|
Criminal
Case Files Go Online
The
Judicial Conference of the United States has released a
guide for allowing remote electronic access to criminal
case files. The guide states that if a document would be
available to a member of the public at the courthouse, it
should be available through the court’s electronic
access system. It also calls for the redaction of Social
Security numbers and other sensitive data, and explains
the types of documents – such as arrest warrants and
juvenile records – that will not be available electronically.
A separate document provides a model rule for compliance.
http://www.securitymanagement.com/
- see ‘Beyond Print.’
Background
checks might be worth the price
Unlike Wal-Mart,
many South Carolina. companies require background checks
for their workers, employment lawyers say. Columbia employment
lawyer Franklin Shuler Jr. suspects Wal-Mart doesn't do
extensive checking because its large size and high employee
turnover would make it very expensive. But it is a risky
policy for any company or nonprofit organization not to
do background checks, he said last week. It only takes one
case for people to see the light," said Shuler, who
works for the 59-lawyer firm of Turner Padget Graham &
Laney.
Wal-Mart,
the nation's largest retailer, is the target of a Richland
County lawsuit that claims the company allows pedophiles
to work in its stores because it doesn't do criminal background
checks on most employees. Click
Here To Read More
|
|
New
Product
Rapfinity
is a new online criminal records search that includes an
instant search of alternate names associated with an applicant’s
social security number. Developed by Rapsheets Criminal
Records of Memphis, Tennessee, the search verifies
a subject’s identity, lists alternate names used by
subject, lists prior addresses, and reveals a history of
criminal records associated with alternate names. It uses
the company’s RapEngine technology, which searches
a third-party database for all names and addresses associated
with the Social Security number. The system then searches
its own criminal records database using all those names.
Results are returned in an easy-to-read format within seconds
- 866/277-9287.
www.asisonline.org
June 2004
Global
Detection & Reporting Introduces New High-Tech Tool
to Test Employees for Drug Use
Global
Detection & Reporting has a tool long used by law enforcement
agencies that is wiped on surfaces in an attempt to detect
cannabis, cocaine and other controlled substances. The wipes,
not unlike home pregnancy tests, are sensitive enough to
pick up trace amounts of the drugs.
The
tests have gained attention, as they are both cheaper than
a traditional urine test and less personally invasive. It’s
all completely legal and on premises drug testing of all
kinds has, for the most part, stood up in court battles.
www.csoonline.com
|
Recent Legal,
Financial and Other Developments Have Made the Task of Completing
Background Checks More Challenging
In the old radio program,
the Shadow always knew what evil lurked in the hearts of men.
In the real world, however, uncovering evil is much trickier.
One of the avenues that mere mortals can pursue in their efforts
to unmask miscreants is the background check. Especially useful
is the criminal records search, because as Connecticut Attorney
General Richard Blumenthal commented in defending against a challenge
to the state’s sex offender registry law, “The single
most reliable predictor of criminal behavior is the fact of a
prior criminal history.”
Searching criminal
records is not a quick and easy task, however. The process is
time consuming and complicated by numerous financial, political,
legal and procedural barriers. Many parties object to the public
availability of these records and work to block such access.
Private Security
Officer Employment Authorization Act of 2003 Senate Bill S1743
The bill will permit
employers to request criminal background checks on applicants
for security officer positions. The request would be made through
state agencies, and the checks conducted through the FBI’s
Criminal Justice Information System. Employers requesting the
checks would be required to pay for them, thus states would not
suffer from unfounded mandate. The bill would provide for the
protection of an individual’s privacy by requiring an applicant
to provide written authorization to an employer before such a
background check would be permitted. Click
Here To Read More
Q:
What does HIPAA cover with regard to random drug screens?
We recently
sent an employee for a random drug screen. He submitted the sample,
but did not return to work. He then wrote a letter to the physician
that collected the sample and asked him not to release the results.
The physician will not release the results fearing a lawsuit.
