When it comes to online dating, most companies that set up matches between two people almost never offer background checks. Lawmakers in Illinois are now introducing legislation that would require any company that serves as an online dating service to prominently display information on their website saying if they perform background checks or not. They would also have to put information on their site regarding the option of clients to request background checks. Some sites currently give their clients the option of going through background checks in order to assure their dates that they are who they say they are.

The truth is, when people engage in online dating, they really don’t know who they are dealing with nor the background of the person they may be spending time with alone. For most dating sites, there is no screening at all. If these dating sites would begin screening clients through companies like backgroundchecks.com, others would be able to have a greater overview of who they were going out with when they use products like US Offender OneSEARCH  which searches records on sex offenders. Daters would be able to gauge if they felt safe or not, before going out alone with the other person.

About backgroundchecks.com -

backgroundchecks.com - a founding member of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) - serves thousands of customers nationwide, from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies by providing comprehensive screening services.  Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with an Eastern Operations Center in Chapin, S.C., backgroundchecks.com is home to one of the largest online criminal conviction databases in the industry. For more information about backgroundchecks’ offerings, please visit www.backgroundchecks.com.

Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-online-dating-regulation-20120126,0,7998978.story

In a surprising decision to those who believe anyone who works around children in schools should have background checks done, the Marlboro, NJ school board voted 5-2 to not require student observers to have background checks. Student observers are those who are attending college to become a teacher. They are typically in a classroom for less than 20 hours and are not the same as a student teacher, who takes on a more active role in interacting with students. A student observer, however, is in the classroom and has access to children.

Though these student observers are not actively teaching, their access to the students have some parents and community members concerned. The school board says that student observers are not left in the classrooms alone with students, others say that it happens often. For a teacher, a student observer can act like an assistant. Though they are not supposed to be teaching or spending time alone with kids, many of them are invited by the teachers to actively interact with the class.

One of the main reasons that student observers are not required to go through background checks are cost and time. The policy of the Marlboro school board is to require those who have contact with students, like teachers, volunteer and staff, to go through a criminal background check and to be fingerprinted.  Though it has been suggested that the student observers or university be required to pay for the fingerprints and background checks, the school board still states that it will take extra time and paperwork for the district and it may not be worth it for a person who will only be in a classroom for less than 20 hours.

If it is found that any student observer who may have a criminal record and who was not background checked had been allowed in a classroom, the distinct could be in legal hot water. This is important to remember for all companies who may perform background checks on some employees, but not all employees. This is especially true for schools or any company that caters to children, the elderly or other service organizations.

Companies like backgroundchecks.com offer excellent products that will allow companies to get a complete criminal background check on their employees. One of these products is called US OneSEARCH and it will pull criminal records from all 50 states. Using companies like these can help protect the reputation of a company and make a company safer for all.

About backgroundchecks.com -

backgroundchecks.com - a founding member of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) - serves thousands of customers nationwide, from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies by providing comprehensive screening services.  Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with an Eastern Operations Center in Chapin, S.C., backgroundchecks.com is home to one of the largest online criminal conviction databases in the industry. For more information about backgroundchecks’ offerings, please visit www.backgroundchecks.com.

Source: http://nt.gmnews.com/news/2012-01-25/Front_Page/No_criminal_check_for_student_observers.html

Some employers, such as the University of Georgia system, are relying on employees to self-report any crimes that they commit while working for them. Unfortunately, as many would expect, this is a flawed system of reporting. Even if an employee of the University of Georgia is arrested, how many of them would actually report that? Surely there may be a few here or there, but overall, a majority would likely not report the incident, which is exactly what happened to Rudo Kieft, a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Kieft was arrested on November 30^th, 2011 for DUI in Athens, GA, but was released soon after the arrest. He missed no work, nor did he report the incident to the University, even though the policy was to do just that.  In fact, at this time, the University of Georgia doesn’t even have a policy or any direction on what to do when this situation occurs. In the situation of Kieft, it was simply a fluke situation and not one that was being actively sought. There is no way to tell how many other employees of the University of Georgia may have been arrested or convicted while in their employ, nor any information on what crimes they may have committed.

It is important to mention that the University of Georgia does have a policy to perform background checks on their employees. In fact, a very thorough and complete background check is done upon hiring on each and every employee. However, these background checks are only done when the employee is hired. The employee could work with the University for 15 years, for example, or more, and never have to go through any background check again, which can be dangerous. Periodically running background checks on present employees can help ensure the safety of other employees and will keep the organization a safer place for students and employees alike.

