By Thomas Ahearn, Employment Screening Resources (ESR) News Editor

According to a report ‘Churches check closer after molestation cases’ from OnlineAthens.com, the website for the Athens Banner Herald, more churches are using background checks to ensure the safety of their most vulnerable members in the wake of several molestation cases involving employees and volunteers.

The report indicates three youth ministers in Northeast Georgia churches were arrested and charged with molesting minors in their congregations in the past four months.

• A 33-year-old male Sunday school teacher was arrested on charges of child molestation after allegedly sending sexually explicit text messages to a 14-year-old boy’s phone.
• A 21-year-old man who claimed to be a youth minister for the church was arrested for child molestation after inviting two teenage boys to a church festival and allegedly molesting one on a nature hike afterwards.
• A 32-year-old man was arrested on charges of child molestation due to his alleged relationship with a 16-year-old girl who attended the same Church with him.

More churches are taking the time to run background checks on employees and volunteers to make sure their members are safe, especially since the majority of people trust church workers since they find it hard to suspect someone holding a position at a religious institution of wrongdoing, according to the report.

While parents should trust in their churches and other community groups, a police Sergeant working in the special victims unit who was quoted in the story said that parents should remain aware of who their children are with and always need to be on guard since child molesters can come from all walks of life and can be married or single.

Churches, like any organization, need to provide due diligence to ensure a safe workplace for everyone. Employment Screening Resources (ESR) – a background check provider accredited by The National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS) – offers background screening solutions for Faith-Based and Volunteer organizations by checking available resources such as sex offender registries, county courts, and utilizing an address information manager as a locater for additional criminal records checks.

Services in the ESR ‘Basic Volunteer Safety 1st Package’ include:

• Criminal Search of selected criminal court records, state criminal repositories, probation, prison parole, and release files using the ESR proprietary National Multi-Jurisdictional Criminal Database. 
• Sex Offender Search of the state-maintained registries, noting that each originating agency determines what is to be public information at that time and not all states release registries in their entirety.
• Residence Address Search for the previous residence addresses of volunteers and employees.
• Social Security Number (SSN) Search to find if the SSN has been issued and whether other names are associated with the same SSN.

For more information about background screening solutions for volunteer, youth, and faith-based organizations, visit http://www.esrcheck.com/services/Background-Screening-Solutions-Churches-Volunteer-Groups.php.

For a PDF document containing a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for Church and Volunteer groups regarding background checks, visit http://www.esrcheck.com/docs/FAQs%20for%20Churches%20&%20Volunteer%20Groups%20%20v01-09.pdf.

Founded in 1996 in the San Francisco area, Employment Screening Resources (ESR) wrote the book on background checks with ‘The Safe Hiring Manual’ by ESR founder and President Lester Rosen and is accredited by The National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) . To learn more about Employment Screening Resources, visit http://www.ESRcheck.com or contact Jared Callahan, ESR Director of Client Relations, at 415.898.0044 or jcallahan@ESRcheck.com.

Sources:
http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/013011/new_778281504.shtml

By Thomas Ahearn, Employment Screening Resources (ESR) News Editor

A member of the U.S. House of Representatives responding to an editorial in the Washington Post wrote that the E-Verify electronic employment eligibility verification system helps employers check the immigration status of workers and maintain a legal workforce, and also that E-Verify can only be used on new hires and not for screening job applicants.

The January 22 Washington Post editorial, ‘The limits of immigration enforcement,’ focused on one of the world’s largest food processing firms that recently received a federal seal of approval for its hiring practices from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after officials from the agency checked employment records for just about every one of the more than 100,000 workers employed by the company. Although roughly a quarter of a million companies have enrolled in E-Verify – which is described as “a federal program that screens potential new hires for employment eligibility” in the 1/22 editorial – most companies seem reluctant to have existing workforces checked since the U.S. labor force contains an estimated 6 to 7 million undocumented immigrants.

