EmployeeScreenIQ

One city has been under scrutiny as of late for requiring job seekers to provide social networking information as part of the background check process.

Bozeman, Montana previously made any job seeker looking to work for the city reveal all of their login information to social media sites like Facebook, MySpace and YouTube, as well as e-mail accounts like Google and Yahoo. The city claimed this was part of its normal background check procedure.

However, news of the requirement quickly created a controversy about potential employees' right to privacy. Various reports state that a news station in Montana was informed about the practice. After the news leaked, city officials began receiving one e-mail per minute about the background check policy.

On top of that, an online poll bringing in more than 5,000 votes found that 98 percent of the respondents thought the policy was an invasion of privacy. Those against the policy also quoted Article 2, Section 10 of the Montana Constitution, which states that "the right of individual privacy is essential to the well-being of a free society and shall not be infringed without the showing of a compelling state interest."

Even though the city has since suspended the requirement pending "a more comprehensive evaluation," officials are still standing behind the background check policy.

"We have positions ranging from fire and police, which require people of high integrity for those positions, all the way down to the lifeguards and the folks that work in city hall here," the city attorney said. "So we do those types of investigations to make sure the people that we hire have the highest moral character and are a good fit for the city."

On the other hand, officials from Facebook said that the city's policy "is a violation of Facebook's Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, which received feedback from users and was ultimately approved in a site-wide vote."

Labels: Background checks

Should animal handlers at state fairs have to undergo a background check? With crimes against animals on the rise, one well-known animal protection group thinks so.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals recently requested that all animal exhibitors at the Wyoming State Fair undergo background checks. On top of that, PETA asked fair director James Goodrich to ensure that all exhibitors are in compliance with the federal Animal Welfare Act.

In a letter to Goodrich, PETA noted that its offices are often inundated with complaints that exhibitors at fairs and festivals throughout the country have abused animals or endangered the public.

Although exhibitors are required to be licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, that is no guarantee that they will provide adequate animal care or follow public safety measures. Many exhibitors often fail to comply with the minimal federal standards established under the AWA.

Under PETA's request:

• An exhibitor will be ineligible to appear at the fair if he or she has been cited by the USDA within the past three years for inadequate veterinary care, improper or dangerous animal handling or failure to provide adequate food, water, shelter or space.
• An exhibitor who is traveling with primates must provide proof that each animal has tested negative within the past year for tuberculosis and herpes, both of which can be transmitted to humans.
• All exhibitors must provide a written plan for the safe recapture of escaped animals.
• All exhibitors must disclose all past incidents in which any of the animals who will appear at the fair potentially endangered the public.

"We'd prefer it if Mr. Goodrich banned all live-animal exhibits from the fair, but at the very least he should adopt strict guidelines - for the sake of animals and people," PETA Director Debbie Leahy said. "Almost without exception, the exhibitors who frequent fairs and festivals have abysmal records when it comes to providing animal care and protecting the public."

Labels: Background checks

We all know that background checks are becoming mainstream in today's employment industry, but what kind of statistics are background checks revealing.

According to a recent study from American DataBank, background checks from 2008 to 2009 drudged up some surprising facts about employees in various industries and different sized companies.

When looking at industries, food services and stores have the most employees with criminal hit records at 8 percent, followed by retail at 7 percent, health services at 6 percent, transportation and manufacturing at 5 percent and business services at 4 percent.

Transportation has the highest number of applicants with false information on their resumes at 89 percent. In the manufacturing industry, 10 percent of employees had a negative personal reference.

When it comes to driving records, 39 percent of food service and stores employees had one to three violations, while 8 percent had at least four violations. In the same industry, 51 percent of employees had a credit record with a negative history and, along with manufacturing, had the highest number of employees file for workers compensation at 14 percent.

When comparing companies by size, those with one to 49 employees are considered small businesses, those with 50 to 99 are considered medium-sized businesses and those with 1,000 or more employees are considered large businesses.

Those with 50 to 999 and those with more 1,000 or more employees both had 5 percent of employees with a criminal hit record. Large companies also had 53 percent of employees falsify information on their resumes. Medium-sized companies had 10 percent of employees receive negative personal recommendations.

As for driving records, small businesses had 34 percent of employees with one to three violations on their driving records. Small and medium-sized businesses both had 6 percent of employees with at least four violations on their driving records.

Medium businesses had 47 percent of employees with a negative credit history and 12 percent of small business employees have filed for workers' compensation.

Some other overall statistics found by recent background checks:

• Up to 30 percent of applications contain false material or information
• 40 percent of the information on resumes is misinterpreted
• 45 percent of potential employees have a criminal record, bad driving record, worker's compensation claim or bad credit history
• 40 percent of American drivers have a violation on their driving record and 25 percent have no insurance
• 95 percent of all companies are victims of theft, but only 10 percent discover it
• 30 percent of all business failures are caused by employee theft
• Workplace theft costs employers more than $120 billion each year
• More than 2 million crimes occur in the workplace each year
• Employee fraud estimates cost employers about $20 billion each year
• From 1991 to 1997, sexual harassment has increased by 130 percent, an average of 15 percent each year
• About 2,000,000 workers are victims of violent crimes while on duty, costing employers $4.2 billion
• Employers lose 72 percent of all negligent hiring suits

Labels: Background check

Officials in New York are disagreeing on whether or not a change to the state's background check laws is a good idea.

Sen. Frank Padavan recently introduced a bill that would stop a change to rules pertaining to background checks that were set during the Rockefeller drug law reforms. Those reforms are set to take effect June 8 as part of the 2009-2010 state budget.

According to an article by EmpireStateNews, the bill would put a stop to the rule that allows courts to seal criminal records of certain drug felons when they complete drug court. This means there is no record of a criminal's conviction when they apply for future jobs.

"This change defies all common sense because it would effectively wipe the slate clean for drug dealers who undergo criminal background checks when seeking employment in certain positions," Padavan said in the article. "This means convicted drug dealers could be taking care of children at a day care center or as a nanny, teaching at a school, or working at a nursing home or some other position of trust."

Under the proposed provision to be included with the budget, courts are allowed to seal a criminal's current conviction and up to three prior misdemeanors in order to keep them from being disclosed during background checks.

"The sponsor of this budget measure says it was intended to give criminals a better chance to get a job, but it goes against other laws that are intended to give the public a better chance to ensure their safety," Padavan added. "My bill would fix this by striking what was a dangerous provision hidden in a bad budget."

Labels: Background check