Companies like backgroundchecks.com are able to not only provide extensive and thorough background checks on new and present employees, but they also have a product called Ongoing Criminal Monitoring. This product of backgroundchecks.com is recommended for employers like the University of Georgia who wish to know about arrests made while someone is working for them. The product works by notifying the employer anytime one for their employees are arrested. It can be an extremely important tool for companies to use in order to keep their employees and others safe.

About backgroundchecks.com -

backgroundchecks.com - a founding member of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) - serves thousands of customers nationwide, from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies by providing comprehensive screening services.  Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with an Eastern Operations Center in Chapin, S.C., backgroundchecks.com is home to one of the largest online criminal conviction databases in the industry. For more information about backgroundchecks’ offerings, please visit www.backgroundchecks.com.

Source: http://redandblack.com/2012/01/26/univ-expects-employees-to-self-report-arrests/

A fast food restaurant known as the Flying Biscuit Café is under fire right now for hiring a convicted felon. The restaurant hired convicted felon Mark Anthony Cox. Cox was a relatively new hire when he attacked and murdered a pregnant restaurant manager. He then robbed the restaurant and fled. Cox had served time for robbery and breaking and entering. He was released from prison in November, 2011 and began working at the fast food restaurant 2 weeks after his release. The restaurant did not perform a background check on Cox before he was hired, so they were unaware of his arrest and conviction.

Since the Flying Biscuit Café did not check the background of their employee, they are getting much of the blame for this murder. Though it is not illegal for companies to hire felons, it is illegal for a convicted felon to work in a location that serves alcohol. Since the Flying Biscuit Café serves alcohol, the Alcohol Law Enforcement department is considering action.

The Flying Biscuit Café could have possibly prevented this entire ordeal had they used a background check company like backgroundchecks.com. The company backgroundchecks.com could have used one of their products, like Single State OneSEARCH to get information on Cox before they chose to hire him. Had they found out about the conviction, legally they would not have been able to bring him on board due to the fact that they sell alcohol.

About backgroundchecks.com -

backgroundchecks.com - a founding member of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) - serves thousands of customers nationwide, from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies by providing comprehensive screening services. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with an Eastern Operations Center in Chapin, S.C., backgroundchecks.com is home to one of the largest online criminal conviction databases in the industry. For more information about backgroundchecks’ offerings, please visit www.backgroundchecks.com.

Source: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/01/26/2959407/cafe-could-be-cited-by-ale-for.html

Tennessee employers are required to demonstrate that they are hiring and maintaining a legal workforce under new requirements that became effective January 1, according to Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Karla Davis.

“This online verification process is designed to be convenient for employers and only takes a few minutes to complete. The department can provide assistance to employers who don’t have Internet access,” said Commissioner Davis.

Signed into law by Governor Bill Haslam on June 7, 2011, the Tennessee Lawful Employment Act (H.B. 1378) requires employers to verify the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees through the online E-Verify program (www.uscis.gov/everify), or requesting all newly hired employees to provide one of the following identity and employment authorization documents as required:

• A valid Tennessee driver's license or photo identification

• A valid driver's license or photo identification from another state where the license requirements are at least as strict as those in Tennessee

• A birth certificate issued by a U.S. state, jurisdiction or territory

• A U.S. government issued certified birth certificate

• A valid, unexpired U.S. passport

• A U.S. certificate of birth abroad

• A report of birth abroad or a citizen of the U.S.

• A certificate of citizenship

• A certificate of naturalization

• A U.S. citizen identification card

• A lawful permanent resident card

The law also requires employers to obtain and maintain a copy of one of the above listed identity/employment authorization documents for all non-employees as well. A “non-employee” is defined as any individual, other than an employee, paid directly by the employer in exchange for the individual’s labor or services.

The employment verification provisions referenced above will be phased in as follows:

• All state and local government agencies must enroll and participate in E-Verify or request and maintain an identity/employment authorization document from a newly hired employee or non-employee no later than January 1, 2012

• All private employers with 500 or more employees must enroll and participate in E-Verify or request and maintain an identity/employment authorization document from a newly hired employee or non-employee no later than January 1, 2012

• All private employers with 200 to 499 employees must enroll and participate in E-Verify or request and maintain an identity/employment authorization document from a newly hired employee or non-employee no later than July 1, 2012

• All private employers with six to 199 employees must register and utilize E-Verify or request and maintain an identity/employment authorization document from a newly hired employee or non-employee no later than July 1, 2013

The Tennessee Department of Labor has authority to impose penalties for non compliance. For a first violation, $500 for each employee or non-employee not verified; for a second violation, $1,000 for each employee or non-employee not verified; and $2,500 for a third violation.

