Marijuana legalization passed in several states, but remains illegal at the federal level. Drug convictions are some of the most common charges to show up on a criminal background check. Many of these convictions involve marijuana, a substance once strictly prohibited in all states and now available for recreational use in a few regions and medical use in many more.

Recent changes in marijuana legalization have added to the confusion of the criminal background check process.

Federal Law Versus State Marijuana Legalization Law

While recreational use of marijuana is deemed legal in many states, it remains illegal at the federal level. As such, employers can still terminate employment if they discover that employees have used marijuana recently, especially in the workplace. Federal law protects employers’ right to create a zero-tolerance drug policy, enforced, in part, through background checks. Thus, regardless of whether businesses are based in recreational marijuana legalization states, medical marijuana legalization states, or states in which all use of cannabis is prohibited, it is perfectly acceptable to bar current drug users from employment if their drug use could potentially harm customers or other employees. Background checks remain a thorny issue, so it is important to use discretion and get legal counsel. Regardless of federal legality, it may be deemed discriminatory to bar somebody with an old marijuana conviction from, for example, a retail job.

The Role of Drug Testing

Many employers continue to use drug testing to determine whether new and current employees have abided by company drug policies. These tests are often inaccurate, as cannabis may linger in the system for up to six months after it has been used. However, for some employers, any evidence of past cannabis use is grounds for termination or non-hiring. For employers who utilize drug testing, it is imperative that employees are informed of the role of drug testing in the workplace, who is subject to drug tests, and how often they will occur. Policies regarding drug testing and the termination of those with drug-related convictions should be clearly outlined in the employee handbook.

For businesses located in states that permit recreational marijuana legalization, the decision of whether to enforce a zero-tolerance policy ultimately comes down to personal preferences. There are no legal consequences for those who opt for the zero-tolerance approach. In fact, in many industries, this approach is necessary for workplace safety, particularly in childcare, health care, and transportation. Accusations of discrimination may arise for those who bar employees with previous drug convictions, so drug testing may be a more reliable means of weeding out drug users.

Source: http://www.drugfreebusiness.org/Media/documents/IBH_workplacetesting.pdf

Disclaimer: The information on InstantCriminalChecks.com is governed by our Terms of Use and is never intended as legal advice.

One could be forgiven for thinking that an FBI fingerprint database check is the creme de la creme of background checks, the figurative gold standard of all that is out there. Though popular due to being well-known, such background checks are intended for law enforcement, not as an employment screening tool. Consequently, there are numerous oversights that employers should be aware of prior to relying on the FBI as the sole pre-employment background check.

As a pre-employment and tenant background screening service, Screening Intelligence is dedicated to protecting the safety of employees and landlords. While state legislators are to be applauded for their efforts at mandating background checks for many industries, the FBI screening tool should be supplemented with other, more comprehensive measures in order to lessen risk.

Here are three of the primary reasons why FBI fingerprint database isn’t sufficient on its own.

1. Incomplete

Although television shows such as “Criminal Minds” and “CSI” perpetuate this notion that the FBI fingerprint database is all-encompassing, it simply isn’t true. One of the most egregious mistakes is that the FBI doesn’t always offer information about the outcome of a case. For instance, there aren’t details stating if a case was dismissed, or a record expunged. In 2013, the National Employment Law Project released a report indicating that such inaccuracies are potentially preventing 600,000 Americans from being hired at jobs they otherwise would be perfectly suited for on an annual basis.

2. Inaccurate

Roughly half of all final outcomes from criminal cases are missing from the FBI fingerprint database simply because some states aren’t required to report them. A 2015 Government Accountability Office Report underscored this point by stating that 10 states reported that their databases were 50 percent or less complete; 13 states reported a completion of only 50 to 75 percent; while a mere 20 states reported 76 to 100 percent completion. Seven states didn’t offer any information.

3. Applicant protections

FBI fingerprint database reports do not provide applicants with the sorts of protections that the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and similar state laws mandate. Ordinarily, applicants have the right to know what is on their record and then dispute it. Without exercising that right, a person may be excluded from a job due to an error or oversight.

