In the state of Kentucky, only employees of nursing homes and assisted living homes (nurses, etc.) are subject to criminal background checks. These employees are typically the ones who provide direct care to residents. Members of the public are hailing this as a sane, common sense law, while others are lauding it as unfair to those who have undergone criminal rehabilitation.

On Thursday, the legislation was introduced to the 2012 General Assembly. The law states, among other things, that criminal background checks must be conducted for all long-term care employees. This law would extend background checks to janitors, and even dining room workers.

The motive for this law stems from a lawsuit filed in 2010. A Fayette Circuit Court found that a nursing home in Lexington unknowingly hired a registered sex offender as a maintenance worker.

The legislation is very exhaustive, and prohibits employment in nursing facilities or assisted living communities based on a variety of factors. The factors that would exclude employment are as follows: conviction of a felony related to theft, abuse or sale of illegal drugs, neglect, abuse, sexual exploitation of an adult, or any sexual crime.

The legislation was explicitly brought about in light of cases in which nursing home employees took advantage of residents. The exploitation was not only financial, but cases also documented workers taking sexual, emotional, and physical advantage of residents.

Lobbyists worked for nearly five years to draft legislation that would require background checks for all employees. The legislation was unanimously praised by these interest groups. One lobbyist stated "It's important because it affects the quality of the people taking care of our elderly population."

Similar legislation has also been brought about (Senate Bill 44) in the 2011 General Assembly, however, it failed. Lobbyists state that this may be because some lawmakers misunderstood the bill. Currently, no nursing home industry representatives have voices any opposition to the bill.

In June, a $3 Million dollar federal grant was given to Kentucky to conduct criminal background checks, using state of the art fingerprint technology instead of name based checks only. This grant for background checks was primaraly used by those in direct care facilities.

Top 5 Tips to Avoid FCRA Non-compliance
The ramifications of not following the “rules” surrounding pre-employment screening may lead to financial catastrophe as described in a complimentary guide provided by Pre-employ.com. You can download it here: http://www.pre-employ.com/5Tips

Free analysis:
Reviewing an organization’s background screening process yearly helps ensure that the procedures used follow the prescribed steps, and will identify areas of concern. Pre-employ.com offers a free analysis of background screening programs here: http://www.pre-employ.com/quote

*We welcome relevant comments and questions from consumers, experts, and human resources professionals. Please do not submit comments with advertisements as they will not be posted publicly. Thanks for visiting our blog!

Service is the hallmark of your nonprofit organization. But in order render that service, your organization’s legal standing and its status and reputation in your community must be preserved.

To help insure this, your nonprofit organization needs reliable employee background checking and volunteer screening before a worker joins your team. Once people are onboard, your organization becomes vulnerable, and damage may be done before you become aware problems even existed.

If your organization’s reputation is damaged, its ability to raise resources and funds within your community can be seriously, and perhaps irreparably, compromised. You simply cannot afford to expose your organization’s image and sensitive information to new workers who have not been properly screened.

But the need for background checks introduces the problem of performing them lawfully. Lawsuits over unlawful background checks are a reality. Organizations cannot risk performing these checks without a thorough knowledge of federal, state and local laws. This dual problem of needing checks while not having the expertise to perform them without legal risk puts many organizations between a rock and hard place.

Pre-employ.com exists to solve these problems for you. Pre-employ.com provides the expertise and tools you need to rest easy knowing your employees and volunteers match the integrity your organization embodies. Our experienced staff will sit down with you to develop a set of services that meet your unique needs. Our nationally-recognized Volunteer Screening platform is easy to use and efficient.

A leader in pre-employment checking, Pre-employ.com provides criminal background checks on the national, state and local level, testing for drugs, sex offender scans, license verifications, credit checking, as well as other services. Pre-employ.com was founded in 1994 and maintains a stellar record of regulatory conformity and research. A recognized provider to Fortune 1000 companies, Pre-employ.com continues to set the industry standard for timeliness, service and technology.

*We welcome relevant comments and questions from consumers, experts, and human resources professionals. Please do not submit comments with advertisements as they will not be posted publicly. Thanks for visiting our blog!

After the recession started in 2007, states were massively hit with having to pay unemployment benefits. This created a huge increase in state unemployment taxes, creating a rise of almost 44%. States have gone into debt, borrowing $45 billion in Federal funds, and they could only repay these loans by increasing taxes even more. A major problem for states, some states were forced by federal law to pay benefits that didn't make any sense when local conditions were taken into consideration.