The private employer must submit evidence of compliance within 60 days of the final order. If the employer fails to submit such documentation, then the commissioner has the authority to suspend the private employer's license until the employer remedies the violation.

Any lawful resident of Tennessee or any employee of a federal agency may file a complaint alleging a violation of the employment verification provisions of the Act. If there is satisfactory evidence of a violation, the Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development will conduct an investigation.

The day has arrived where New Jersey Board of Education members must step down if they have not gone through a background check. A law was passed in 2011 that states all members of schools boards in the state must undergo a background check before serving. Out of the over 5000 members of school boards in the state, 184 of them did not get their background checks done and they have been asked to resign. If they do not resign, they will be removed from their positions.

The background checks that the members had to go through are identical to those teachers and volunteers must go through in order to work with children in the state. Many school boards nationwide have enacted similar policies, but New Jersey is the first state to do this for all of their schools.

Getting background checks done on anyone who works with children is an excellent idea and companies like backgroundchecks.com make it easy for employers to get the information they need on present and future employees. They offer products like Single State OneSEARCH that will instantly give employers all the information they need on a potential employee, for instance, from several state reporting agencies.

About backgroundchecks.com -

backgroundchecks.com - a founding member of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) - serves thousands of customers nationwide, from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies by providing comprehensive screening services.  Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with an Eastern Operations Center in Chapin, S.C., backgroundchecks.com is home to one of the largest online criminal conviction databases in the industry. For more information about backgroundchecks’ offerings, please visit www.backgroundchecks.com.

Source: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/01/nj_orders_200_school_board_mem.html

In the state of Maine, it has been made mandatory for transportation drivers to go through a criminal background check when applying for their annual license. The catch is, the cabbie, for instance, will have to pay the fee for the background check that is about $22. This is in addition to the $25 they will already have to pay to renew the license. Some of the cities and towns in Maine, however, are helping out. One of these towns is Rumford. They announced on January 5^th, 2012 that they will take care of the fee for now, but this may change in the future.

As a company, it can be difficult to take on the burden of paying for criminal background checks, especially when the state makes them mandatory and your employees are very unhappy about the fee. This certainly raises questions about who should be responsible for paying for something like this. Most companies have some kind of background check necessary for employment, and many companies pay for these themselves. In the case of the cabbies of Rumford, ME, they are already paying for their license renewal so Rumford has stepped in to help with the background check fee. At this time the state of Maine has no plans to change the fee or the law.

 About backgroundchecks.com -

backgroundchecks.com - a founding member of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) - serves thousands of customers nationwide, from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies by providing comprehensive screening services.  Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with an Eastern Operations Center in Chapin, S.C., backgroundchecks.com is home to one of the largest online criminal conviction databases in the industry. For more information about backgroundchecks’ offerings, please visit www.backgroundchecks.com.

Source: http://www.sunjournal.com/news/river-valley/2012/01/06/rumford-board-agrees-absorb-new-state-fee-backgrou/1136808

If you have applied for a job, certain licenses or applied to rent a home or apartment, you have probably had to go through a background check. Depending on the nature of the request, a background check will search everything from civil and criminal records, verifications of licenses, a check of your credit score, motor vehicle history and even call and check references you have provided for yourself. With so much competition in the job market and so many people going for the same positions, employers are using background checks more than they ever did before. They can afford to be selective at this time as they are often faced with tens if not hundreds of candidates to choose from. By doing these comprehensive background checks, they can ensure that they are only getting the best employees.

As a job seeker, arming yourself with the same information that an employer will have when determining if you are a good match for an open job position, can be crucial to landing the job. When you are forewarned with the information that employers can see, when they run a background check on you, you are in a better position to take care of any negative or incorrect information in your history before an employer is ever seeing it. For instance, it is very possible that there may be some incorrect information out there that has been attached to your name or social security number.  Just like you should check your credit report annually, you should make sure your criminal background record is correct as well.

If you have to go through a background check, and you probably will since 3 out of 4 employers are currently doing them on potential employees, it will be in your best interest to have a self background check completed. This is a very simple and fast process and by using companies like backgroundchecks.com, you can do this all from the comfort of your home for one small fee. You will get access to criminal database records an employer might search, such as a national and state criminal background check and even driving record information. You can all of the previous mentioned information in one comprehensive job application check package from backgroundchecks.com.  Arming yourself with this information and fixing incorrect information before going into the interview can help you land the job.

