Posts Tagged ‘Volunteers’
Friday, September 3rd, 2010
It’s an interesting question: Who pays for background checks?
Is it the employer? The potential employee? The school? The school would-be volunteer? The nanny? The parents of the kids the nanny will be watching?
In a nutshell, the answer is a bit convoluted because it depends.
Most employers pay for background checks themselves. They simply consider it a cost of doing business and an insurance policy against making terrible hiring decisions. However, there are some companies that are moving to making the possible employee pay for his or her background check; we’d suggest looking into the legality of doing so depending upon your field.
As for nonprofit organizations, a good deal require that potential volunteers pay for their own background checks. That way, the entity doesn’t have to use funds to do so, and they ensure that any volunteers really want to be there since they’ve already used their own monies for clearances and background screening.
At this point, we’d really like to know your thoughts on the subject…
Have you ever paid for a background check to be performed on you? Would you? Conversely, have you ever made someone pay to have a background check report run on him or her?
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Tags: background check, Background Checks, background screening, Decisions, Doing Business, Insurance, Insurance Policy, Monies, Nanny, Nonprofit Organizations, Nutshell, Parents, Volunteers
Posted in Background Checks and Screening | No Comments »
Monday, August 23rd, 2010
If you have a background screening policy and protocol in place (and if you don’t, call VerifyProtect pronto!), it’s bound to happen — someone won’t like it. Someone will try to “push back” and say it’s unfair. Someone will threaten you. Someone will cry. That’s why it’s important to plan for these contingencies.
So how can you ready yourself or your team for the inevitable person’s ire? Plan a statement in advance and make sure anyone who needs to use it has access to it. It could be as simple as: “Our background screening measures have been put into place to maintain the safety of our workers/volunteers/kids/clients/etc. We stand by our decision to make choices based, in whole or part, on the results of background screening.” (Note: Your legal consultant and/or HR manager can help you with any specific verbiage you need to include depending upon your industry.)
Does this mean that the person who was offended by your background screening measures will suddenly change his or her mind? Probably not. But it will allow you to professionally address a concern in a calm manner.
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Tags: Background Checks, background screening, Calm Manner, Choices, Contingencies, Hr Manager, Legal Consultant, Pronto, Protocol, Screening Measures, Screening Policy, Verbiage, Volunteers
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Friday, May 28th, 2010
“Watching the store”.
It’s a term that applies equally to home and business.
- Boss to employee: “Watch the store. I’m headed out to lunch!”
- Mom to teen: “Hey, bud. Watch the store while I go get some groceries!”
But do you always know exactly who is “watching” your store?
In the cases above, we’re going to assume that the employee was background checked and the teen wouldn’t do anything wrong (lest his mom find out!) However, there are probably plenty of other people who “watch the store” for you…
- Babysitters
- Nannies
- Workers with access to your home/office
- Cleaning personnel
- Interns
- Volunteers
- Neighbors with keys
… and the list goes on…
Is it feasible to background check each of these persons? Generally speaking, yes. After all, doesn’t it make sense for you to know who is “minding the store” while you’re not there? And even if you ARE present (as in the case of a worker who’s in your house to fix the plumbing, install carpeting, etc.), wouldn’t you want to know if he or she had a criminal record?
In an era where it’s easier and more inexpensive than ever to background check a person, there’s really no reason to let someone enter your property without ensuring the safety of your family and coworkers.
VerifyProtect: Fast, Secure, Affordable Background Checks.
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Tags: background check, Background Checks, Boss, Bud, Carpeting, Coworkers, Criminal Record, Groceries, Hey, House Plumbing, Interns, Mom, Nannies, Neighbors, Office Cleaning, People, Volunteers, Watch Store
Posted in Background Checks and Screening, Security Risks | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 11th, 2010
Summer camp.
It’s a tradition for many kids, one they look forward to for most of the year (especially that seemingly-endless last month of school!) Parents, too, get excited about the annual event. But what they might not realize is that not all summer camps have a policy of background screening the people they hire (or who operate as volunteers).
It’s critical for parents to take a proactive approach in this department, asking the tough questions of any summer camp that would be in charge of their sons and/or daughters. Moms and dads need to make sure that comprehensive, professional background screening of all employees and helpers has occurred… otherwise, tragedy can occur.
With a little pressure from the financial contributors to the summer camp program (i.e., the parents and guardians of the campers), background checks can become the rule, not the exception.
VerifyProtect: Fast, Secure, Affordable Background Checks.
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Tags: Background Checks, background screening, campers, Financial Contributors, Guardians, moms and dads, People, Proactive Approach, Professional Background, School Parents, Summer Camp Program, Summer Camps, Tough Questions, Tradition, Tragedy, Volunteers
Posted in Background Checks and Screening, Camps and Recreation | No Comments »
Thursday, April 29th, 2010
Whether you’re the CEO of an international, multi-million dollar corporation or the executive director of a local nonprofit, it’s imperative that you background check your employees and volunteers.
