How to Avoid Hiring a Bad Egg

Adapted from THE WALL STREET JOURNAL COMPLETE SMALL BUSINESS GUIDEBOOK (Three Rivers Press).

As you begin recruiting and interviewing employees, you'll obviously be drawn to certain candidates because of their experience, educational background and personality. While it's easy to make a decision based on what you see in front of you, it's wise to consider what may be hidden from view, too.

Small businesses, unfortunately, are particularly vulnerable to embezzlement and other kinds of employee theft because they lack the checks and balances of big corporations. One report by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners found that the median loss for small firms with fewer than one hundred employees was $190,000. The most common schemes? Employees fraudulently writing company checks, skimming revenues and processing phony invoices.

You can increase your chances of avoiding problems— and spotting dishonesty— by beefing up your hiring practices. Here's how to do it.

• Use a formal job application. Take a page from corporate America's book and supply job candidates with an application that requests full name, address, education, employment record (with years) and references. An application that includes all of this information can give you a clearer picture of someone's background than, say, a resume that he or she provides. Also, it's wise to state on the application that supplying false information can lead to dismissal. Documentation can help protect you in the event of an employee lawsuit.

• Ask tough questions. Carefully review the application, and during the in-person interview, ask probing questions, especially about gaps in employment. A candidate may certainly have any number of innocent explanations (such as attending school, reevaluating his or her career or caring for a child or other family member), but gaps between jobs can indicate an inability to hold down a position, a sudden dismissal or, at worst, a prison stay. Arrange for others at your company (or a trusted advisor, if you're a solo entrepreneur) to meet the person as well; getting a second or third opinion to confirm your impressions will help you make more solid hiring decisions.

• Call former employers and check references. Often, former bosses don't want to provide too much negative information, for fear that they could be sued for defamation. At the least, you should be able to verify the person's employment history and salary history. The best question to ask a former employer is simply, "Is this person eligible for rehire?" If the answer is no, that's a definite red flag.

• Perform a background check. Preemployment checks can screen out applicants who may be unfit (or dangerous) for your workplace because of a criminal record. Some states may require that employers in certain industries— say, child care or health care— conduct background checks. A background check also can confirm the accuracy of information that the candidate provided on the application. While a background check isn't necessary for all employees, it's smart to conduct one on a job candidate who will have access to sensitive data or your company's finances. The Fair Credit Reporting Act, which sets standards for employment screening, requires that you get consent from a potential employee before conducting a background check. Check the FTC's website to make sure you are in compliance. Also, you don't want to run afoul of state or federal laws concerning the kinds of information an employer uses to make employment decisions. If you do perform a background check, ask a business owner or your attorney for a referral to a reputable firm.

• Invite a potential hire for a paid tryout. You can learn a lot about potential employees, including how well they fit into your small business environment, by inviting them to work on a test project or spending a trial run in your office. A tryout may be a particularly good way to test an applicant's technical skills— say, a proficiency with a type of software— and may reveal far more than a reference or background check.


Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704533204575047594152725262.html?mod=WSJ_Technology_RIGHTBottomSBHeadLines

The right for employment and the criminal record

Once convicted of crime, a person, after detained in prison, is usually given the benefits as allotted to them by the government supported by law. However, this freedom is bounded by the decision of an employer as to whether give them the consideration for employment or not.
Is this discrimination or not?

It cannot be blamed that a persons with criminal records are given the benefit of the doubt when it comes to employment. Those under probation are usually the ones gravely faced with this problem than those who have gone out of jail for quite some time. It seems that trust is being questioned rather than the potential or talent one can offer for the affectivity of the job. People can not help but be careful nowadays when anyone can be suspected of even being a terrorist. A bag that was left, even if it was unintentional, in front of the store alerts the bomb squad or any swat team. If things can pull the alarm trigger what more a person whose face has been laid in criminal records?

Chances are that there are criminals who pose themselves as a different person either using another name or just made himself someone out of thin air to get into employment or lives of others. From fake names to fake IDs or even fake college degrees, it is now possible to forge documents. These however are the real criminals. There maybe those who do this out of desperation yet a wrong doing can never be right. For those however who see themselves inline with “second chance”, what others has first set wrongly can greatly affect them. This is one hard throw for those who want to start in a clean turf.

It is indeed a pity for someone who wishes to start anew, throw his first chance of having one. A criminal record seems to be a billboard on neon lights posted on ones head. It’s hard to look past it yet it seems inhuman to not give a chance when it is being asked. Consideration…can it be given or not? This is one question that each of us must answer.

Nursing Board Background Checks found Dozens of Criminally Convicted Registered RNs

California - Newly implemented fingerprint background checks for new and currently registered nurses has uncovered dozens of registered nurses who have had past conviction some of them for serious crimes including sex offenses, murder, assault and robbery.

