Welcome! The VeriFirst News is a monthly newsletter, researched and developed to provide you with the most relevant background screening compliance, regulatory news, and industry related headlines. If you have any questions regarding the information or updates referenced in this newsletter, please do not hesitate to contact our client support and development office for additional information. Please enjoy this edition of The VeriFirst News. Keep Safe, Ryan M. Howard Vice President, Business Development VeriFirst Background Screening, LLC If you would like to add a colleague or other recipient to our newsletter distribution, or if you have a suggestion for an article that others will find informative, simply send an email address to support@verifirst.com | subject line: Newsletter with the appropriate information. In This Issue: EMPLOYEE SCREENING NEWS: Catch-22: Credit Checks On Jobless Keep Jobless Unemployed Privacy Laws and Regulations Around the Globe: The Impact on Doing Business Internationally EMPLOYMENT Hiring will make moderate strides in January New-Year Hiring Expected to Return to Pre-Recession Pace in Asia Pacific, While Job Prospects Continue to Slowly Improve in the Americas and Europe LEGAL ISSUES Illegal Hires: Court Case Shows Feds Following Up On Promise To Penalize Employers FTC New Media Rules-Companies Beware DATA PROTECTION, FRAUD & THEFT House Passes Data Accountability Bill ACFE's Fraud Report DRUG TESTING Drug Testing: Top Lab Says Hair Test Is More Reliable List of Screening Devices that Conform to the Model Specifications for Screening Devices to Measure Alcohol in Bodily Fluids EMPLOYEE SCREENING Catch-22: Credit Checks On Jobless Keep Jobless Unemployed Employment experts say companies of all kinds are increasingly reviewing the credit histories of job candidates before making a decision about whom to hire. The idea, disputed by many labor advocates, is that credit history serves as a barometer for how dependable someone might be – or how tempted they might be to dip into the till. But with unemployment stuck at double digits, and with more than 35 percent of the jobless out of work for more than six months, the practice creates an insidious feedback loop, critics say. The pattern goes like this: Without a job, a laid-off worker can't pay bills and his or her credit history takes a beating. Without decent credit, they're rejected by potential employers and can't get a job. More bills go unpaid, and credit crumbles further. "It's a vicious cycle," said Adam Klein, a New York employment lawyer, who says there's "no nexus" between credit problems and job performance. "It's a completely arbitrary barrier to employment." Experts say 40 to 45 percent of employers now use some credit screening when evaluating job candidates. The reports they review don't contain actual credit scores, but do include information about payment history and outstanding debt. For More Information Go To: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/money/catch-22-credit-checks-on-jobless-keep-jobless-118487.html

Be sure to visit VeriFirst Background Screening and our sister company, BYL Risk Management Services at the Annual Student Housing Conference and Expo in Las Vegas. Numerous states have passed job reference immunity statutes that shield employers from lawsuits brought by an employee as a result of providing information regarding an ex-employee to a prospective employer by extending protection through a legal theory known as "qualified privilege." Under "qualified privilege" an employer's statements about a former or current employee must be truthful, made in good faith, and made for a legitimate purpose. The ultimate benefit of these statutes is that employers will be able to obtain more complete information about applicants before hiring them. To Read More Go To: http://localhost:4664/cache?eve nt_id=178329&schema_id= 6&q=Qualified+Privelege&s=zdkOdYF icOsKgmi85c7X2wLKZk0 County Employee Accused of Theft Was On Felony Probation When Hired A County employee accused of stealing $71,000 was on felony probation during her hiring, and officials admitted a background check should have been conducted before she was hired. Police arrested Katrina Jones and charged her with felony theft after an investigation revealed that thousands of dollars in customer payments were not deposited in the county's bank account, according to the County sheriff's Investigator. Source: http://chronicle.augusta.com/ stories/101007/met_146966.shtml Send to a Colleague

Privacy Laws and Regulations Around the Globe: The Impact on Doing Business Internationally

The protection of personal information is an important issue as business operations become increasingly global in nature. Coupled with the Internet enabling personal data to be distributed almost instantaneously across the globe, privacy has quickly become a critical international concern that can often be confusing due to a global patchwork of laws and regulations. A US organization conducting business in multiple foreign jurisdictions must be aware privacy laws are not equal everywhere. Unless the most restrictive regulatory regime is adopted,country by country procedures may be necessary. Although efforts are underway in many regions to harmonize legislation, privacy laws around the world still differ in many respects. Outside of Canada and Europe, privacy legislation is either non-existent or a patchwork of sector-specific laws and regulations. US organizations conducting business in these regions should use the most stringent legislation as the lowest common denominator in order to establish an effective privacy policy.

For More Information Go To: http://www.mondaq.com/canada/article.asp?articleid=88714

EMPLOYMENT

Hiring Will Continue to Improve Slowly and Steadily in January

Hiring will increase in January compared with a year ago, but layoffs persist in both the manufacturing and service sectors as the job market’s recovery continues, according to the Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM) Leading Indicators of National Employment (LINE) survey for January 2010.