Yes, this will cost you money… but what form of “insurance” doesn’t? And that’s exactly what background checks ARE — insurance against a host of negative things happening to and within your business.
Embezzlement. Fraud. Criminal activity. Sexual harrassment. Sexual offenses. The possibilities are endless… and terrifying.
Don’t put your business’s reputation on the line. Always conduct comprehensive background checks… or risk the potential fallout.
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Tags: background check, Background Checks, Business Fraud, Ceo, Dollar Corporation, Embezzlement, Executive Director, Fallout, Insurance, Money, Peril, Possibilities, Reputation, Risk, Sexual Harrassment, Sexual Offenses, Volunteers
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Saturday, April 24th, 2010
If you’re an employer and you’re planning to do a background check, it’s important for you to follow the rules so you remain legally compliant with the process.
Although you have the right to conduct background checks on any potential employees (or, in some cases, volunteers), you do have to adhere to guidelines depending upon federal and state requirements.
For instance, by law, you must obtain written authorization if you’re going to conduct a consumer report or credit report on a would-be worker. You must also notify them in writing that you plan on doing so. Verbally agreeing and “shaking on it” isn’t enough!
If you want to know more about staying compliant with background check laws and regulations, contact us today!
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Tags: background check, Background Checks, Check Laws, Consumer Report, credit report, Laws And Regulations, State Requirements, Volunteers
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Thursday, April 22nd, 2010
A recent editorial from the Northwest Herald (Illinois) caught our eye.
In the piece, editor Kevin Lyons makes a good case for homeless shelters to require those receiving long-term assistance to undergo background checks to ensure the safety of the other homeless persons. Basically, these types of background checks would screen out the more violent individuals, leading to a more secure experience and environment for the rest of the people at the shelters (including volunteers.)
It’s an interesting concept and one that could have many merits. Obviously, it would have to be studied to find out how background checks could easily be run on people who may not be willing to give their real names (or may not have or know their social security numbers.)
What do you think? Would background checks allow community homeless shelters to better serve their target populations?
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Tags: Background Checks, Editorial, Herald Illinois, Homeless Persons, Homeless Shelters, Kevin Lyons, Merits, Northwest Herald, People, Real Names, Social Security, Social Security Numbers, Target Populations, Term Assistance, Violent Individuals, Volunteers
Posted in Background Checks and Screening, In the News | No Comments »
Friday, April 16th, 2010
Do you perform the same background checks on each employee you hire? If so, you could be missing key information as well as wasting your money.
Every position is unique. Some workers handle money, some don’t. Others work with volunteers or kids. And many have access to data that’s private.
That’s exactly why your background checks should be specific to the job requirements of the position. Fortunately, that’s not as difficult as it might sound! Take a look at this fast and easy way to determine what kinds of background checks each new employee at your organization should undergo!
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Tags: Access To Data, Background Checks, Job, New Employee, Organization, Volunteers, Wasting Your Money
Posted in Background Checks and Screening | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
Are you involved with a nonprofit organization?
If so, does it have mandatory background checks for volunteers?
If you said “no”, don’t feel ashamed, as you’re probably in the majority. Surprisingly, a good number of volunteer organizations - even many dealing with kids - have no policy of background checking the people who help out. And that can mean a world of problems down the road.
Want some reasons to implement background screening for your volunteers? We’ll give you three biggies:
- Do your volunteers ever collect money for the organization? If they do, how do you know that cash is getting to your nonprofit? A criminal background check can ferret out people who have sketchy histories when it comes to dealing with dollars.
- Do your volunteers ever have any opportunity to be with kids (even if it’s not “alone time”)? If you said “yes”, you can imagine what could happen if one of your helpers turned out to have a history as a sex offender or criminal. This is the era of the Internet and news will travel faster than you think.
- Do your volunteers ever drive on behalf of your organization? If their driving records include DUIs or other vehicle-related incidents and there’s ever an accident, guess who will get blamed?
Now, we know that many volunteer organizations balk at the thought of paying for background checks. After all, it’s a common misconception that screening costs an arm and a leg… and most nonprofits have little to spare. However, conducting background checks is not nearly as pricey as most people believe. In fact, it’s much more affordable than the bad press that one incident can create.
Be safe and keep your organization healthy. Always background check your volunteers.
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Tags: background checking, background screening, Common Misconception, Criminal Background Check, Ferret, Histories, Mandatory Background Checks, Money, Nonprofit Organization, Nonprofits, People, Sex Offender, Volunteer Background, Volunteer Organizations, Volunteers
Posted in Non-profits, Volunteers | No Comments »