After numerous published stories as well as public and media concerns, the State Board of Registered Nursing has expanded it efforts to review its nurses and their criminal records. In 1990, it had become mandatory for applying nurses to submit their fingerprints for criminal background checks, this was the first instance of a nursing board in the country to requiring the these types of fingerprint criminal background checks.

Before the move, nurses that had already been licensed before 1990 were not included and exempted from providing fingerprints, but now the State Board is requiring those nurses as well as new applicants to all submit their fingerprints.

Nearly 64,000 nurses belonging to those who have been registered before 1990 have submitted their fingerprints to the board, while more than 400 licenses were temporarily put on hold because they have not complied with the new regulation and have not submitted their prints. These fingerprint background checks are the State Boards continuing efforts to overhaul its regulations and procedures following numerous reports of nurses caught having previous criminal records.

Most of the crimes and convictions that have surfaced after the fingerprint background checks were mostly minor crimes and misdemeanors such as petty theft, driving under the influence, fraud, but do include some more serious convictions. As of recent, there were two murder convictions, an attempted murder, vehicular homicide, and a manslaughter conviction.

Due to the success of the program by the State Nursing Board, efforts are being made to include all other licensed health professionals in the state, but one main problem exist for this to be achieved, the different health regulatory agencies and boards have their own regulations and set of rules regarding licensing and background check requirements. As of present, it is believed that there are 937,100 different licensed health care workers that have not been submitted to criminal background checks.


Original Post by " Charleston Lenard "

Related Author: " Mildred Soto "

Employment Background is Essential in Hiring

Under many circumstances, a background of a person plays an important role in determining his capabilities, skills, attitude, personality, and outlook on issues and jobs. As the cliché goes, “history repeats itself,” the past of a person can also be a strong determinant of a possible repetition of what had happened or he has done before. This is evident in many records kept by the government particularly in the bureau of prisons whereby a convict that was pardoned or has already served a sentence may have high possibility of repeating the same crime he has been charged of. And because of this premise, many companies seek for aide to determine who these people are that has grim background to determine their capabilities to perform tasks.

Traditionally, employers conduct background check in so many ways to ensure that their pool of employees will not be tainted by unqualified persons or convicted criminals. Though many of the processes that involved a past check is controlled and monitored by the government to assure equality and non-discrimination, many companies still in position to do a process because there is no other way in which they can be sure of a particular applicant.

Depending on which state and their legislation, conducting a background check is limited only to regulation in which the employee or the applicant is protected. One particular protection that is assured by government laws is the right to criminal pardon. The time of the conviction is very important to tell whether a particular person is already qualified to be employed. A crime and conviction that has happened 7 years before and that the person as the subject already served a sentence is already free of any criminal records search. Though his records might still be searchable, companies may no longer ban him or disapprove his application for this reason. Relevance of the crime is also important in conducting an employment background search. A conviction or charge for DUI cannot be a sole basis to disqualify an applicant for a secretarial job. However, if the company requires an applicant to drive, the DUI charge may be considered. But this is sole dependent on how the company would consider the issue under a case to case basis.

Recently, there had been an issue regarding a particular employee named Frank Garcia that was fired from a company with unknown reasons. Garcia was alleged to be part of the shooting that happened last weekend leaving four people dead. Two weeks after he was fired, a hospital hired him without considering the reason why he was previously fired. Though the hospital admitted that the process of employment has been followed and that a check has been conducted, the details of the said process was not been disclosed.

The hospital may have not failed to act in the case of Garcia as background checks would require permission from the employee or the applicant. Crosschecking and validating date of previous employment can only be done after the applicant disclosed the name of the company and the contact person. Other than a confirmation of dates and the previous employment, the former employer cannot give any other information to the present employer.

Despite this strict law, there are still ways in which an employer can be sure of with the applicant. As records are still considered a public document, it can never an issue of discrimination and privacy if gathered information is handled legally and fairly.

Original post by Hilda Carlsen - Public Records

Why employers need to perform employment screening background checks on attorneys, doctors and other regulated professions

It is an urban myth that licensed professionals such as doctors, lawyers or teachers, do not need background checks. Just because a person is in a regulated profession, employers cannot assume that background checks are not needed.

One of the reasons perhaps that employers may sometime let their guard down when it comes to regulated professions is that employers may assume that a person would not have obtained the professional license in the first place if there was a relevant criminal record or the person had falsified their credentials. Although this approach may carry some weight when it comes to brand new doctors, lawyers, etc, it quickly falls apart for professionals that are no longer new. That is because the disciplinary and regulatory systems to track, process and react to criminal violations or misconduct varies widely by profession and by states. It is not difficult for matters to fall through the cracks.