About backgroundchecks.com -

backgroundchecks.com - a founding member of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) - serves thousands of customers nationwide, from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies by providing comprehensive screening services.  Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with an Eastern Operations Center in Chapin, S.C., backgroundchecks.com is home to one of the largest online criminal conviction databases in the industry. For more information about backgroundchecks’ offerings, please visit www.backgroundchecks.com.

Source: http://www.jdsupra.com/post/documentViewer.aspx?fid=bd79c035-f265-47bc-a839-cd48e5545322

In Oklahoma, paramedics who are employed by the Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA) are only known by name to the organization. They know nothing about their employee’s backgrounds. The reason they don’t know is because the organization doesn’t directly hire their employees, the employees are hired through a separate organization called Paramedic’s Plus who does all of the hiring, maintains records and also performs the background checks on these EMT’s. EMSA has no access to any of these documents at this time.

After a fatal car accident in Oklahoma City involving an ambulance in which one of the employees of EMSA was found at fault, questions began being asked and requests were sent by The Tulsa World newspaper to the EMSA and Paramedic’s Plus for answers on felony convictions of their employees.

Paramedic’s Plus, according to their records, checks several elements in a potential employees background, including a pre-employment license verification, a check of motor vehicle records and of course, a criminal background investigation. Company policy allows employees with certain misdemeanors to be hired but not those with felony convictions.

The response to the The Tulsa World  record request was a listing of all of their employee names, hire dates and license numbers, but no additional information was provided to the newspaper. Both organizations refused to give out any other personal information on their employees. The Tulsa World used state public records from the State’s department of Corrections to search for possible matches and found 109 hits.

A similar search is available for employers at backgroundchecks.com using the Single State US OneSEARCH option which contains records from various reporting agencies throughout  a single state. Examples of such sources that may contribute  data are Department of Corrections, Administration of Courts, County Courts and offender registries in a state.

It should be noted, however, that many of these names are very common and without other identifying information, it cannot be determined if, for example, the John Smith who was found to have a felony record in Oklahoma was the same John Smith who works for EMSA. However, some names were very unique, leaving the The Tulsa World to ponder if all current EMSA employees are in compliance with the organizations policy of not employing Paramedics who lack a clean motor vehicle and criminal record.

The question of private personal identifiable information for public employees and who has access to them is a sticky one. Companies who do background checks do it to protect their employees and customers, but for some professions The Tulsa World thinks that it may be necessary for the public to be aware of the results of these background checks. In the case of EMSA and Paramedic’s Plus, Paramedic’s Plus protected the information and EMSA was given the option to reveal the information to the public.

About backgroundchecks.com -

backgroundchecks.com - a founding member of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) - serves thousands of customers nationwide, from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies by providing comprehensive screening services.  Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with an Eastern Operations Center in Chapin, S.C., backgroundchecks.com is home to one of the largest online criminal conviction databases in the industry. For more information about backgroundchecks’ offerings, please visit www.backgroundchecks.com.

Source: http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20120108_11_A17_Thenam235988

The data has been compiled and the results are in: companies and organizations have done more background checks over the last year than ever before. As employers steadily began to hire again, they made sure the employees they were hiring had only the most impeccable backgrounds possible. Even companies, who never did job background checks in the past, began doing them this year.

The information that indicates a rise in this information was further supported by the numbers just released by the FBI concerning the number of screenings done through their National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). The NICS is used not only for certain employee background checks, it is also used for firearm purchase approval, which is also up over last year. Though many people think that the rise in background checks is due to the scandals of recent months at college campuses, where these types of checks came to light, the trend has actually been going on over the past 16 months.

There are many great reasons for your company or organization to perform employee background checks on your potential employees and volunteers. Many companies are also beginning to do these checks on current employees to make sure that they still are compliant with their initial screening standards. For a company, not doing these types of background screenings could potentially make them liable in the case of an incident of violence or crime comitted by any of their employees. Nowadays, when something happens where an employee is found a have been involved in a criminal act, and there is any media attention or coverage, one of the more frequently asked question is “Did they have a background check done before they were hired?”. Don't be surprised if the next question this year is "Did you ever reverify if they would still pass a criminal background check?" A definite "Yes" to such a question sounds much better than having to admit you didn't do a check.

To make this process easy for businesses, companies like backgroundchecks.com have made it extremely simple for businesses to streamline their employment processes and offer basic and comprehensive packages for pre-employment screening and criminal monitoring. Some of these corporate background checks can be even be done instantly.