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

Employment Screening Resources (ESR), a leading provider of pre-employment background checks accredited by the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®), has announced the initial dates for the company’s 2011 ‘ESR Speaks’ speaking and training program. The ‘ESR Speaks’ web page is located at: http://www.esrcheck.com/Newsletter/ESR-Speaks/.

“With ESR Speaks, Employment Screening Resources offers information and guidance to employers on issues such as privacy, discrimination, credit reports, criminal records, and using social networking sites such as Facebook to screen applicants,” explains Lester Rosen, founder and President of Employment Screening Resources and author of ‘The Safe Hiring Manual – The Complete Guide to Keeping Criminals, Terrorists, and Imposters Out of Your Workplace,’ the first comprehensive guide on background checks.

Rosen, an Attorney at Law and frequent speaker on safe hiring issues, will be a presenter for the ‘ESR Speaks’ program along with ESR Director of Client Relations Jared Callahan, a licensed private investigator in California who brings over a decade of experience and expertise with background checks and legal compliance issues. Either Rosen or Callahan will present for ESR on the following dates:

• January 5, 2011: Northern California Association of Health Care Recruiters (NCAHCR) Meeting, Unitek College, Fremont, CA – ‘The Risks of Using Social Networking for Employment Background Screening’
• January 11, 2011: Webinar with Thompson Interactive – ‘Avoiding Legal Landmines when Using Facebook, LinkedIn & Other Social Media Websites for Screening’
• January 19, 2011: Webinar with Avant Resources – ‘Negligent Hiring and Background Checks-Best Practices, Trends, and Legal Compliance’
• March 11, 2011: Webinar with Northern California Human Resources Association (NCHRA) – ‘Extreme Caution Advised: Dealing with Federal and ‘Only in California’ Laws Regulating Pre-employment Screening and Safe Hiring’
• March 15, 2011: Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) 2011 Employment Law & Legislative Conference, Hyatt Washington, Washington D.C. – ‘Extreme Caution Advised: Dealing with Federal and State Laws Regulating Pre-employment Screening and Safe Hiring’
• March 30, 2011: Los Angeles HR Star Conference, Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles, CA
• April 11, 2011: NCHRA HR West 2011 – Oakland Convention Center, Oakland CA – ‘Negligent Hiring and Background Checks: Best Practices and Legal Compliance’
• June 29, 2011: SHRM Annual Conference & Exposition – Las Vegas, NV – ‘Legal and Effective Reference Checking and Education Verification’
• July 13, 2011: San Francisco HR Star Conference, South San Francisco Conference Center, San Francisco, CA

More speaking dates will be added to the 2011 ‘ESR Speaks’ schedule in the coming weeks and months. For information about the Employment Screening Resources speaking schedule, visit ‘ESR Speaks’ at http://www.esrcheck.com/Newsletter/ESR-Speaks/. A summary of ‘ESR Speaks’ events for 2011 is at: http://www.esrcheck.com/ESR_Speaks2011.php. Check these web pages for updates.

Founded in 1996 in the San Francisco Bay area, Employment Screening Resources (ESR) is the company that wrote the book on background checks with ‘The Safe Hiring Manual’ by ESR founder and President Lester Rosen. Employment Screening Resources is accredited by The National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) Background Screening Credentialing Council (BSCC) for proving compliance with the Background Screening Agency Accreditation Program (BSAAP). For more information about Employment Screening Resources, visit http://www.ESRcheck.com or contact Jared Callahan, ESR Director of Client Relations and Business Development, at 415.898.0044 or jcallahan@ESRcheck.com.

By Thomas Ahearn, ESR Staff Writer

The Employment Screening Resources (ESR) online course for “safe hiring” has been approved for recertification credits by the HR Certification Institute (HRCI) for 2010. 

The internationally recognized certifying body for the Human Resources profession, HRCI has awarded more than 116,000 credentials in more than 70 countries in the field of human resource management to HR professionals who are recognized throughout the world for their high standards of competence. 

ESR’s “Safe Hiring Certification Training” is an intensive, self-paced online educational and professional development course designed for employers, human resource and security professionals, and anyone responsible for risk management and due diligence in hiring and pre-employment background screening. The course may be accessed at any time from anywhere, including while at work.  The entire course provides 20 hours of credits, or the course can be taken in four 5 hour modules.  

Since employee problems are usually caused by problem employees, employers realize that hiring workers with criminal records, falsified credentials, or otherwise undesirable backgrounds can create legal and financial nightmares. Without due diligence in hiring, employers may make hiring decisions that could lead to lawsuits for negligent hiring, workplace violence, theft, embezzlement, and various other workplace problems. 

However, employers and human resources and security professionals face numerous challenges when it comes to safe hiring policies, including:

• Heavy regulation by federal and state laws;
• Numerous privacy and discrimination issues;
• What information is available and how to get it, and;
• How to utilize and analyze information in a cost-effective manner. 

Participants in the course will obtain the knowledge and skills necessary to implement and manage a legal and effective safe hiring program. For more information about ESR’s “Safe Hiring Certification Training” course – which is free to ESR clients – please visit http://www.esrcheck.com/ESRonlineSafeHiringCourse.php. 

