RELIABLE BACKGROUND SCREENING INDUSTRY NEWS AND ARTICLES

Non-profit organizations rely on their volunteers to enable them to deliver on whatever the non-profit’s mission is for the constituents that they serve. These organizations typically operate on a slim budget, often with little professional staff. Volunteers frequently are the backbone of these organizations, without whom they could not be effective. However, too often, these same non-profit organizations, neglect to perform proper, “best practices” background checks on their volunteers. Some may perform an inadequate non-compliant criminal database check. Others do not even perform this minimal level of background check. The risk to the non-profit organization, its donors, employees, volunteers, and constituents is [...]

Negligent hiring and retention liability normally refers to an employer’s obligation not to hire an applicant, or retain an employee, that the employer knew or should have known was likely to undertake conduct against other individuals, or otherwise subject employees or third parties, e.g., customers, to actions which can create legal liability. Employers can be held liable for willful misconduct by their employees. Through negligent hiring and retention lawsuits, many employers have been found responsible for their employees’ actions, even when the employee was no longer working for the company at the time of the crime. Negligent hiring and retention lawsuits have [...]

On November 25, 2015, the Portland City Council and Mayor Charlie Hales enacted a new “Ban the Box” law that creates a more restrictive version of the law than was enacted by the Oregon State Legislature and signed into law by Oregon Governor Kate Brown this past summer. Although the Oregon State Law goes into effect on January 1, 2016, the stricter City of Portland Law, will not become effective until July 1, 2016. “Ban the Box” laws are laws which prohibit the use of questions on employment applications that inquire about a job applicant’s prior criminal history. Some states and cities [...]

Many companies, especially those in the in-home services industries, tout “our employees are background checked.” This often gives a false sense of security to the misinformed public. However, it is not only consumers who believe they are protected by these so-called “background checks.” Many companies, both large and small, have employees and managers tasked with the responsibility of hiring, that truly do not understand what comprises a “best practices” background check. Industry best practices typically require that criminal records be checked for all legal names and legal aliases that are displayed by a “Social Search” or “Social Trace” product, from all counties [...]