Click
Here To Read More
| INDUSTRY
UPDATE AND OTHER INTERESTING STUFF |
Background Investigations
A recent survey found that slightly more than
three-fourths of the respondents conduct a thorough background
investigation of prospective employees. Of the 78 percent that
perform background checks, the following techniques are used:
previous work history (82 percent); criminal background check
(75 percent); motor vehicle record check (58 percent); and credit
history (27 percent). Only 7 percent of the respondent’s
organizations use psychological testing during the hiring process.
Source: 2004 Workplace Violence Survey & White
Paper, May 2004, American Society of Safety Engineers
The Employment Management Association
Evolves into SHRM Special Interest Chapters, Groups
Across the
country, employment professionals who were once part of Employment
Management Association (EMA) regions are joining specialized groups
to continue networking and using resources and services from the
Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). Once part of the
SHRM Professional Emphasis Groups (PEGs), the new groups will
be part of either a Special Interest Chapter that are autonomous
SHRM chapters and/or Special Interest Groups which are part of
an existing SHRM chapter. Click
Here To Read More
Latest
Research from SHRM Shows Major Increase in Importance of “Feeling
Safe at Work”
The latest research
by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) on job satisfaction
shows a major, unexpected increase among employees in the importance
of “feeling safe at work.”
Although feeling safe
at work was not a leading concern for workers surveyed two years
ago, it is now at, or near the top of the list for employees in
almost every demographic and industry category, according to the
results of the 2004 SHRM Job Satisfaction Survey. It is the number
one issue for women, and for older workers it is tied for first
place with concern about benefits.
Overall, feeling
safe at work was ranked as a “very important factor”
in job satisfaction by 62 percent of all employees surveyed for
the 2004 study, up from around 36 percent in 2002. Click
Here To Read More
HRhero.com
Weekly Poll - “Do you do criminal background checks on job
applicants?”
In a recent
poll of readers the question “Do you do criminal background
checks on job applicants?” was asked.
1,105 Respondents
replied:
57% For all
jobs
05% For most jobs
16% For some jobs
22% Never
Identify
Theft – Passwords Hidden in Plain Sight
A computer never forgets
a password. This could pose a security problem if staff with limited
access privileges were to figure out how to access the plain text
passwords in the computer’s database, according to Abhishek
Kumar, who authored a paper about this vulnerability.
Passwords
are typically encrypted while on a hard disk but are sometimes
not encrypted in memory. “Thus attackers with local access
to the system can read and extract passwords” using free
tools such as memory viewers, explains Kumar, a researcher with
Web-security company Paladion, which is based in Mumbai, India
If a user with limited
privileges gained access to those passwords, they could fool the
computer into treating them as high-level users.
Extracted
from WWW.ASISONLINE.ORG-
See http://www.securitymanagement.com/
“Discovering Passwords in the Memory”
Protecting
Trade Secrets:
Protection
of trade secrets from misappropriation by employees or competitors
has long been established under common law. The Uniform Trade
Secrets Act now adopted (sometimes with modifications) by 45 states,
embodies and strengthens those common law protections. The Economic
Espionage Act goes even further by providing for criminal sanctions,
but prosecutions under that statute have been rare, and some of
the sentences imposed have been light. Click
Here To Read More
Steps
Businesses Take To Protect Trade Secrets
51% Employees
sign nondisclosure agreements
35 Departing employees reminded to protect trade
secrets
30 No steps taken to protect trade secrets
19 Written policy developed of protecting trade
secrets
13 Procedures developed for reporting/investigating
trade secret violations
11 Employees trained on laws prohibiting disclosure
of trade secrets
09 Violations of
trade secret policy punished
07 Employee communications
monitored for trade secret violations
07 New employees
sign document agreeing not to disclose previous employer’s
trade secrets
Source: Society for
Human Resource Management Weekly Online Poll, March 9, 2004
Bad
Checks
More organizations are investigating criminal histories and other
public records to make hiring and firing decisions. It's up to
CSOs to make sure this powerful but flawed weapon doesn't backfire.
