Of all the pre-employment tests available on the market today, background checks are the most important for jobs that deal with children or other vulnerable members of society. By conducting such an investigation on a candidate before they are hired for such a position, employers and nonprofit organizations can drastically increase the safety of those who will come in contact with the worker. Knowing this, criminal background check provider IntegraScan has decided to supply many youth organizations with free screenings.

According to a recent press release, IntegraScan will soon begin supplying youth groups across the country with $500,000 in services each month. With many organizations trying to make ends meet while the economy is struggling, background checks are often being neglected. This means that many young people could be at risk. IntegraScan hopes to stop this by conducting these investigations free of charge.

Those who receive this assistance from IntegraScan will now be able to make sure that the employees and volunteers they hire have no criminal history. Since a large percent of those who commit crimes have a record, this will drastically reduce the amount of problems an organization could possibly have.

IntegraScan believes that is important to keeping children safe from those who have a history of sex crimes against minors, violent assault or drug usage. Despite this, their donation is just a start. The company urges parents to question the leaders of the organizations their children are involved with so that they know what steps are being taken to ensure safety.

Organizations that want to sign up to receive free background screening from IntegraScan can do so by signing up on the company’s webpage and registering for a free account. The $500,000 worth of screening does not have any additional requirements or further stipulations. Interested parents and organizations will also find other ways they can help to safeguard America’s youth on this website.

When conducting background checks(Click here), knowing if a potential employee has a criminal record is not the only thing businesses are looking for. In many cases an employer needs to know if the applicant has the proper education and other credentials necessary to perform the job in question. According to a recent press release one provider of employee screening is hoping to help businesses keep better track of such information.

Employment Screening Resources (ESR) announced this week that they have updated their Continual License Verification (CLV) service. This part of the company alerts employers such as hospitals when a workers professional license is nearing its expiration date. The program used to send out these notices, however, can only provide employers information on workers that they originally verified the license on. This is because ESR has to have the expiration date on record, which is taken care of during the initial background check.

Employers utilizing this service will be sent a link to a secure web page, when the worker in question’s license is near expiration. From this page the user can then indicate if the employee will be obtaining re-verification or if it is not necessary because that individual no longer works for the company. Without such a system, trying to keep track of an office full of workers’ professional certifications can be difficult.

“For workers that require a professional license, it is no longer sufficient to merely verify the license once at the start of employment,” said ESR’s president Lester S. Rosen in press release. “Employers need solutions that protect them during the entire time the person is employed. For hospitals and other employers that need to ensure that workers maintain their licenses in good standing, this is a unique solution that provides a system to manage and audit the process.”

ESR developed this software originally for hospitals. Due to stringent requirements put on these employers by the Joint Commission on Accreditation, only workers who have undergone primary source verifications can fill positions that require professional licenses or certification.

Several candidates for police officer jobs in Janesville, Wis., recently underwent lengthy background checks.

About 175 applicants applied to compete for three open positions with the city’s police department. According to an article by the Janesville Gazette, Deputy Police Chief David Moore said the best candidates for the three positions underwent a 40-hour background check investigation.

To begin the process, candidates had to complete a written test that checked math, writing and reading comprehension skills. Candidates then had to pass a physical agility test, which checked for running and jumping skills. These two tests eliminated half of the original applicant pool.

The top 30 of the remaining candidates were offered initial interviews, and the best of those candidates agreed to a background check. As part of the background check, department investigators interviewed candidates’ relatives, friends, employers, co-workers, neighbors, landlords and former teachers or professors. Credit checks and criminal background checks also were run on each applicant.

“We want people who will work hard, be honest, with high integrity,” Sgt. Rick Larson said in the article. “We try and find the best person that we can that will fit in with the Janesville Police Department.”

When it comes to potential officers, investigators want to know about a candidate’s work ethic, honesty and behavior. They also want to be informed of any anger issues, aggressiveness and gender or racial biases. The department also researches potential employees’ drug and alcohol use. Minor arrests, such as old traffic violations or underage drinking tickets, don’t always disqualify a candidate.

If a candidate passes the department’s background check, they then have an interview with the police chief and police and fire commissions. Any job offer is conditional on a psychological and medical evaluation, and any new hires remain on probation for 18 months. Most new officers are paid $35,000 per year.

Pre-employment background checks make many job seekers nervous.  A lot of those looking for work aren’t aware of exactly and employer can and cannot hold against them.  Some worry about mistakes from their past effecting the ability to for a new jobs.  Knowing the laws that govern background checks can make the whole process a lot less nerve racking.  The following rules do not apply for positions that have salaries over $75,000 a year.