The following response appeared in the Washington Post on January 27, in part to support use of E-Verify but also to remind employers that E-Verify can only be used after a job applicant is hired and should not be used as a method of background screening:

Helping employers check workers’ immigration status

Contrary to the Jan. 22 editorial “The limits of immigration enforcement,” the E-Verify federal program is not used on potential hires, as the editorial stated. It can be used only for newly hired employees. In order to prevent discrimination, the Web-based E-Verify program, administered by the Department of Homeland Security, prohibits employers from using E-Verify to screen potential hires. Rather, E-Verify is a tool to confirm that the information given on an I-9 form, which is required for every new employee, is correct.

As a former small-business owner in the restaurant industry, I found it frustrating that employers were expected to hire legal workers but were given no tools to do so. Since employers cannot be expected to be document experts, when I became a member of Congress I created E-Verify as a way to provide employers a simple, free and easy way to check the information provided on the I-9. Fifteen years later, E-Verify has exceeded expectations through the use of biometric data for non-citizens, is 99.6 percent accurate and continues to improve, expand and evolve.

Ken Calvert, Washington

The writer, a California Republican, is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Recently, a story in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) ‘Crackdown on Illegal Workers Grow’ told how ICE had announced that it was cracking down on larger companies that may employ undocumented workers. ICE conducted audits of more than 2,740 companies in the fiscal year 2010, nearly twice as many as the previous fiscal year, and levied a record $7 million in civil fines on businesses employing illegal workers, according to the WSJ.

Because of this, U.S. businesses are getting their employment records, particularly the Employment Eligibility Verification Form (“I-9 form”), in order. Employment Screening Resources (ESR) – a background check firm accredited by the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS) – is also a Designated E-Verify Employer Agent that can help employers virtually eliminate I-9 form errors, improve the accuracy of their reporting, protect jobs for authorized workers, and maintain a legal workforce.

For more information on E-Verify Service from Employment Screening Resources (ESR), visit http://www.esrcheck.com/formi9.php.

Founded in 1996 in the San Francisco area, Employment Screening Resources (ESR) wrote the book on background checks with ‘The Safe Hiring Manual’ by ESR founder and President Lester Rosen and is accredited by The National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) . To learn more about Employment Screening Resources, visit http://www.ESRcheck.com or contact Jared Callahan, ESR Director of Client Relations, at 415.898.0044 or jcallahan@ESRcheck.com.

Sources:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/27/AR2011012706723.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/21/AR2011012106497.html

http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/1101/110120washingtondc.htm

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703951704576092381196958362.html?mod=ITP_pageone_1

 By Thomas Ahearn, Employment Screening Resources (ESR) News Editor

Proposed legislation in the state of Kentucky would require criminal background checks for all private long-term care facility employees to help to protect elderly and vulnerable Kentucky nursing home residents from being preyed upon by dangerous criminals.

Senate Bill 44 – introduced by Senator Tom Buford (R-Jessamine) – would prohibit any Kentucky long-term care facility, nursing home, or an assisted living community from employing a person who had been convicted of a felony related to:

• Theft;
• Abuse or sale of illegal drugs;
• Abuse, neglect, or exploitation of an adult; or 
• A sexual crime.

Current Kentucky law requires criminal background checks for all employees at state-run facilities, but only requires criminal background checks for those employees who provide direct care to residents at privately run nursing homes and assisted-living facilities. S.B. 44 – which is currently under review by the Senate Judiciary Committee – would extend the criminal background checks to all employees at private nursing homes and assisted-living facilities.

As reported previously on ESR News, many states are penalizing nursing homes that employ workers with serious criminal records. Recently, an Indiana an operator of nursing homes was hit with $376,000 in penalties for employing individuals at nursing homes who either had been convicted of criminal offenses or stripped of their licenses.

