hired by Louisiana schools in 2006 and 2007 without undergoing a criminal background check. There is now a warrant for his arrest on charges that he engaged in sexual conversations with a student.

■ An Arizona public school hired a teacher in 2001 after failing to conduct a criminal check. The teacher had been convicted for sexually abusing a minor. Subsequently, he was convicted of having sexual contact with a young female student.

United States Not the Only Place That Should Background Check Workers

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kid-in-tunnelSome Americans may think we’re the only place that worries about whether employees are background checked and verified before entering the workforce, but it’s really a global issue.

Case in point — recently, an Australian child agency came under fire when it came to light that the agency wasn’t completing background checks on foster parents (known as “carers” Down Under) as required by law.

The agency, Life without Barriers, gets a hefty chunk of change from the state (more than $100 million annually) to operate.  Thus, the background check issue came to light after an audit of the organization that had grown rapidly over the past few years.

As papers around the globe are now reporting, Life without Barriers made many decisions that could have cost children their promise of a safe haven.  In once instance, Life without Barriers allowed a foster parent to be part of their agency even though the parent had lost his/her children due to his/her domestic violence.  Other stories are comparably horrifying.

Of the foster parents involved with Life without Barriers, over half never went through the Australian “Working with Children Check”, a comprehensive background check that’s meant to protect the kids.  Even more shocking, almost two thirds of the foster parents had not gone through any kind of criminal background check.

It’s wonderful that this has come to light, but it highlights just how pervasive a problem it can be when an organization is supposed to background screen but instead takes the “easy way out”.  In the end, the piper will always be paid.

Transportation Security Officials Rigorously Background Checked According to TSA

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There’s been a huge hubbub (fueled by home video of children being “mishandled” by staff apparently unaccustomed to working with kids) recently over the new airport security procedures, specifically those involving “pat-downs”.  Consequently, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has begun a publicity campaign to assure fliers that the screeners have been thoroughly background checked.

According to the TSA, all persons who are given the authority to “pat down” fliers have to undergo and pass a criminal background check.  This includes being fingerprinted and cross-referenced with FBI files. 

Disqualification for an airport screening job could include having a felony on one’s record (especially one that relates to a sexual offense), among other crimes for which the would-be employee has been convicted.

Our questions to you are as follows:

What kind of background checks would you want to make sure an airport screener undergoes?  And how often do you believe he/she should have to undergo those types of background checks to ensure the safety of fliers?

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Would You Want a Criminal Working Next Door to You?

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Can you spot a criminal just by looking at him or her? 

The answer is, not surprisingly: “no”.

Yet far too many employers assume that they can somehow weed out “bad” job applicants by asking the right questions during the interview process.  Unfortunately, unless they perform a criminal backround check on potential hires, they’ll never know for sure.

See, even the most carefully-constructed interview queries won’t necessarily net you the truth.  Though many will, a person with a criminal background who doesn’t want you to find out about it will try to hide at every turn.  And some are quite adept at doing so!

It’s not worth potentially putting someone with a dangerous past into the midst of your corporation, is it?  Of course not!  That’s the main reason that criminal background checks are always the right thing to do.  If an applicant balks at the notion of you finding out about his or her past, then you can simply stop the interview right then.  Remember that it’s not discrimination to terminate an interview if the interviewee refuses to allow you to perform a criminal background check.