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Introduction to International Screening

by Lester S. Rosen

Employers have long recognized that conducting due diligence on new hires is a mission critical task. Firms cannot afford to be sidetracked by employee problems such as workplace violence, theft, false resumes, embezzlement, harassment or trumped-up injury claims. Employers can be the subject of lawsuits for negligent hiring if they hire someone that they should have known, through the exercise of due diligence, was dangerous, unfit or unqualified.

However, with the mobility of workers across international borders it is no longer adequate to conduct these checks just in the United States. A 2000 government study shows that 11.5% of the population consists of immigrants. In addition, an increasing number of workers have spent part of their professional career abroad. The number of countries from which employers seek additional information about applicants is expansive, and includes India, China, Philippines, France, Germany, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, Australia, Japan, Canada, among others.

International Background Screening Perceived As Difficult
Because of the perceived difficulty in performing international employment screening, some employers have not attempted to verify international credentials or to perform foreign criminal checks. However, the mere fact that information may be more difficult to obtain from outside of the U.S. does not relieve an employer from their due diligence obligation.

Nor can employers simply assume that the U.S. government has conducted background checks if the worker was issued a visa. After the events of 9/11, the U.S. has increased checks on foreign visitors and on workers on government "watch lists." However, the government checks are generally not aimed at verifying a credential or checking for criminal records for employment purposes.

To exercise due diligence in hiring, employers should consider screening internationally for criminal records, employment, education, and publicly available terrorist lists.

Criminal Records
When it comes to criminal records, each and every country is completely different. The availability of public records that is taken for granted here in the United States is often times not available abroad. In some countries, records are available at the courthouse, similar to how criminal records are obtained in the US. In other countries, records can be obtained from a police agency. In some countries, the best course is to have the applicant obtain their own certificate of good conduct from their local police station.

For criminal records searches, it is important to know exactly where the person has lived to ensure you are searching the appropriate court. Keep in mind also that that turnaround time for international criminal searches takes longer than domestic searches. Different countries also have different rules on the level of searches, but in most countries it is possible to obtain information of offenses that are at the felony level.

Another concern is name variations. Many countries have naming convention that is different then the US, such as the use of the mother's name. Complications can also arise for applicants whose name is based on a non-English alphabet, such as Chinese, Arabic or Japanese. There are numerous ways that such names can be translated into English.

Privacy and data protection is another crucial issue. For example, the European Union has passed strong privacy rules affecting how personal data can be obtained and utilized. U.S. background firms that do international searches should be a member of the U.S. Department of Commerce Safe Harbor program, which demonstrates a commitment to the E.U. privacy and data protection rules.

Education
Verification of an educational degree earned abroad is critical to verify credentials and to avoid fraud. An employer needs to determine if an applicant in fact attended the school claimed and received the degree claimed. Statistics show that education fraud can run as high as 20%. The employer also needs to determine if the school is accredited and authentic. The world is awash with phony schools and worthless diplomas. If the employer is not familiar with a school, they should conduct their own research. A legitimate school will often have an e-mail address or phone number so that they can be contacted to verify a degree.

Employment
Foreign employment can also be verified by contacting the employer even though they are in a foreign country. Often such calls will be made in the middle of the night due to time differences. The critical step is to obtain as much information about the past employer as possible from the applicant. If the employer does not speak English, an interpreter may be needed.

Terrorist Lists
Other due diligence tools are the various terrorist databases available to the public, such as the Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC") list maintained by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Such lists are readily available but there are limitations as well, such as working with name matches only when no additional details are available. To locate a list of web sites containing publicly available lists, and for more information on international background checks, go to: www.esrcheck.com/international.php.

Lester S. Rosen is an attorney at law and President of Employment Screening Resources (www.ESRcheck.com), a national background screening company headquartered in Novato, California. He is the author of, The Safe Hiring Manual--Complete Guide to Keeping Criminals, Imposters and Terrorists Out of Your Workplace (512 pages-Facts on Demand Press), the first comprehensive book on employment screening. He is a frequent speaker nationwide on pre-employment screening and safe hiring issues. He was the first co-chairman of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS), the organization for the background screening industry.

(c)2008 Lester S.Rosen

Background screening can help bosses and applicants

View Point column special to the Examiner, by Lester S. Rosen
(Published in the Career Section of the Sunday San Francisco Examiner/Chronicle)

Employers are increasingly turning to background screenings of job applicants as a way of minimizing legal and financial exposure. Concerns about workplace violence, negligent-hiring lawsuits, wrongful termination and other problems are leading many employers to be more careful about who is hired in the first place.

For applicants, however, background screening can create an uneasy feeling that they are mistrusted from the start or that Big Brother is watching.

The fact is, however, that background screenings of job applicants benefit employers and employees alike. And with the recent changes in the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, job applicants have a great deal of legal protection.

For applicants, the advantages of working for a company that requires screening is that efforts have been made to ensure that co-workers have the qualifications and credentials they say they have. In addition, employers typically screen for criminal records, especially those involving violence or dishonesty.

For the employer, screening saves the time and money wasted in recruiting, hiring and training the wrong candidates and eliminates potential difficulties in the work force.

Of course, a background screening is not a full-fledged FBI-type investigation. Screening companies are typically looking for red flags indicating potential problems or resumes that are not factual or omit important information.

Job applicants have recently been afforded substantial new legal rights to ensure the accuracy and fairness of the process. Congress amended the Fair Credit Reporting Act effective last September 30 to allow consumers to know exactly what is going on and to assert their rights in case of errors or mistakes. An applicant’s rights are listed in detail on the Federal Trade Commission Web site at www.ftc.gov.