To assist nursing homes and other long-term care facilities conduct safe hiring programs, Employment Screening Resources (ESR) – a leading provider of background checks accredited by The National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS) – offers a OIG/GSA Name Search which searches the OIG (Office of the Inspector General) Excluded List and GSA (General Services Administration) Sanctions Report for individuals and businesses excluded or sanctioned from participating in Medicare, Medicaid, and other Federally funded programs.

Employment Screening Resources ESR Home Health Care Check provides background screening services specializing in home health care workers in private homes or elder care facitlites. For more information, visit http://www.esrcheck.com/services/homehealthcare.php.

For more information on background checks, visit Employment Screening Resources at http://www.ESRcheck.com.

Founded in 1996 in the San Francisco area, Employment Screening Resources (ESR) wrote the book on background checks with ‘The Safe Hiring Manual’ by ESR founder and President Lester Rosen and is accredited by The National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) . To learn more about Employment Screening Resources, visit http://www.ESRcheck.com or contact Jared Callahan, ESR Director of Client Relations, at 415.898.0044 or jcallahan@ESRcheck.com.

Sources:

http://www.lrc.ky.gov/record/11RS/SB44.htm

http://www.prweb.com/releases/prwebkentucky-nursing-home/abuse-neglect-attorney/prweb5009674.htm

By Thomas Ahearn, Employment Screening Resources (ESR) News Editor

In an exclusive interview on the top background screening trends of 2011, Employment Screening Resources (ESR) President and safe hiring expert Lester Rosen discusses the challenges of social media background checks, the importance of credit reports in screening, and how organizations can perform background screening more effectively. To learn more, visit http://www.bankinfosecurity.com/podcasts.php?podcastID=951.

While there is no hotter trend in background screening currently than social media, just as social networks can be used to background screen applicants, they also can be abused. As part of Bank Information Security Podcasts for BankInfoSecurity.com on the Insights on the Hottest Trends in Background Screening, Rosen talked to Editorial Director Tom Field on subject matter titled ‘Beware of Social Media for Background Screening.’

“Employers are using social media to not only look at people initially, bit for ongoing screening as well for current employees,” says Lester Rosen, who founded Employment Screening Resources (ESR), a San Francisco-area background screening firm accredited by The National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS), in 1996.

However, this hot new trend – using social media like blogs, Facebook, and Twitter for background checks – comes with a caveat: Is it too much information? “Through social media, for the first time perhaps in human history, employers are able to literally look inside someone’s head. It’s a real treasure trove of information,” Rosen says. “You’re going to learn all sorts of things as an employer that you don’t want to know and legally can not be the basis of a decision.”

Social media background checks are just one of the hottest background screening trends employers should study. In the interview, Rosen discusses the Employment Screening Resources 4th Annual ‘Top Ten Trends in Background Screening’ for 2011, including:

• Challenges of social media background checks;
• The importance of credit reports in background checks; and
• How organizations can background screen more effectively.

Rosen, a retired attorney, is a consultant, writer, and frequent presenter nationwide on pre-employment screening and safe hiring issues. He is the author of ‘The Safe Hiring Manual – The Complete Guide to Keeping Criminals, Imposters, and Terrorists Out of Your Workplace’ and is also the key presenter in a Bank Information Security Webinar ‘Avoid Negligent Hiring – Best Practices and Legal Compliance in Background Checks.’ To learn more, visit http://www.bankinfosecurity.com/onDemand.php?webinarID=87.

Employment Screening Resources ‘Top Ten Trends in Background Screening’ for 2011 is at http://www.esrcheck.com/Top-Ten-Trends-In-Background-Screening-2011.php.

Founded in 1996 in the San Francisco area, Employment Screening Resources (ESR) wrote the book on background checks with ‘The Safe Hiring Manual’ by ESR founder and President Lester Rosen and is accredited by The National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) . To learn more about Employment Screening Resources, visit http://www.ESRcheck.com or contact Jared Callahan, ESR Director of Client Relations, at 415.898.0044 or jcallahan@ESRcheck.com.