Hiring will make moderate strides in January.
Though job opportunities remain limited, January marks the third straight month on an annualbasis that hiring will exceed layoffs in manufacturing and services.

Job openings in both sectors are slowly rising.
For the third consecutive month, vacancies rose from the previous year in December in all four job categories for manufacturing and services.

For More Information Go To:
http://www.shrm.org/Research/MonthlyEmploymentIndices/line/Documents/LINE%20January%202010.pdf

New-Year Hiring Expected to Return to Pre-Recession Pace in Asia Pacific, While Job Prospects Continue to Slowly Improve in the Americas and Europe

According to the global Manpower Employment Outlook Survey results released today by Manpower Inc. (NYSE: MAN), job seekers across most of the Asia Pacific region should start the new year with employment opportunities similar to those seen prior to the global downturn; Indian employers are reporting the strongest hiring plans globally. Meanwhile, employment prospects in the Americas remain muted but are generally improved from three months ago. In the U.S., employers are more optimistic than three months ago, but are still forecasting the weakest first-quarter hiring pace since 1982. Across Europe, hiring sentiments are mixed with employers in eight countries indicating modest improvements compared to three months ago.

To Read The Full Report Click Here

LEGAL ISSUES

Illegal Hires: Court Case Shows Feds Following Up On Promise To Penalize Employers

At the beginning of the year, the White House and the Department of Homeland Security vowed to crack down on employers who hired illegal immigrants. In one of the first case following the vow, the feds made good on the threat: 10 years in prison for an owner who flouted the law. A federal investigation in Michigan had revealed that Rosenbaum’s company had hired hundreds of illegal aliens and paid them in cash – thereby avoiding paying the government employment taxes, Social Security and Medicare. According to the feds, the company had cheated the IRS out of more than $16 million.Cite: U.S. v. Rosenbaum

For More Information Go To:
http://www.hrmorning.com/illegal-hires-court-case-shows-feds-following-up-on-promise-to-penalize-employers/

FTC New Media Rules-Companies Beware

On December 1, 2009, the FTC released revised Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (16 CFR 255). Any advertisement must disclose the “generally expected performance” for the product or service. The Guides are expanded to include New Media, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace, websites and personal blogs. The Guides require that any material connection between an endorser and advertiser be clearly disclosed in any endorsement, testimonial or advertisement. This would apply if, for example, your company gives away free product samples in exchange for a product review, even if the review is negative. The Guides expand the definition of “endorser” to include individuals, groups, institutions and even employees. If an employee makes a statement on his or her personal blog or Facebook page and such statement is an “endorsement”, both the employee and employer may be liable for any misleading content. The new FTC Guides are particularly important for employers whose employees, sales representatives or independent contractors would receive a direct benefit from the sale of the employer’s services or product.

For more information regarding the new FTC Guides Go To: http://www.nchc.com/News%20Updates/News_FTC%20NewMediaRulesMHSDec09.htm

DATA PROTECTION, FRAUD & THEFT

House Passes Data Accountability Bill

The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation Dec. 8 requiring data brokers to establish procedures to verify the accuracy of information that identifies individuals in their databases and to allow consumers to access and request correction of incorrect information. The Data Accountability and Trust Act, approved on a voice vote, would also require data brokers to provide nationwide notice in the event of certain security breaches. The legislation now moves to the U.S. Senate. The bill also authorizes the Federal Trade Commission to establish a standard method or methods for destroying obsolete non-electronic data in addition to requiring data brokers to submit their security policies to the FTC in conjunction with a security breach notification or on FTC request. If a breach occurs, the legislation mandates the FTC to conduct a security audit of the data broker.

For More Information Go To: http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Government-IT/House-Passes-Data-Accountability-Bill-810221

DRUG TESTING:

Drug Testing: Top Lab Says Hair Test Is More Reliable

Using blood or urine samples has been the standard for workplace drug testing for years. One of the country’s biggest laboratories says we may be looking at a better, more convenient testing method for some types of drug use. Quest Diagnostics has released the details of a testing study that shows for the first half of 2009:

• Three of every 1,000 urine tests performed on job applicants and employees showed up positive for cocaine, while hair testing showed cocaine use in 32 of 1,000 samples.
• For every methamphetamine, 1,000 urine sample resulted in one positive test, while the same number of hair samples resulted in nine positives.

Quest’s reason for the higher number of hair-tests positives: Hair samples tend to show drug use going back further than urine samples — typically 90 days vs. one to three days.

For More Information Go To: http://www.hrmorning.com/drug-testing-lab-says-hair-test-is-more-reliable/

Conforming Products List of Screening Devices that Conform to the Model Specifications for Screening Devices to Measure Alcohol in Bodily Fluids.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration published in the Federal Register today the "Conforming Products List of Screening Devices that Conform to the Model Specifications for Screening Devices to Measure Alcohol in Bodily Fluids."

Download at http://www.swiftpage6.com/CampResource/2Y0RJSUNHR45KH4G/1/text.pdf