Consumer reporting agencies (CRAs), including Screening Intelligence, go far beyond fingerprint databases to ensure accuracy. Many CRA services will include using personal identification information to examine hundreds of primary sources, such as education, employment, driving records, and criminal history backgrounds with outcome data. When you’re trying to decide what background checks service to use, consider one that provides you with the whole picture.

Disclaimer: The information on InstantCriminalChecks.com is governed by our Terms of Use and is never intended as legal advice.

 

It’s every company’s worst nightmare: handing the proverbial keys to the computer system to a cyber criminal. And yet, that’s what thousands of companies do if they don’t properly screen their new network administrators and systems administrators for criminal history or other shady dealings. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job outlook for network security administrators is expected to grow 18 percent, which is faster than the current job growth. With this growth comes a crop of new cyber criminals ready to step in and take advantage of unsuspecting companies.

Not a Cyber Criminal…Yet

According to Computer Weekly, cyber criminals are already looking to compromise a company’s staff by looking through their social media accounts and coercing their compliance. About 61 percent of companies have been compromised in their security, whether intentionally or inadvertently through their employees’ actions. If these people had been screened and properly vetted, there would be a lower probability of this happening as the company could be made aware of the potential threat of hiring a cyber criminal.

Types of Security Concerns

Hacking is no longer the realm of the kid in his parent’s basement causing a bit of trouble because of a virus or malware. Hacking is big business — cyber criminal business, but still big business. Hackers aren’t the kids who bring down the grandparent’s home computer; they are part of organized crime, government intelligence agencies, terrorists, or even eastern European firms that are for hire to destroy any system for a fee. Symantec’s 2015 report shows that malware continues to attack systems. In 2014, some 317 million pieces of malware were identified. The hackers that network administrators and systems administrators are up against are well educated and sometimes better funded than they are. It’s little wonder that the very people companies hire to protect their systems are the same ones who may destroy them.

Sources: http://www.ecpi.edu/blog/2015-cyber-security-trends-hacking-internet-of-things

Disclaimer: The information on InstantCriminalChecks.com is governed by our Terms of Use and is never intended as legal advice.

You may hear about the horror stories that can result from a failure to implement complete workplace background checks on employees in the news or through the grapevine fairly regularly. But it’s unusual that when stories are told of gross employee theft, violence, criminal incompetence or a dozen other things that improperly vetted staff may do to hurt their employers, that anything other than the disturbing act itself and the resulting damage is shared. What you rarely hear about is that the offending employee’s background was not thoroughly researched, that there was no criminal background check or that the workplace background check was not done well.

Here are a few examples of the kinds of things that can happen, and have on a massive scale in recent years, as a direct result of a failure to perform proper and complete workplace background checks.

Workplace Violence – From the sad, tragic, and outrageous circumstances that can result from violence in the workplace, nothing can make incidences like these more bitter to the employer and HR department than knowing that violence committed by an employee could have been avoided with thorough workplace background checks.

Professional Theft – Oftentimes, professional criminals live out their careers in crime knowing that they are guaranteed to spend part of their lives in prison. For such a person, committing fraud in the job application and interview process is simply a matter of trying employer after employer until someone forgoes criminal workplace background checks and hires them. When this happens, the new employee can quickly gain access to valuable capital, cash registers and commit massive theft. Such a person may not be afraid of being fired or incarcerated. To them, the risk may be worth the reward.

Frivolous Lawsuits – In today’s employment market, there is very little loyalty between employer and employee, and there are a small but dangerous number of people out there who make their livings by filing frivolous lawsuits against employers. For those who are talented at this – just about any kind of employer – no matter how honest or well-meaning, is at risk.

Gross Incompetence – An incompetent employee can cost an employer massive amounts of money, or cause incalculable damage in a matter of hours, sometimes even moments. Heavy equipment operators, those who handle client’s financial information, and many other seemingly simple positions place the integrity of an entire organization in the hands of a single employee.

By performing simple and relatively inexpensive workplace background checks, you may avoid many of these dangers as well as the one that loom behind all of them: negligent hiring lawsuits. Don’t let your firm become another statistic by forgoing employee workplace background checks on all new and recent hires.