However, the JOBS act is focusing on helping get people back to work and it could make an extremely positive impact on your business. What the JOBS act does is it helps states to keep unemployment taxes down and creates a major a push towards hiring. JOBS stands for Opportunity, Benefits, and Services Act, and with it states would have more flexibility in how they could spend their portion of $31 billion in remaining temporary federal employment funds. This way, they could choose to use those funds for things like preventing unemployment tax hikes and promoting job creation and hiring using reemployment services such as wage subsidies. This means that your business could experience an increase in better qualified employees because you won't have to worry constantly about an increase in unemployment taxes. Instead, you can spend that time focusing on job applicants, interviews, and your business overall.

With the JOBS act you won't experience any negative impact on how you pay your benefits. States will be able to keep on paying up to 99 weeks of unemployment benefits, and the states will have all the money they need to do just that. However, states will be able to decide if paying out fewer weeks of benefits is more sensible. Therefore, you'll still have all the money you need.

Perhaps most importantly, the JOBS act would not add to country's deficit. It can only enhance your business. Since the acts only promotes a reduction in taxes and more hiring, the economy can only take a turn for the better as more jobs are created. Your business can only thrive with the JOBS act.

*We welcome relevant comments and questions from consumers, experts, and human resources professionals. Please do not submit comments with advertisements as they will not be posted publicly. Thanks for visiting our blog!

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island introduced a measure earlier this month intended to encourage business to hire unemployed workers by providing businesses with tax credits for doing so. The Job Creation Tax Credit Act of 2011 (S. 1271) amends provisions in the 2010 HIRE Act. It gives employers who hire workers who were previously unemployed refundable tax credits based on their wages.

The credits would start at of 15% of 2011 wages and drop to 10% in 2012. If passed, the bill would take effect immediately and last until January 1, 2013. Qualified individuals would be those hired during that period who have not been employed for more than 40 hours during the previous two months. The bill includes a clause ensuring workers hired under the bill cannot be used to replace anyone currently employed unless that employee left work voluntarily or was fired for cause.

Sen. Whitehouse has stated that the bill is intended to reduce the cost and risk of hiring new workers during an economically uncertain time and that 'by providing refundable tax credits for new hires, this bill will help businesses hire the workers they need to expand." The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Finance.

*We welcome relevant comments and questions from consumers, experts, and human resources professionals. Please do not submit comments with advertisements as they will not be posted publicly. Thanks for visiting our blog!

Hiring quality employees is one of the toughest and most important challenges a manager faces. Good employees are critical to the success of the organization, while poor employees can be the downfall. The art of hiring is one that eludes many managers who do not have the skills and instincts to select the best employee. The process can leave hiring managers as nervous as the job seekers.

The key to successful hiring is making informed decisions. Managers must have a very clear picture of the requirements for the job and must have the skills and tools to select the best match.

The first step to a successful hire is to understand and communicate the required skills and traits for the job. These are the “qualifiers”. The qualifiers should be prioritized and identified as either critical for success or nice to have. Identifying qualifiers helps create an effective job posting and serves as a template for screening and interviewing. This is also the right time to identify “disqualifiers” – things that will make an applicant unacceptable.

The next step is to screen and interview applicants. Applicants should be evaluated on how well they meet the qualifiers and the quality of their character. The interview process is the opportunity to discuss the applicant’s background and get more information about their experience and skills. As evidenced by the thousands of books and articles advising on successful interviewing, there are countless ways to achieve this. For example, a higher level job might require multiple formal interviews and testing and assessment, while entry level jobs require only one simple screening. Over time, hiring managers develop a style that works for them.

The point of screening and interviewing is to learn as much as possible about the employee to make an informed decision and hire the right person. Applicants are on their best behavior and present themselves in the best possible light. It can be difficult to know if applicants are trustworthy and whether they are giving you the full account of their background.

Employment screening services by a third party can eliminate some of that uncertainty. Screening services can include drug testing, criminal background checks, license verifications, reference verifications, and employment verifications. These screenings quickly and cost-effectively eliminate “disqualified” applicants. This narrows the hiring field down to qualified applicants only and avoids the expense and disruption of a bad hire. Services such as pre-employ.com provide these functions at a cost that is well worth the information gained.

*We welcome relevant comments and questions from consumers, experts, and human resources professionals. Please do not submit comments with advertisements as they will not be posted publicly. Thanks for visiting our blog!