Archives for 2020

If you’re like many business owners and/or hiring managers, you’re probably already highly familiar with the usual employment red flags that routinely crop up when you perform background checks on potential hires. Nonetheless, some employment red flags are a deeper shade of red than others.

Following are five major employment red flags that you may need to give a red light to hiring certain applicants.

Professional References That Don’t Ring True

Those without good professional references often find ways to fake them. For instance, they may list a friend or relative who agrees to misrepresent the relationship, so pay close attention to the workplaces listed in the background check. If references aren’t from these places, that may signify that the applicant is attempting to pull something over on you.

Discrepancies in Education

Background checks will also show what schools a person attended and when as well as what certifications and professional licenses they hold. You should always check the education history listed in the applicant’s resume against what it says on the background check and run a professional license check.

Discrepancies in Employment History

Many hiring managers and business owners consider gaps in employment to be big employment red flags, but that’s not necessarily the case — economic ups and downs during the past couple of decades have caused many people to experience job market difficulties. However, watch out for resume red flags. Discrepancies in employment histories between the background check and the applicant’s resume are employment red flags that they’re trying to hide something.

Consistently Bad Credit

Most potential employers pay very little attention to an applicant’s credit history unless the position involves the direct handling of company funds. Unexpected medical bills or other life circumstances often result in temporary financial setbacks that can negatively affect someone’s credit rating. Looking out for a fairly long history of substandard credit could indicate issues such as substance abuse or problems with impulse control that are undesirable traits in employees that handle money directly.

Omissions of Criminal History

Those with criminal histories often face obstacles securing employment, and a criminal record doesn’t necessarily have to put an applicant at the bottom of the list. Nonetheless, caution must be taken — for instance, if you hire someone who is a registered sex offender, you could be held liable if that commits a sexual crime against another employee or customer.

The important thing to keep in mind here is that the information on the applicant’s resume should closely match the information turned up by the background check. A few minor errors don’t need to take someone out of the running, but you should definitely keep an eye out for employment red flags including blatant discrepancies and obvious misinformation. Please feel free to contact us today for more information about criminal background checks on potential hires or read more about background check red flags.

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

Two employees at the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) recently left their jobs when a criminal background check revealed they had criminal convictions on their record. One worker retired and information regarding the second employee is simply that he “left the department.”

The workers’ problems came about pursuant to a required background checks IRS law that went into effect in 2018 which requires all public employees who have access to personal federal tax information (FTI) to undergo criminal background checks. In response, the California Department directed all its employees to submit their fingerprints for required background checks.

A third worker was placed in limbo while the state worked to determine if he or she could be transferred to a new position. According to the spouse’s wife, who was interviewed by the Sacramento Bee, the man has two felony convictions from years ago that occurred before he first was employed by the tax department.

According to his wife, he has been employed by the state for nine years and was “blind-sided” by the outcome of the required background checks. Even their relatives are unaware of the convictions, so the newspaper declined to name the employee or his wife.

Unions representing state employees have been working with the state so that employees who have prior convictions but have turned their lives around are not fired. The solution has been to move those employees to new positions within the state. Indications are that no employee has lost their job because of the IRS background checks regulation, but dozens have been reassigned. What will happen with this particular employee is undetermined.

The IRS Required Background Checks Regulation

The 2018 IRS required background checks regulation is that any individual granted access to FTI must pass the following three background checks at a minimum:

• FBI fingerprint database
• Check with local law enforcement agencies
• Check to verify citizenship or residency status

If the employee or potential employee fails any one of these tests, it is up to the state whether to hire them for another position, but they may not work in a department that provides them access to personal taxpayer information.

The agency who hires the employees must provide verification to the IRS that each employee has passed all three required background checks and has no criminal history. Verifications must be updated periodically.

For more information about required background checks, please visit Screening Intelligence, LLC, which offers all types of background screening services.

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

Sources:
https://www.irs.gov/privacy-disclosure/background-investigations
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/the-state-worker/article235922982.html

2020 has just begun, and it is already bringing employers new sets of employment screening rules and challenges. From ban-the-box to marijuana-hiring laws, many of these employment screening trends bring to light the importance of employment background checks.

1. FCRA claims rising

Employers are faced with the fact that even accidental omissions and honest mistakes can end up costing them millions. Over the past decade, companies have paid out over $174 million, not small change for the small businesses often hit with these lawsuits.

2. Ban-the-box

Now 35 states and 150 plus jurisdictions have passed ban-the-box legislation. These laws prevent companies from automatically excluding people who have a felony record. The intention is to allow more people who’ve committed felonies to re-integrate into law-abiding society.

However noble the intention might be, these employment screening trends do not eliminate the risks of hiring people with certain types of felonies for various job descriptions.

3. Better contract employee background screening

Companies like Uber have been in the news lately regarding these employment screening practices. Contract drivers have allegedly committed various assaults and other reckless behavior. This leads to a call for companies who hire contract employees to take more responsibility in the hiring process.

4. Marijuana-hiring laws

Thirty-nine states and the District of Columbia have now passed laws allowing some forms of use within their jurisdiction. Marijuana legalization not only increases the chance that potential employees may be using marijuana; it changes the dynamic. Upstanding and responsible citizens may choose to partake on occasion. Laws and employment screening trends are changing to recognize this fact.

5. Hiring A.I. built-in bias

As companies expand their use of artificial intelligence to streamline and improve hiring, the employment industry is faced with a bitter truth. Even advanced machine learning software can develop biases if the data to which they are exposed is itself biased.

Software developers and companies must actively ensure that such an occurrence does not reinforce institutional inequalities that people today are working to eradicate.

6. Social media background screening brought into question

Social media screening has added a level of transparency to the hiring process that companies did not have before, but it also brings new challenges to the hiring process. Should candidates without social media be excluded? Should it be considered before or after a formal background check?

Recruiters are pondering these employment screening trends and other questions.

Keeping up with employment screening trends

Hiring will always be a risky activity. A bad hire costs a lot in terms of lost productivity and damaged company culture. However employment screening trends change, professional background screening is always a smart move to minimize hiring risks.

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