According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), employers can investigate an applicant’s financial past and view bankruptcy records. Although hiring managers are allowed to look at this information during a background check, it is illegal discriminate against someone for this reason.  Still, if an employer can see these records, then their opinion may be affected. Thankfully, the FCRA forbids an employer from viewing bankruptcies that occurred more than 10 years ago.  This means that those who made financial mistakes when they were younger, but latter learned how to handle money, don’t have to worry about employers finding out.

Employers are also allowed to view an applicant’s history of participation in civil suits and see if the person in question has been arrested.  According to the FCRA, this information is only able to include if it occurred in the last seven years.  If the suit or arrest happened eight years ago or more, then these fact cannot be included in a background check. Other information that is not accessible after seven years includes paid tax liens, accounts placed for collection and other negative records (excluding criminal convictions)

Job seekers that are concerned about having to undergo a background check should take a proactive approach.  These individuals should consider getting their hands on a copy of their own records.  This will help them know if there are any inaccuracies that need to be correct or if they need to be prepared to explain an issue to a hiring manager.

Think your skeletons will stay firmly lodged in your closet? Think again. According to the Society for Human resource Management, 80 percent of employers conducted criminal background checks on applicants. In addition, 79 percent looked in to the previous work history of potential employees and 35 percent did credit checks. With those statistics, there’s a good chance a hiring manager will find exactly what you hope to hide. Since over 18,500 arrests for embezzlement in the U.S. in 2002, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, employers have learned that background checks are a necessity, especially for positions that could easily be abused.

For some, the idea of submitting to a investigation into their history and finances can be nerve racking. Not knowing what an employer will find can be the worst part. So, what should you do to avoid suffering such apprehension? Many experts say that you should consider conducting your own background check. You have the option of handling it yourself through public records or contacting a firm that specializes in these matters. For those that applying for high level executive positions the latter is suggested if there is any doubt about what a potential employer might find. By doing this you have the option of correcting any inaccurate information before it has the chance to make it into the hands of a potential employer and possibly ruin your chances at being hired.

For those that do have a black stain marring an otherwise perfect record there is only one option; be the one to blow the whistle on yourself before the results of a pre-employment background check have a chance to. You will find that many employers will understand extenuating circumstances such as a time of sever illness that resulted in your inability to work and therefore caused some credit problems.

In cases where a more serious offense will be found, it is still to the best idea to fess up to it. Still, you will find it in your best interest to be able to show some signs of improvement, whether it maybe a clean record since that time, receiving counseling, or volunteer service. This will give employers the idea that you have learned the error of your ways.

Nevertheless, employers must receive your permission to conduct an investigation into your background screening information. It is your right to refuse, but understand that doing so will most likely eliminate your chances of being hired by that company due to what they stand to lose if they make a mistake in who they add to their payroll.

Drugs change a person’s reaction time, personality, and ability to concentrate. Because of this, it’s no surprise that few employers want to deal with workers who abuse such illegal substances. For the most part, large businesses have policies to cover drug screening employees.

Smaller businesses, however, are more likely to unknowing hire drug users. Because many of these businesses do not require pre-employment drug screening, substance abusers are more likely to apply for positions. According to U.S. Department of Labor statistics 44 percent of illegal drug users work for companies that have less than 25 employees. Another 43 percent work for medium sized businesses, places that employee between 25 to 499 individuals. Only 13 percent of the country’s illegal drug users are able to seek past the drug screening efforts of larger employers.

Knowing that substance abusers are more likely to apply to smaller businesses makes it extremely important for those not already doing so to begin the drug screening of employees. One of the most important reasons to consider pre-employment drug screening is the issue of workplace safety. With drug usage effecting an individual’s ability to function, substance abusers are not only a risk to themselves but also to other employees. By identifying these risk and eliminating them, employers stand to increase workplace safety standards.

Offices that do not have a method of drug screening employees find that they lose out in productivity. Many employees who are drug users frequently miss work or do not perform well on the job. In many cases, other employees are left to pick up their co-worker’s slack. Those who do use drugs frequently are often fired for poor performance, therefore creating a significantly higher turnover rate that necessary. By implementing the drug screening of employees, companies stand to have a higher level of productivity, office place morale, and lower turn over rates.

Often companies that have their employees screened for drug usage also receive lower premiums for healthcare coverage. Between decreasing premiums and office place accidents resulting for employee drug abuse, employers stand to lower overall cost.

As the name indicates, pre-employment refers to “prior to employing” or “before hiring” someone for a job, or simply signing a contract for employment. Screening means “full” checking or viewing. So the term pre-employment screening means viewing or checking a person’s history before employing him/her for proposed jobs, or signing any employment contract. The method of such screening is different in different organizations or companies, depending on the status of job/work they are providing and the nature of business/company/organization. However, some of the tools used for screening are similar in most of the organizations e.g. credit check, reference check, history check, criminal check etc. Some of the tools are more important for certain organizations and less important for others, for example drugs check and health check etc.

