News that a registered sex offender is working as a locksmith in Shelbyville, Kentucky, understandably has some local residents on edge, reports WHAS 11 news (see story here).
Charles Lee Raisor was convicted in 2003 of sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy. There are few jobs in Kentucky that a registered sex offender can’t have, the TV station reported. These include working at schools and day care centers. However, sex offenders can be locksmiths and background checks are not required for contract workers that could be entering your home.
Sex offenders generally do not serve lifetime prison terms and must be integrated into society once released. There is much controversy over the issues of where they live, the age of the people they are around, what types of jobs they can have.
Do you know anything about the backgrounds of the plumbers, electricians, carpet cleaners or handymen you let into your home? Today, it is easy to request a background check from anyone with online background check services.
Sex offenders are everywhere and the background check technology is available now to prevent them from preying on you or your children.
Even if your service company does not conduct background checks on employees because it is not required by the laws in your state, you can request that anyone contracted to work in your home get a personal background check from MyBackgroundCheck.com. The service provider orders their own background check and, when completed, you can view it online with a special code over the website’s secure network. These background checks are comprehensive and cannot be altered by anyone.
Visit http://www.mybackgroundcheck.com/ for more information on personal background checks and www.pre-employ.com for information on business background checks.
We welcome relevant comments, questions or suggestions from HR professionals, consumers and experts. All comments are reviewed before posting.
by dbryant
7/21/2008 3:53:00 PM
I-9 compliance and employment eligibility is a paramount issue for employers today and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will continue to discipline violators who knowingly and unknowingly hire illegal workers and violate employment eligibility laws.
News last week that executives of 11 McDonalds franchises in Nevada (see article here) were arrested and fined for hiring illegal workers makes the point that it's not just hourly employees who are targeted in immigration and employment eligibility workplace sweeps. More and more individuals in the supervisory chain are being arrested by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents for I-9 employment eligibility violations.
According to the Department of Homeland Security (http://www.dhs.gov) there have been 937 criminal arrests in worksite cases of I-9 compliance violations this year, and 99 were in the company’s supervisory chain. Employment eligibility should be every employer's primary concern this year.
"It often takes time to build a criminal case against an employer, but the charges and penalties will likely be more serious as a result,” writes DHS Director Michael Chertoff in the online Leadership Journal.
Executives take note on Form I-9 compliance and employment eligibility:
If your company has a large chain of command from top to bottom and you are unaware of who you are hiring, you must take a new approach to monitoring employment eligibility. Don't leave all the decision making up to your HR personnel and ensure there are administrative procedures in place to verify employment eligibility documentation (Form I-9) collaboratively with the government's E-Verify program. Automating this task will help reduce risk and take the employment eligibility administrative nightmare away from your HR staff.
Visit http://www.i-9compliance.com/ to fill out a request for information and download the free white paper: 15 Facts Everyone Should Know About I-9 Compliance.
We welcome relevant comments, questions or suggestions from HR professionals, consumers and experts. All comments are reviewed before posting.
by dbryant
7/17/2008 1:07:00 PM
A story featured in the L.A. Times (July 16, 2008) should be a wake up call to all employers who do not conduct background checks on current employees.
Sixteen employees were suspended from Martin Luther King Jr. – Harbor hospital when county officials found they had serious criminal histories. The criminal backgrounds were discovered last year, but the employees were not disciplined or relieved from duty by the hospital.
This leaves a serious question to be answered by employers, particularly those who have employees working closely with the community. Background checks need to be conducted before hire and periodically throughout employment. Failure to do so could cause harm to other employees and customers…and the bad publicity could result in the demise of your organization.
Click here to read our full article on current background check issues...
We welcome relevant comments, questions or suggestions from HR professionals, consumers and experts. All comments are reviewed before posting.
by Admin
6/13/2008 2:02:00 PM
That can all depend. For example, California state law restricts employers from using information on the so-called “Megan’s Law” web site to rule out prospective sex offender job candidates. There’s also a seven-year scope restriction on such information for employment purposes. For example, a sex offender that is listed on the Megan's Law website for ten years for a crime committed seven years ago is not reportable by background check companies and can't be used in hiring decisions.
Employment laws can be tricky and they vary from state to state. That’s an advantage of hiring a third-party background check company. Outsourcing background checks reduces liability as these companies are subject to compliance with state laws and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). And their professional background check personnel are up-to-speed on the differences among various state laws. That can help keep employers compliant and protected against potentially catastrophic hires.
Please visit www.pre-employ.com for more information on background checks and compliance.
We welcome relevant comments, questions or suggestions from HR professionals, consumers and experts. All comments are reviewed before posting.
by Admin
6/13/2008 2:00:00 PM
Remember that career advice Dustin (“The Graduate”) Hoffman got in Mike Nichols’ iconic movie from the late Sixties? Okay, how ‘bout some more practical help for a graduate you may know
Instead of a briefcase, a new suit or a booze-besotted celebratory cruise, why not a personal background check from MyBackgroundCheck.com?
Huh? Employers are likely to run a background check on any serious job candidate anyway, so why not show them that you’re serious about the job by giving them a background check along with your resume? Northern California-based Pre-employ.com offers MyBackgroundCheck.com.
The background check professionals at the firm will independently verify and certify personal background check information such as credit history, education and work experience -- and provide it all in a tamper-proof format accessible only to prospective employers. Background check fees are reasonable (a fraction of the price of a designer dress suit) and based on the amount of information requested.
Besides helping job seekers, a background check from MyBackgroundCheck.com can give your newly minted graduate a leg up if he or she is vying for the approval of a landlord or seeking a loan from a credit union or other savings institution.
No matter what, the gift of MyBackgroundCheck.com is bound to be more useful than some soon-to-be-outdated career advice. Just ask Benjamin Braddock, the Dustin Hoffman character in “The Graduate.”
We welcome relevant comments, questions or suggestions from HR professionals, consumers and experts. All comments are reviewed before posting.