ESR is pleased to be an approved provider by HRCI.

Employment Screening Resources (ESR), a leading pre-employment background firm, and Facts on Demand Press have published “ The Safe Hiring Audit.” This book empowers human resources and security professionals, business owners and hiring managers with the resources needed to perform an effective audit of their employment procedures.

The 25-point action plan evaluates current hiring practices, identifies necessary changes, and shows how to implement these changes. Using the Audit’s action plan assists a company’s compliance with workplace laws, thus helping keep the company out of court.

The book was authored by ESR President Lester S. Rosen, with Michael Sankey, President of BRB Publications.

According to Rosen, “Companies of all sizes must periodically audit their employment practices to insure due diligence and compliance with discrimination and privacy laws, and determine whether an organization is using the current best policies, practices and procedures.” Rosen added that an effective audit can help avoid the high financial costs, legal complications, and managerial headaches of hiring unqualified and even dangerous employees.

Author Lester S. Rosen is an attorney-at-law and founder of Employment Screening Resources (www.ESRcheck.com), a national pre-employment background screening firm. He also is the author of, “The Safe Hiring Manual,” the first definitive book on background checks and safe hiring, and The Safe Hiring Course, the only online educational course available in the U.S. specifically for the background screening industry. 

Michael Sankey is the founder and CEO of BRB Publications, Inc. (www.brbpub.com), the nation’s leading publisher of books and web-based content dealing with access to public records and government information.

Employment Screening Resources,  a leading international employment screening background checking firm headquartered in the San Francisco area, announced that its president, Lester Rosen, will be presenting a national webinar on November 18, 2009, on “New Legal Hotspots and Latest Trends in Employment Screening Background Checks.”

The webinar is sponsored by IOMA, an independent source of exclusive business management information for experienced senior and middle management professionals for 20 years.  Details are at:  http://www.ioma.com/webinars/1320.html?priority=SA05EM2

Mr. Rosen will be addressing how a company can avoid hiring dangerous, unqualified, or dishonest candidates, as well as the legal environment and latest trends surrounding background checks and employment. The webinar will also address concerns and confusion surrounding the use and over-use of Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networking sites, lawsuits looming over inaccurate background screening reports, and international background checks. 

 “I am very pleased to have the opportunity to review these cutting-edge employment topics that can help employers select the best candidates,” commented Rosen. “Exercising due diligence and staying out of court is mission critical for businesses of all sizes, and the IOMA format is an excellent way for employers to quickly review the latest trends, tools and legal developments.”

Mr. Rosen, who is also an attorney, is a nationally recognized expert on employment screening background checks.  He is a writer and speaker on the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), pre-employment screening, and safe hiring issues. In addition, Mr. Rosen is the author of the first comprehensive book on employment screening, “The Safe Hiring Manual Complete Guide to Keeping Criminals, Imposters and Terrorists Out of Your Workplace.” He also wrote, “The Safe Hiring Audit.”

 Mr. Rosen’s speaking appearances have included numerous national and statewide conferences.   He has testified in the California, Florida  and Arkansas Superior Courts as an expert witness on issues surrounding safe hiring and due diligence. Mr. Rosen was the chairperson of the steering committee that founded the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS), the professional trade organization for the screening industry, and served as its first co-chairman in 2004. 

More information about Employment Screening Resources can be found at www.ESRcheck.com

Employment Screening Resources,  a leading international employment screening background checking firm headquartered in the San Francisco area, announced that its president, Lester Rosen, will be presenting before the combined KennedyInfo/Onrec 2009 Recruiting Conference and Expo in Chicago, Illinois on November 3, 2009. 

This national recruiting conference brings together online recruiting leaders and productivity solution providers from around the globe to push the boundaries of online recruitment solutions.  See: http://www.onrec.com/conferences/031109/schedule.html

Mr. Rosen will be addressing, “Don’t Play Recruiting Russian Roulette: Hot Issues, Trends and Current Developments in Background Check.”  

 “Ensuring that candidates are qualified and bona fide are critical element of the recruiting process,” commented Rosen. “I am very pleased to have the opportunity to participate in this prestigious conference and to share information on the latest trends and developments relating to due diligence in hiring to assist recruiters in avoiding hiring lawsuits just waiting to happen.” 

Mr. Rosen, who is also an attorney, is a nationally recognized, expert, on employments screening background checks.  He is a writer and speaker on the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), pre-employment screening, and safe hiring issues. In addition, Mr. Rosen is the author of the first comprehensive book on employment screening background checks, “The Safe Hiring Manual Complete Guide to Keeping Criminals, Imposters and Terrorists Out of Your Workplace.” He also wrote, “The Safe Hiring Audit.”

 Mr. Rosen’s speaking appearances have included numerous national and statewide conferences.   He has testified in the California, Florida  and Arkansas Superior Court as an expert witness on issues surrounding safe hiring and due diligence. Mr. Rosen was the chairperson of the steering committee that founded the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS), the professional trade organization for the screening industry, and served as the first co-chairman in 2004. 

More information about Employment Screening Resources can be found at www.ESRcheck.com