employment background screening

SSN Trace... Show it or Hide it?

On this episode Tim Santoni discusses the history of the SSN Trace. What it's good for. What it's not good for.

The legal/compliance arguments for including the SSN trace in the report and why it might be better to run it and hide it from the report.

A few options to consider.

OPTION 1 -Run the SSN Trace and include all of the results in the report with no review.

OPTION 2 - Run the SSN Trace and remove misspelled names, obvious errors and addresses that do not belong to the applicant.

OPTION 3 - Run the SSN trace BUT do NOT provide the data on the final report.

OPTION 4 - Don’t run the SSN Trace at all.

Connect with Tim on LinkedIn

Social Media Screening... current trends

Statistics- many employers are using Social Media to screen applicants, but the big question is are they doing it themselves or are they using an FCRA compliant screening partner.

The current available sites being searched by the AI and Technology Solutions available cover PUBLIC profiles on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & TikTok.

Trends- as price comes down and lawsuits arise employers will see the value in using a partner for social media backgrounds.

Compliance- HR professionals get uneasy when they look at new searches and assessment of those searches in hiring decisions due to the massive amount of litigation in the HR/Compliance/Hiring space.

Suggestions- if you are going to do it, do it right and avoid potential risk.

The trusted partners in the social media screening space.
Social Intelligence (now owned by FAMA)
Ferretly

CRA Help Desk

The CRA Help Desk is a great tool offered by BRB Publications.  The CRA Help Desk offers state & FCRA compliance and reporting guidelines when it comes to reporting of criminal records.

If you are a researchers handling compliance and adjudication this tool is a must have.

The HR Help Desk is an 'add-on' option for Background Screeners that want to offer similar resources to their clients. Things like the 7-year states, Ban The Box guidance, EEOC Guidelines and much more.

The full version that includes the CRA Help Desk and the HR Help Desk runs about $200.00 per year.


BRBPublications.com

BRB also offers MVR Decoder & PRRN (Public Record Retriever Network)

Join Troutman Pepper Consumer Financial Services Partner Chris Willis and fellow Partners Cindy Hanson and Tim St. George as they discuss current trends in Fair Credit Reporting Act litigation. Both Cindy and Tim are recognized nationally on issues related to the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Cindy has handled more than a thousand matters under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, including hundreds of class actions. Tim has extensive experience handling Fair Credit Reporting Act matters, including those related to employment background screening, as well as class-action litigation.

Greg Hauser, VP of Global Talent Acquisition joins the show

Tune in to here some of the secrets that Greg has to share...

The discussion is focused around talent acquisition, on-boarding and background screening in the post-COVID environment.

Greg shares his 5 key points of focus...
 
1) Candidate led environment
2) New and improved focus on BRAND values
3) Virtual Work & On-site work (Hybrid Approach)
4) Retention & Development focus
5) Data Driven Decision Making

We also discuss the changes and challenges facing employers as they work to diligent screen and on-board applicants in an environment filled with uncertainty and delays.

For more information about a career at Ingram Micro visit...
careers.ingrammicro.com

PBSA 2021

The PBSA Annual Conference was held in Anaheim, California.  PBSA utilized a hybrid model allow physical attendees and speakers as well as remote access.

There were in-person attendees and remote attendees could access the sessions and networking events virtually.

It was exciting to see friends, colleagues and partners face – to – face, but the conference lacked the typical energy. This was mainly because there were far fewer attendees and there were very few exhibitors. In fact the exhibit hall looked a bit bare because the exhibitors were spread  out.

PBSA does a great job of elevating and protecting the screening industry.  The massive changes in laws every year impact background screeners and their customers. PBSA is continually monitoring and lobbying to help all of the businesses within the space.  The members of PBSA are extremely passionate about helping others.

Here are my big take-aways from the show.  While the legal and compliance stuff that is highlighted every year by Pam DeVata and the other attorneys is helpful and scary it is necessary.

From my perspective the most noteworthy change since the last in-person PBSA conference which was in San Antonio back in 2020 would be the efforts by companies to tackle EDUCATION VERIFICATIONS.  There have been some really innovative approaches to employment verification that work around The Work Number.

 SJV (ebay style marketplace)
 Bill Wilder
 
 Citadel
 Kirill Klokov
 
 Velocity Network Foundation (Blockchain network)
 John Hartigan

Interview with Darrin Lipscomb of Ferretly

Darrin is the Founder & CEO of Ferretly

CONNECT WITH DARRIN ON LINKEDIN

Ferretly is a web-based technology that leverages Artificial Intelligence for social media screening.