Source:
http://www.bankinfosecurity.com/podcasts.php?podcastID=951

By Thomas Ahearn, Employment Screening Resources (ESR) News Editor

A recent article on the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) website – ‘Employers Tread a Minefield’ – warns employers about “tripping over legal potholes in social media” if they choose to fire people over alleged social media infractions as more employees and job applicants access popular social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

While job seekers and employees have been warned that what they post on popular social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter during their private time could come back to haunt their public careers, employers are now increasingly facing questions about their own policies regarding social media usage that outlines what is, and what is not, appropriate.

Due to the fact that these social network sites are a virtual treasure trove of personal information about employees and job applicants, the WSJ article cautions employers about the potential for litigation over social media use of employees, citing several legal cases as examples.

• A National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) judge – in the federal agency’s first ‘social media complaint’ – will soon consider whether a medical transportation company illegally fired a worker in Connecticut after she criticized her boss on Facebook (UPDATE: Connecticut Facebook Firing Settlement Talks in Works).
• Workers in New Jersey sued a restaurant company when they were dismissed after managers accessed a private Myspace page the employees set up to chat about work.
• A Silicon Valley company was sued twice for comments an anonymous blogger (who was also an attorney for the company at the time) made about two lawyers and their patent-infringement suit against the company.
• A former Georgia high school teacher has sued the local school district claiming that she was forced to resign her position over photos on Facebook that showed her drinking alcohol during a vacation in Europe.

While information about job applicants and employees found on social media may seem tempting to employers, viewing such information could lead to issues of discrimination, privacy, and authenticity and accuracy if a person is a victim of “cyber slamming.”

Yet, despite these dangers, employers seem intent on using social media for screening. A 2009 survey of more than 2,600 hiring managers conducted by leading job networking site CareerBuilder.com found nearly half of employers – 45 percent – used social networking sites to research candidates. The survey also revealed that 35 percent of employers rejected job applicants based on what was uncovered on social networking sites. Of these 35 percent:

• 53 percent cited provocative/inappropriate photographs or information.
• 44 percent cited content about drinking or using drugs.
• 35 percent cited bad-mouthing of previous employers, co-workers or clients.
• 29 percent cited poor communication skills.
• 26 percent cited discriminatory comments.
• 24 percent cited misrepresentation of qualifications.
• 20 percent cited sharing confidential information from a previous employer.

Experts quoted in the WSJ article say the best defense against legal action for employers is to establish a social media policy and train employees about the policy, something that experts estimate that fewer than half of U.S. companies have done. In the meantime, the amount of legal action resulting from employer missteps in social media is likely to rise.

The issue of using social network sites such as Facebook to screen job candidates increasing the legal risk for employers was the Number 6 Background Screening Trend for 2011 for 2011. For a complete list of the Employment Screening Resources (ESR) Fourth Annual ‘Top Ten Trends in Background Screening’ for 2011, visit http://www.esrcheck.com/Top-Ten-Trends-In-Background-Screening-2011.php.

In addition, Lester Rosen, safe hiring expert and founder and President of Employment Screening Resources (ESR),  a background check company accredited by The National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS), recently participated in a podcast on BackInfoSecurity.com, ‘Background Checks: Beware Social Media,’ and talked about how employers use, and sometimes abuse, social media for background checks. For more information, visit http://www.bankinfosecurity.com/podcasts.php?podcastID=951.

Founded in 1996 in the San Francisco area, Employment Screening Resources (ESR) wrote the book on background checks with ‘The Safe Hiring Manual’ by ESR founder and President Lester Rosen and is accredited by The National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) . To learn more about Employment Screening Resources, visit http://www.ESRcheck.com or contact Jared Callahan, ESR Director of Client Relations, at 415.898.0044 or jcallahan@ESRcheck.com.

Source:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703954004576089850685724570.html
http://thehiringsite.careerbuilder.com/2009/08/20/nearly-half-of-employers-use-social-networking-sites-to-screen-job-candidates/