Disclaimer: The information on InstantCriminalChecks.com is governed by our Terms of Use and is never intended as legal advice.

In the digital age privacy, safety, and security are high commodities. More and more of the business we conduct is done via electronic means. This makes it easier for criminals to falsify their identities, perpetrate fraud and to leave their criminal records far behind them. We have put together a helpful list of background check frequently asked questions.

It is more important than ever for employers to know that the people they hire are who they say they are and deserve the trust for which they are asking. With modern computer hackers and identity fraud on the rise, online background checks are becoming an ever more important line of defense for modern business.

Here Are The Top Background Check Frequently Asked Questions:

What is an online background check?

This is one of the top background check frequently asked questions that arises. An online background check refers to the process of searching and assembling the criminal, financial, commercial and other records of a person or persons.

These checks are done to ensure a potential applicant or employee does not have a criminal record which may disqualify him or her for the job, that they have the credentials they claim to have, and that they are trustworthy.

Why should I run background checks?

For employers, a background check can serve several purposes:

• To verify a person’s identity
• To ascertain a person’s possible criminal history
• To help promote workplace safety and security
• To conform with security policies

Why are there so many different types of background checks?

Background checks have become very common and are a preferred way to screen a person’s history. There are many different reasons an employer or others may benefit from running a background check to include the following:

• General background checks for employment
• Criminal background checks for firearm purchases
• Government background checks
• Background checks for childcare providers
• Eviction records, for property rentals and leases

Is there such thing as a Standard Background Check Package?

In short, no. This is one of the most misunderstood background check frequently asked questions that arises. For an individual background check service, there will be standard packages, but these will vary greatly from one vendor to another. At InstantCriminalChecks.com, we offer a few different background check types such as a State or National Criminal Background Check, a Federal Criminal Check as well as County Criminal Background Checks.

Is a background screening program worth the investment?

Absolutely. Before online background checks became readily available, the main way to check a prospective employee or renters’ background was to engage the expensive services of a private detective.

Today, it is possible to order background checks online to help you know whether or not you are dealing with the person they say they are, bringing peace of mind and security to your home or office.

How do we start a background screening program?

Begin simply by selecting the type of background check you wish to perform. Click on “Order Now” to begin the process. Otherwise, you may request a quote or view a sample background check.

If you have additional background check frequently asked questions, click the following for more information about FAQ Background Check Questions and the services we offer.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Background_check

Disclaimer: The information on InstantCriminalChecks.com is governed by our Terms of Use and is never intended as legal advice.

An employee is one of the most important investments a company can make, doubly so for a small business like yours. With fewer employees to rely on, selecting top-notch individuals is vital, as is reducing training time by retaining quality talent. The applicant tracking process and small business background checks can help achieve these objectives.Small business background checks enable hiring managers to select more qualified candidates, saving them time and energy in the hiring process.

More Information to Consider

Sometimes a seemingly perfect candidate has a less-than-perfect background that he or she failed to mention at the interview. Depending on the severity of their past legal issues, a small business could be putting themselves out – to the end of potentially losing their entire business – by associating with that individual. A business that, for example, caters to children’s birthday parties would likely not survive the credibility fallout if a child abuser was suddenly uncovered within their staff. Small business background checks may help a hiring manager discover this information.

Building Trust From the Beginning by using Small Business Background Checks

With the impact of small business employees increased due to their smaller numbers, the chances of assigning important job duties early on is high. As a small business owner, it’s only natural that you would worry or even second-guess your decision to hand over the store keys or operations, even temporarily, to a new hire. Performing a small business background check helps to forget a better bond of trust and helps to make your team more cohesive from the start.

As your small business strives to become larger, avoiding small business background checks is only postponing an unpleasant surprise as your hiring volume increases. You wouldn’t hesitate to invest time and training in a worthy new employee, so don’t second-guess your investment when it comes to finding a worthy employee in the first place.

Disclaimer: The information on InstantCriminalChecks.com is governed by our Terms of Use and is never intended as legal advice.