Darrin has a degree from Virginia Tech and he is a 30-year veteran in the technology industry including launching several software startups with successful exits. His companies have provided unique, forward-thinking solutions focused primarily on Fortune 500 companies and government organizations at the federal and state level.  
 
Prior to launching Ferretly Darrin was the Global CTO for Public Safety and Smart Cities division of Hitachi Data Systems that was formed from the acquisition of his company (Avrio Group) in 2014. Mr. Lipscomb founded Avrio Group in 2003 and within 5 years became known as the premier city-wide video surveillance and smart cities company in North America.  

 What do we cover on this episode? 

1          Is Social Media Background Screening Legal?

2          Why are companies turning to Social Media Background Checks to vet their candidates?

3          Who are the early adopters and what industries do you think can benefit the most?

4.         What role does AI play in social media screening at Ferretly?

5.        What social media platforms does Ferretly support?

6.        Can Ferretly analyze private posts?

7.       What type of information do you pull about the subjects?

Integrations:  Currently Ferretly has an integration built with Accio which is a common software platform utilized by many background screening companies and they are looking to expand their integrations.  They are in talks with Tazworks and they offer integrations via their API.

Montserrat Miller of Arnall Golden & Gregory joins the podcast!

Montserrat is a partner at Arnall Golden & Gregory and she is co-chair of the background screening industry team 

She is certified by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) as Certified Information Privacy Professionals in both the designations for the United States and European Union (CIPP/US and CIPP/E).

AGG is a recognized member in good standing with the Professional Background Screening Association (PBSA).

She recently spoke on legal panel at the Tazworks user group 

 1)

Practical guidance on authorizations and disclosures

Arnold v. DMG Mori-

2)

California Court decision and Michigan change restricting searches by full date of birth

Discussion around reasonable diligence and ways to verify records.

3)

Illinois Law restricting use of criminal history- Interactive Assessment requirement

 ·       SB 1480 requires an employer to conduct an “interactive assessment,” which takes into account the following mitigating factors, prior to disqualifying an applicant or employee because of a conviction record:

 ·       The length of time since the conviction;

·       The number of convictions that appear on the conviction record;

·       The nature and severity of the conviction and its relationship to the safety and security of others;

·       The facts or circumstances surrounding the conviction;

·       The age of the employee at the time of the conviction; and

·       Evidence of rehabilitation efforts.

LINK TO ARTICLE

https://www.agg.com/news-insights/publications/illinois-employers-take-note-human-rights-law-expanded-to-require-interactive-assessments-when-considering-conviction-records-for-employment-screening-purposes/

Have a listen to AGG Talks Background Screening - the new podcast hosted by Montserrat Miller & Kevin Coy.

California Court Ruling Complicates Background Screening

The court decision would force California courts to removes full dates of birth and drivers' license numbers from their indices.

The court case is on appeal, but many counties are already making changes that impact how records can be searched for. Most notably, Los Angeles County has made the change as well as Tulare, Fresno, Kern, and Yuba Counties.

This change will increase the overall cost of conducting background checks and increase the turnaround time to receive verified information.

ARTICLE:
https://hrwatchdog.calchamber.com/2021/07/california-court-ruling-could-complicate-background-checks/

Craig Caddell Interview (Wholesale Screening Solutions)

Craig is an industry veteran. He has worked previously at a leading software provider to the CRA industry.  He was a founding, board member of NAPBS (now PBSA) and also worked at Reference Pro.

 On the podcast we discuss the following:

Industry Trends

Wholesale Screening Solutions research capabilities and history.
 
Continuous Court Records Monitoring

                        Methodology/Technology

                        Why to search for arrest and court records.

                        Industries that are early adopters

                        Surprising statistics

Connect with Craig Caddell on LinkedIn
Connect with Wholesale Screening Solutions

Aashi Arora Interview

On this episode of Background Screening Tips & Tech, Tim Santoni interviews Aashi Arora of iRise Executive Coaching.

Aashi Arora, is the principal executive coach at iRise and has over 20 years of executive and administrator level experience in operations, healthcare, professional mentoring and coaching.

She has many certifications

Gallup (Certified Strength Coach)
Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt
Associate Certified Coach, International Coaching Federation
Emotional Intelligence- EQ-12.0
Basic Mediator, State of California Dispute Resolution Programs Act


Connect with Aashi:

Bruce Berg - Berg Group Consulting- M&A, Trends... (Interview)

On this episode of Background Screening Tips & Tech, Tim Santoni chats with Bruce Berg.  Bruce is a legend in the background screening "CRA" space. He successfully grew and sold his background screening business to HireCheck which is now First Advantage.