In less than three years, James R. Gorman went from being
a newbie investment manager to the lord of $100 million in client
accounts for The Vanguard Group, one of the nation's largest and
most respected mutual fund companies. When Gorman's Pennsylvania
insurance license came up for renewal the company conducted a
routine background check and found a problem. James R. Gorman
had pleaded guilty to loan and credit card fraud. He was a convicted
felon.
So Vanguard did what
any financial services company would do: It fired him.
There was
just one problem: They got the wrong guy. http://www.csoonline.com/read/080104/checks.html
| PREEMPLOYMENTDIRECTORY.COM |
New
Featured Customers:
| PREEMPLOYMENTDIRECTORY.COM
- Special Fall Pricing |
All firms that
either renew or sign up for Platinum level services by the end
of November 2004 will get a Platinum Listing at the special price
of $350.00 for NAPBS members or $500.00 for non members including
a front page listing for their logo on both the alphabetic and
geographic sections. Be sure to sign up to for this great value
and to avoid 2005 price increase.
Services Provided for Platinum Level:
- A
listing with your firm’s name, address, telephone
number and web site URL
- Web
site address with link directly to any page you want on
your site
- Instant
email link so buyers can contact you easily and quickly
- Up
to 1 page company/product description or advertisement,
etc.
|
- Direct
sales contact name, phone and email link
- 4
color company/product Logo
- Priority
positioning above general listings plus First Page listing
in Alphabetical section
- Unlimited
Free updates to your listing throughout the year
- Option
to post Articles that will be featured on home page with
a link to your description
|
| NEW
INTERNATIONAL SECTION |
Due to the
increasing focus, importance and need to know who you are hiring
in the international employment market we are proud to add to
our Directory a section that identifies firms that are conducting
International background checks. Don’t miss this opportunity
to showcase your firm’s talent and leadership in conducting
background checks for international clients. Check out the new
section by going to www.PreemploymentDirectory.com
and clicking on International Listings.
| ADVERTISING
RATES FOR BACKGROUND BUZZ: |
Click
Here for More Information
New
Software
The Ultimate
Workplace Violence Prevention Policymaker A new tool that allows
firms large and small to create a comprehensive policy for the
prevention of workplace violence; all in about an hour. The policymaker
software breaks new ground in that it offers a comprehensive solution
for firms of all sizes and types; it goes beyond existing solutions
that offer a generic solution, this extensive data resource base
provides companies with the most complete and up-to-date information
on workplace violence. Go to www.Workplaceviolencepreventionpolicy.com
and mention Code BBZ007 during September 2004 and get a 15% discount
on creating a workplace violence prevention policy.
Webinars
The National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is convening
for the first time, a conference on the topic of Workplace Violence,
Partnering in Workplace Violence Prevention: Translating
Research to Practice – November 15-17, 2004 in
Baltimore, MD. NAPBS member W. Barry Nixon will be speaking on
‘Employee on Employee Workplace Violence.’
The Background
Investigator’s 2004 3rd Annual Pre-Employment Screeners
Conference, Fall Session, November 14-17, 2004. Network
with Your Peers and Vendors. Call Now to Register 1-866-909-6678.
ASIS
International 2004 Annual Seminar and Exhibits, September
27-30:
- Background Investigations in the Workplace: A Legal Update,
Angela Bosworth, JD
- Benchmarking Pre-Employment Screening Practices: The Good, the
Bad and the Ugly, W. Barry Nixon, SPHR
- Safe Hiring Audit -Implementing and Measuring Due Diligence,
Lester Rosen, JD
- Pre-Employment Screening--Set Your Standards! Patti McGowan
| CALENDAR
OF EVENTS: POST YOUR EVENTS FOR FREE |
You are invited
to post events that are related to Preemployment Background Screening
to our Calendar of Events located at http://www.workplaceviolence911.com/Calendar/calendar.jsp.
All postings are free and you can self post.
|