Pre-employment screening helps an organization a lot in assessing the ability of a person and his/her strength for the growth of the organization. Sometimes an employee becomes quite an opportunity for that organization, helping it in achieving its goals and objectives in a more efficient and effective way.

Consider the case of a company that employs someone for a labor vacancy. The company will be screening his/her health, references, his/her previous work place record, and his/her organizational dealing with his/her clients and colleagues. On the other hand, if a company is hiring someone for a management vacancy, then it will be screening his/her previous employment record along with his credit history check, his criminal record, and his/her behavior with other members of the company (other workers and the owner or “boss” of the company) during the period of employment. The prospective employee’s organizational record will be checked as well to assess the level and quality of his/her skills and anticipate his/her usefulness to the organization in achieving its end tasks.

For any size of a business or organization, pre-employment screening is a necessary hiring tool in order to avoid law-suits and costly recruiting and hiring mistakes. In the past, pre-employment screening was used to be done by just screening new employees through reference check and making a few phone calls. Pre-employment screening has been gaining ground among security concerns, corporate scandals and work place violence.

An important tool of pre-employment screening is the background check, which can access a full range of data including:

• Credit Records

• Academic Records

• Social Security Number

• Personal References

• Driving Records

• Criminal Records

• Workers’ Compensation

Among other things, drug testing and psychometric testing are also used to determine the background and identity check of prospective employees. According to The Society for Human Resource Management, over 96 percent of HR employments involve background checks of new hires, up from 66 percent in 1996.

Nowadays, most of the organizations are using out-sourcing as a tool for the pre-employment screening before hiring new employees. This involves hiring external organizations or companies to do the pre-employment check of their new hiring. For example, many organizations now make contracts with agencies for hiring new staff, so the agencies perform all the assessments, reference checks, criminal record check, academic records check, and credit check etc. The candidates who pass these tests qualify for joining the organization.

It’s Everyone’s Obligation

To test or not to test…it is not a question. Rather it is an obligation for both employers active in recruiting and every employee on the payroll team. In the business world, survival of the fittest is the general rule. Therefore, a company has its own interests and agenda to protect. This, in addition, to the health and well-being, safety and security of all humans in the work environment.

Unlike employees, a company implementing a drug-screening program has enormous responsibilities and multi obligations that cannot be overlooked or ignored. The U.S. federal government in respect to privacy rights and legal aspects mandates some of these especially if an employee proves positive for illicit substances. We advise those who do not understand or possess knowledge in respect to these obligatory requirements should consult a professional source for further information before implementing such a background check program.

An employee, on the other hand, has little if anything to contribute to a drug-screening program with these two obligations being the exceptions:

An employee must:

1. Remain drug and alcohol free.

2. Take the screening test when ordered.

The actual intended purpose of this article is to promote a basic respect for employment drug screening by presenting the issues surrounding such program implementations for both the employer and employee. Yet, despite the hardships an employer will certainly encounter it is important to highlight why such drug screening is necessary.

For instance, employers can be held accountable for failing to protect those who enter their environment. Which means avoidance and protection from harm for non-employees, employees, and customers must be at the forefront of the many reasons why a program implementation is a good idea. In the event of injuries, or harm, workers comp claims, medical costs and providing new training for new workers due to the injured party being unable to remain on the job can prove costly. In the event of death, whether or not criminal charges are filed, civil suits for wrongful death have a hefty price tag attached.

Employers already know the problems which substance abuse introduces into the work environment. Some of the hindrances may be as minor as late arrivals, decreased productivity levels, and poor performance in general. This lends support for an employer to take a pro-active stance to fight substance abuse for the betterment of its employees in the work force but also in respect to its own pursuit of profit, worker productivity and protection of self-interests. Take a good look at the current work force profile:

* 77 percent of illicit drug users in America are currently full time employees somewhere.

* Approximately 10 percent of America’s workforce, some 14.9 million full and part-time employees, regularly abuse or are dependent on alcohol or drugs, according to the 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

* It is estimated an employee with a substance abuse problem is 3.6 times more likely to suffer a work place injury than an employee who is not under the influence.

* An estimated 15 percent, or about 19.2 million employees, drink on the job or before work, according to the University at Buffalo’s Research Institute on Addictions.

* Gender harassment in the workplace increases two-fold when an employee drinks during work and office hours.

Employment drug screening programs may be a necessary burden, one that quickly adds to an employer’s costs of doing business. Written policy and procedures must be established in respect to employees and while the complaints of “right to privacy” have little merit neither do those posters in the employees lounge. Anti-drug sentiments of “Just Say No” lack the same mmph that accompanies a drug screening test policy. Besides, those who refuse to “take one for the team” really have no vote at all anyway.