His consulting business, Berg Consulting Group, just celebrated 20 years in business. Bruce helps background screening companies improve processes and profits. He is an industry expert on the M&A side as well and is the go to person if you looking to buy or sell a background screening company.

Bruce was a founding member of PBSA- Professional Background Screening Association (formerly NAPBS).

Connect with Bruce...

https://www.bergconsultinggroup.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bruce-berg-6566b11/

On this episode Tim Santoni interviews Leslie Groene of Groene Consulting.

Leslie is sales trainer, consultant and coach to businesses. Leslie focuses on determine the goals of the organization and then creating strategies and assembling a team to meet those GOALS.



Connect with Leslie:
Groene Consulting

LinkedIn:
Leslie Groene on LinkedIn

On this episode we interview Anita Nygaard of CorHR.

Anita Nygaard is Founder and Lead Consultant of CorHR, Inc. a Human Resources consulting firm.  CorHR partners with professional services businesses across the state and country to provide expert advisory on the three C’s: Compliance, Coaching and developing Managers, and building Cultures that reinforce an effective workplace.

Resources...

State Website for COVID-19 guidance: https://saferatwork.covid19.ca.gov/employers/

Connect with Anita. 

-       Email:                 anita@corhr.com

-       Phone:                (949) 363-0084

-       Website:             www.corhr.com

-       LinkedIn:             https://www.linkedin.com/in/anitanygaard/

Kathy Dawson - Dawson & Dawson Interview

On this episode Tim Santoni interviews Kathy Dawson. They talk about the current state of hiring for office positions.

A key area of focus is how to get productivity from a workforce that is nearly 75% remote at this point.

Kathy provides some great insights from her experiences.

Kathy is the former president of NAWBO and she has a Woman Owned Small Business Certification (WBENC)- Women Business Enterprise Council. She is also a Certified Staffing Professional- American Staffing Association.

Kathy enjoys being a group leader for the Irvine South Group of PROVISORS.

Substance Abuse Screening...cannabis, compliance, policies

On this episode we talk about the changes in substance abuse screening due to legalization of marijuana in many states.

We also cover policies that need to be in place to have an effective substance abuse screening program.

Diluted Specimens
Foreign Substances in Specimens
Positive Tests
Timeline for ELECTRONIC passport

Social Media Screening & Monitoring

There is a ton of buzz around social media screening. Is it going to be adopted by employers?

What are the compliance risks? What can be reported? What social media platforms can be searched? Can you search private accounts?


Tune in to learn more...

https://www.santonibackgrounds.com

Transgender Applicants & Team Members- Background Screening Methodologies

In this episode Tim Santoni talks about how the considerations you should evaluate as it relates to the background screening procedures when it comes to transgender employees and applicants.

Check with your background screening partner that you are running a robust search that covers all legal names the applicant might have used. 

It also important to understand the difference between a legal name, alias and "nickname."  They can often be used synonymously, but when it comes to background screening there are big differences.

Do Organizations Rely on Background Checks Too Much?

https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/talent-acquisition/pages/do-organizations-rely-on-background-checks-too-much.aspx

In this episode of the podcast Tim & Joe discuss the points raised in this article. Of course this article illustrated some scenarios that don't occur very often and are "worst case" offenders, but it points out how flawed the system can be.

The implied trust that we have in government, public companies, private companies, and non-profits to screen and monitor the activities and criminal behavior of their employees, teams and volunteers is something that needs to be examined further.

At the end of the day if an organization cares about building a solid culture and mitigating exposure to risk (Violence, Theft, Embezzlement, Fraud, Workers' Comp Claims, Accidents & Reputation) they must take many steps throughout their organization. 

This involves the recruitment process, pre-employment background checks, re-checking backgrounds, audits, safety procedures and training...

The bottom line is that if you are an HR Professional, Risk Manager, Safety Professional or Business owner it never hurts to have a look under hood to make sure you are taking the necessary steps t protect your team members, customers/clients, partners and patients.

Episode 16; Nick Fishman Interview

On this episode we interview Nick Fishman who was part of the leadership team at Employment Screen IQ (CRA) where he helped grow the company that was eventually acquired by  Sterling. Nick now has a consulting practice and is also the CMO at SJV Data Solutions.

• Biggest changes Nick has seen as far as change in policies or philosophies by HR Professionals as it relates to background screening in the last 10 years.
• What trend or issue scares you the most regarding the background screening industry?
• What is the one thing that you WISH HR professionals would improve on or address that they consistently overlook or fail to address?
• What are the key elements of the relationship with HR Professionals that makes them feel like their background screening provider is more of a PARTNER than a VENDOR.

Connect with Nick Fishman
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nfishman/