Because of America’s inconsistency with teacher background checks, teachers accused of misconduct have been able to sneak to a different state and maintain their teaching license.

Laws vary from state to state, meaning that not every state uses the same uniform practices to screen teaching applicants. This allows a teacher that might have been unfit to teach in Pennsylvania to move to California and start anew.

How does your state rank on teacher background checks?

USA TODAY shed light on the matter by collecting data from school officials across the nation in order to give each state a ranking on how well it screens teachers before hiring them. The scale ranges from A to F and gives up to 40 points for how a state checks an applicant’s background, up to 40 points for if the state shares the licensing and disciplinary information publicly or in a nationwide database, and up to 20 points if the state has laws that forces educators to report misconduct to the state.

Overall, the only states to score the top ranking of A were Oregon, Hawaii, North Dakota, Ohio, Vermont, Alabama, and South Carolina. Eight states had a ranking of B, 13 states had a ranking of C, 10 states had a ranking of D, and 12 states had a ranking of F.

Results of Teacher Background Checks Study by USA TODAY NETWORK.

Grade	State
A	Alabama, Hawaii, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, and Vermont.
B	Arizona, California, Iowa, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington.
C	Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
D	Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, Rhode Island, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming.
F	Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

 

Most of the lower states only had district-level teacher background checks instead of state-level teacher background checks. Some states also did not have records of disciplined teachers at the state level, meaning that even if a background check was performed, it would come back clean.

Some educators across the nation are taking steps to improve their rating. Hendry County schools in Florida are now running a Google search on all applicants, while Collier and Lee schools host an onboarding session with all new teachers to show them their professional standards.

Disclaimer: The information on InstantCriminalChecks.com is governed by our Terms of Use and is never intended as legal advice.

According to FBI reports, property crimes were down in the first half of 2015 over the prior year, but violent crimes increased in three of the United States’ four regions — with medium-sized cities taking the biggest hit. Violent crimes saw increases of 1.4 percent in the Midwest, 1.6 percent in the South and 5.6 percent in the West. In the Northeast, though, violent crimes dropped by 3.2 percent.

The FBI compiled the new numbers in the FBI reports based on data from thousands of law enforcement agencies.

In the country as a whole, rapes were up by 9.6 percent, and murders increased by more than 6 percent. Medium-sized cities were hit hardest by the increase — violent crimes were up by more than 5 percent in cities with 250,000 to 499,999 inhabitants. Violent crime decreased slightly in both smaller and larger cities for the period.

FBI Reports: Burglaries, Larcenies Down

Property crimes showed the opposite trend from violent crimes during the first six months of 2015, according to the FBI reports. Larcenies were down more than 3 percent, while burglaries dropped by nearly 10 percent. In the property crime category, the only increase was in thefts of motor vehicles, up by 1 percent.

Every city population group experienced a decrease in property crimes overall. The biggest drop — more than 7 percent — was for small cities with fewer than 10,000 residents. Of the four regions in the country, only the West had an increase in property crimes: 2.4 percent.

Most Dangerous Cities?

Another recent report provides additional details about the increase in violent crime in medium-sized cities. According to the NeighborhoodScout annual ranking of the nation’s most dangerous cities, East St. Louis, Illinois, and Camden, New Jersey, ranked first and second in the number of violent crimes per 1,000 residents.

The ranking considers cities with populations over 25,000 and violent crimes including rape, murder, aggravated assault and armed robbery. The survey uses FBI reports data to calculate the rankings.

While the list includes some large cities like Miami and Washington, D.C., other major cities — notably Boston, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles — didn’t break the top 100 in violent crimes. Both the recent numbers in the FBI reports and the NeighborhoodScout rankings are based on relatively short time periods — six months and one year, respectively. Time will tell whether the increase in violent crime in mid-sized cities is simply a blip or a long-term trend that warrants further analysis.

Source: https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/fbi-releases-preliminary-semiannual-crime-statistics-for-2015

Disclaimer: The information on InstantCriminalChecks.com is governed by our Terms of Use and is never intended as legal advice.