For example, a person with a professional license can commit a crime and “beat the discipline” by getting licensed in another state before the regulatory body takes action in the first state. In some professions, it can take considerable time for the regulatory agency to take action. Depending upon the state and the profession, it is possible that the regulators may even miss the criminal matter entirely, not have enough staff to investigate or the crime may result in some lesser sanction short of denial of a professional license.

Another reason to perform a background check on licensed professionals was demonstrated recently in story reported in Connecticut in January, 2010. According to the account given, an attorney faces a grievance action based upon allegations that when he applied for the legal department of a state agency, his resume contained false statements. The allegation is that the attorney lied by falsely claiming he graduated with honors and served on the Law Review, and that he worked for a law office that turned out never existed.

In an interesting twist, the accused lawyer defended against the allegation on the basis that the attorney never applied for the job or went to the interview, and that someone pretended to be him. See the full story at: http://www.law.com/jsp/law/careercenter/lawArticleCareerCenter.jsp?id=1202437750210&Bending_the_Truth_Can_Break_a_Legal_Career

Although such incidents may be less likely when it comes to regulated professionals, it is also true that the impact and potential harm can be substantial. If a doctors, lawyers or teachers for example are able to get away with hiding a criminal record or falsifying a resume, the public can be put at great risk.

The bottom line is that law firms, medical facilities, schools or other institutions that hire regulated professionals put the public at great risk with a bad hiring decision, and therefore has a higher duty of care. Conducting due diligence with a background check is the bet way to avoid a lawsuit for negligent hiring and harm to the public. Porfessioanl background screening firms such as Employment Screening Resources can conduct background checks nationwide on licensed professionals.


Original Post by: LesterRosen

The People finder

" To be a people finder has been one means of giving television viewers a reality drama series as networks take advantage of this profession. In a way those who are looking for their missing loved ones are given a leeway to have their search more fruitful. But there are such cases that being a “people finder” happen to be pure luck and not based on the profession one really does. The Locator is a television show which became the means of reuniting loved ones from one another. The show is hosted by Troy Dunn, who was motivated to this job when he himself helped his mother in 1990 locate her own biological family. Together with his then-partner, they founded an organization that helps reunite people from those that are considered as un-findable. It was then that he became the Locator.



Troy built a team that made the reuniting people, which has been estimated to be 300 million and counting, more possible than any locator has done. For many years, people have witnessed heartfelt reunions in television through The Locator. Troy Dunn also became very famous with his numerous guest appearances in both US and UK based shows (BBC shows to be more specific). His appearances earned him respect as he time and again brought loved ones together as only they could dream possible.

Troy Dunn became his own people finder as he launched TroyTheLocator.com. This was launched to help more people than they already were doing. Unlike other people finder searches, Troy’s ways to locate long lost loved ones became very notable for their accurate results. His television show presently helps maintain his private investigator license. Furthermore, an addition to his success is the people who gave their time and effort in getting each and every reuniting feat a success. Troy himself trained his men to be a proficient people finder themselves.

The Locator, Troy Dunn, is but an example of a person who had made himself as means to connect people who have been missing from their loved ones lives for so long. But for any ordinary man to do such a feat (at least be the means of reuniting the lives of separated loved ones) is a possibility. There are times the Fates make ways for such things to happen.

original post by: Teresa
"

Being Proactive is Better than Being Positive

To say that you may be deceived by trusting too much to be true is correct. True enough, trusting to a fault can leave you totally fooled with your own two eyes open. The usual pretentions that people commits portraying to be someone else when they are not can lead to false pretenses like taking half-truths to be full lies. Trusting is human’s positive instinct but being skeptic is a way of survival.

Getting inside the scenario of She meeting He in a blind date with love-at-first-sight spell at work can be a disaster at the end. Why? Eventually, the He that She had fallen in-love with turns out to be a jerk who have counts of offenses filed against him. Sad story, right? So if you are that type of She, getting quite fiddly and giddy to trust He completely is just the right, correct, proper and smart thing to do. Of course, this could happen in vice-versa. Are you guys learning? Maybe the dream girl you met a while ago could be a theft and murderess, so better get a hold of yourself from proposing marriage instantly. So what to do?

Be pro-active! This type of approach takes anticipating as a career. Kidding aside, this means that you are prepared by acting in advance for things that are expected or anticipated. So the next time you go on a date, try to expect for the worse to happen. Or that you will meet the most stupid creature in planet earth. You can put being pro-active at work by conducting background search prior to meeting them. That way, you can still have time to change your answer in meeting through or not.
Maybe both being skeptic and trusting has their own advantages and disadvantages, but being positive that there are still lot out there to be trustworthy can cost you too much. It can put your time, money, effort, trust and even emotion straight down the waste sewerage.