According to a report from the Associated Press (AP), a Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA) that performs employment screening for businesses will close two offices in South Dakota by the end of the year and move those jobs to new sites in Arizona, India, and the Philippines. The AP reports that the company, one of the largest background screening suppliers in the country, says the closings in Aberdeen, South Dakota and Mitchell, South Dakota are due to restructuring and will affect approximately 140 workers. The AP story is the latest case of a large U.S. background screening company “offshoring” the processing of background checks to foreign countries. (more…)

The Massachusetts Offices of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulations (OCABR) passed strict data privacy and security regulations ‘201 CMR 17.00: STANDARDS FOR THE PROTECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION OF RESIDENTS OF THE COMMONWEALTH’ that went into effect March 1, 2010 to protect the personal information of Massachusetts residents by requiring businesses to have a multitude of safeguards including a comprehensive Written Information Security Policy (WISP). Effective March 1, 2012, any company, in any location, that holds the personal information of Massachusetts residents must amend its existing third party vendor contracts to require compliance with Massachusetts data security regulations. The law is available at:  http://www.mass.gov/ocabr/docs/idtheft/201cmr1700reg.pdf. (more…)

To help Human Resources professionals comply with new background check laws in California, Jared Callahan, the Director of Business Development for background check firm Employment Screening Resources (ESR) and a licensed Private Investigator, will present the session “How to Comply with California’s Two New Laws Regarding Background Checks” at the Los Angeles HR Star Conference on Wednesday, February 29, 2012 at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California. To register for the LA HR Star conference, which takes place from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., visit: http://www.hrstarconference.com/la/. (more…)

To help Human Resources professionals stay in compliance with new laws regulating background checks in California, Attorney Lester Rosen, a safe hiring expert and CEO of background check firm Employment Screening Resources (ESR), will present a session titled “How to Comply with California’s Two New Laws Regarding Background Checks” on Wednesday, February 29, 2012 at the Los Angeles HR Star Conference. To register for the conference, which takes place from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, CA, visit: http://www.hrstarconference.com/la/. (UPDATE: Jared Callahan, Director of Business Development for ESR and licensed Private Investigator, will speak at the LA HR Star Conference in place of Lester Rosen on February 29). (more…)

As part of a stepped-up effort against tax refund fraud and identity theft, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Justice Department have announced that a massive nationwide sweep last week targeting 105 people in 23 states to crack down on suspected identity theft perpetrators resulted in 939 criminal charges related to identity theft, according to a news release on the IRS website available at: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=253147,00.html?portlet=108. (more…)