Diversity in the workplace is a good thing. When interviewing, you obviously need someone who fits the requirements of the job, but you have to be careful with the interview questions you ask so as not to approach any topics which could potentially lead to discriminatory behavior. Something which you might think is an innocent interview question to get to know someone could potentially approach a subject which is taboo. There are interview questions that employers and human resource professionals should definitely avoid.

Here are some interview questions you should avoid:

• Do you have any children? How many children do you have? Are your children in child care?
• Are you married?
• How old are you?
• What type of discharge did you receive from the military?
• What church do you belong to? What is your religion?
• Do you have any medical conditions we should know about?
• How many sick days did you use last year?

The gray area is the most difficult to deal with. You are asking the interview questions as part of a more casual conversation in the job applicant, but a potential answer that could be given could take things in a direction that could lead to a claim of discrimination.

“What’s your favorite book?” sounds like an innocent interview question but if they answer that they read the Bible or Koran every night, there is the potential for a discrimination claim if they didn’t get the job.

“What associations do you belong to?” is a similar question. If they answer something about the JCC or the Knights of Columbus, or even AARP or some cancer survivor organization, you’re just asking for trouble.

Stay away from interview questions that are associated with race, gender, age, religion, color, national origin, or disability, among many other topics. There are certain federal laws that protect employees and job applicants from being discriminated against. These laws are enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

If all the all the questions are not directly related to the applicant’s ability to do the job, they are most likely, not appropriate as interview questions.

Disclaimer: The information on InstantCriminalChecks.com is governed by our Terms of Use and is never intended as legal advice.

Performing background checks is an important part of any modern loss prevention strategy. Background check effectiveness can be achieved by developing a strategy with the help of an outside vendor. It stands to reason that any organization wants only qualified, suitable, and trustworthy people within its ranks. The alternative can mean, theft, inefficiency, accidents and any number of misfortunes that can hurt your bottom line. What’s more, companies that fail to properly vet their employees can become subject to litigation if those employees do anything which creates actionable damage to the public, their customers, or any other person or persons.

In 2013, the retail market spent an aggregate 0.42 percent on loss prevention. It is estimated that of that fractional amount, less than 5 percent was spent on background checks. Loss prevention spending increased to just over 1 % in 2014 due to a spike in awareness of the issue of employee theft in retail stores. At the same time, many retail stores adopted a non-reaction policy toward shoplifting. This was done as a result of studies that showed traditional security responses to shoplifting hurt a store more on Public Relations than did the actual theft.

Consequently, retail chains began to spend less on their security provisions meant to guard against shoplifting and more on those aimed at preventing employee theft. First and foremost, this means stricter hiring standards – and with this, background checking is a natural companion.

Today, subscription to an ongoing background check service is a commonplace method that employers of all kinds are using to ensure background check effectiveness.

It’s impossible to say exactly how many ways a quality background check can prevent avoidable loss, damage, and even tragedy in your offices.

Examples of benefits of background check effectiveness:

• Criminal records are a strong predictor of future behavior

While it’s true that many people are wrongly convicted or experience circumstances where they may have acted out of character and were convicted of a crime – by and large those who are convicted of a crime were so convicted because of criminal tendencies. It is a statistical reality.

• Knowing who you are hiring

Applicants can put anything on a resume, and sometimes the best interviewers are also talented liars. Background check effectiveness will help you to boost your trust in trustworthy employees and weed out bad applicants.

• Avoid negligent hiring lawsuits

All job creators owe the public and their clients the duty of hiring sane, safe, and competent staff. Failure to perform due diligence in hiring is a violation of this duty and can lead to negligent hiring claims.

The nominal price of background check effectiveness can save you and your firm from untold millions in preventable losses and misfortune.

Sources: http://www.csoonline.com/article/2845058/loss-prevention/cost-of-retail-crime-skyrockets-nearly-30-percent.html, http://www.chainstoreage.com/article/study-shrink-costs-us-retailers-42-billion-employee-theft-tops-shoplifting

Disclaimer: The information on InstantCriminalChecks.com is governed by our Terms of Use and is never intended as legal advice.