CUSTOMER RESOURCES
Volunteer Checks
Guide to Volunteer Background Checks
When background screenings are discussed in the context of businesses or organizations, they are often referred to as “pre-employment background checks.” But while this terminology does a good job of explaining when and why a background check might occur in an organizational setting, it also overlooks a type of labor group that should be a part of this conversation: volunteers. Whether your organization has a mix of employees and volunteers or relies primarily on volunteer labor, background checks for those volunteers are an essential step to protect against legal liabilities and risks.
There are many reasons why volunteers might be overlooked in designing and implementing a background check policy. One of the top reasons is money. When a business hires an employee, there is a true cash investment in the form of the salary the person will receive. The same applies to contractors, temps, consultants, or other paid labor. Business leaders view it as a form of due diligence to do their homework and vet these people. Those background checks may serve multiple purposes, from ensuring the employees are qualified to do the work to determining whether they pose a risk to the company, its employees, or its customers. Crucially, though, background checks are often viewed in this context as a means of protecting the employer’s investment in a person.
If the employer also has volunteers on its roster, there is no monetary investment there, which means those personnel may become lower-priority on the background check flowchart. Similarly, an organization that relies mostly or exclusively on volunteers may not run any background checks at all if staffing leaders believe that the core purpose of a background check is to prevent monetary losses due to a bad hire.
Other reasons abound. Volunteers are often viewed more as “temporary” or “one-off,” rather than as long-term players in an organization’s success. Some business leaders also don’t think of volunteers as being able to do the same amount of damage that a bad hire might, whether due to access (volunteers might not be given the same level of responsibility as full-time employees) or because of significance (the common assumption is that employees are a “face” of an organization in a way that volunteers aren’t).
These assumptions leave organizations vulnerable for myriad reasons. The truth is that volunteers are also an investment, simply in terms of training and trust. They also often hold important roles and sometimes have just as much responsibility as employees. It’s not uncommon for volunteers to be entrusted with organizational credit cards, files, resources, or other assets, which means they can theoretically commit embezzlement, fraud, identity theft, or other employment crimes. Finally, volunteers that are given any level of trust within an organization are a face of that organization, which means the organization can be liable for their behavior – either legally or in the court of public opinion.
For all these reasons, volunteer background checks are a crucial consideration for any organization that relies on or utilizes volunteers. In most cases, the best practice is treating volunteers like employees, which means having standards and protocols while “hiring” and onboarding these individuals. At backgroundchecks.com, we proudly provide detailed background check services to a long list of volunteer organizations, from schools to churches to non-profit organizations.
When Schools Need Volunteers
One of the contexts where volunteer checks are most needed is in the school environment. From classroom aides to field trip parents to assistant athletic coaches to parent volunteers who help with school drama productions, the list of ways that schools utilize volunteers is lengthy. Often, these volunteers are implicitly trusted because they are parents of children enrolled at the school. However, the truth is that not every parent is necessarily safe or trustworthy. It is better to be safe than sorry, and school volunteer background checks are one of the ways that schools can practice that mantra.
Education tends to have rigorous background check requirements for employees. Principals, teachers, bus drivers, and even custodians will typically undergo detailed background checks to get those jobs. Many positions in the academic world also require special licensing or certification, steps that often come with their own background check requirements. Background checks in education are there because children are a vulnerable population and need to be protected from those who may do them harm.
Volunteers don’t always have the same access to children – and, therefore, the same opportunity – to harm. For instance, schools will customarily have policies that don’t allow volunteers to be alone with children without teacher supervision. However, volunteers have some level of access in most situations, which can pose a potential risk. Thorough background checks for volunteers at schools can minimize those risks.
At background checks, we can help any district design school volunteer background checks that make sense for their different types of volunteers. Whether you vet volunteers to help in a middle or high school environment or navigate the many questions surrounding the conversation around pre-schools and volunteers, we can help.
Screening Church Volunteers
While churches have historically been viewed as places of safety and sanctuary, the sex abuse scandal that broke in the early 2000s exposed how that reputation had enabled bad actors to hurt children. Since then, background checks have become dramatically more common in churches for employees and volunteers alike. At backgroundchecks.com, for instance, we have conducted tens of thousands of background checks for churches and religious organizations.
Volunteers in a church environment can take on a wide array of different roles, from cleaning the sanctuary to playing music for services to teaching Sunday School. While churches might not necessarily find a need to conduct background checks for less involved or less formal volunteer roles, there are absolutely volunteer capacities that involve more responsibility, and that should entail a background check of some sort.
Caregiving and the Role of Volunteers
Increasingly, caregiving is more likely to be a matter of employment than volunteerism. Nationwide, there is a shortage of people to fill childcare or elder care roles. In some cases, volunteers may still work within caregiving institutions like nursing homes or senior living communities. It isn’t uncommon, for instance, for high school or college students to get community service time by volunteering to help the elderly or disabled in these environments.
In any caregiving situation, there is an inherent imbalance in power. The person receiving the care is vulnerable, whether due to age, physical or mental faculties, or other factors. As such, there is an opportunity for the caregiver – whether that person is an employee, a volunteer, or even a family member – to take advantage of their charge. Abuse, neglect, theft, and fraud are just a few of the crimes that often occur in caregiving situations at the hands of unscrupulous care providers.
Therefore, background check policies for volunteers and caregivers should always incorporate strategies devised to protect the most vulnerable. Typically, checks in these contexts look for signs that might predict bad behavior – such as a history of abuse or neglect, past sexual offenses, financial crimes, and more. These checks are worthwhile even for volunteers, simply due to the potential for harm.
Organizations should also remember that caregivers' background checks are important even when short-staffing or amplified needs exist. Issues with staffing and capacity sometimes create a risk of care providers cutting corners to fill a need rather than going through proper protocol to keep everyone safe. The pandemic shined a light on this push and pull when vaccination providers were fast-tracking volunteer background checks to onboard new volunteers rather than skipping those checks due to a pressing need.
Non-Profits and Volunteer Organizations
Many volunteer organizations fall into the non-profit sector. Because non-profit organizations have tight budgets and often rely on donations and grants for funding, they regularly try to fill key roles with volunteers.
Volunteers’ jobs in the non-profit world can vary dramatically, depending on the nature of the organization itself. However, for numerous reasons, these roles will regularly have enough responsibility to necessitate the same level of background check that the organization would likely run on an employee. In non-profit arts organizations, for instance, volunteers may manage ticket sales, staff the box office, or work in similar capacities. These jobs may involve interacting directly with the organization’s finances, including cash, credit cards, and accounts. Background checks can help in this situation to prevent risks of theft, embezzlement, or fraud.
Non-profit volunteers may also interact significantly with the public on behalf of the organization, which means they are technically a face of that organization. A criminal background check for a non-profit organization can prevent instances of a volunteer harming a customer or otherwise behaving in a way that tarnishes the image and reputation of the non-profit.
At backgroundchecks.com, we pride ourselves on helping non-profit clients learn how volunteer organizations can better serve their communities. Build a volunteer screening policy with us today.
Youth Sports Need Volunteer Background Checks
Youth sports affiliated with schools or school districts are often covered by the same policies as the educational institution they belong to. School sports coaches are unlikely to slip through the cracks without a background check simply because most schools already have firm background check policies for teachers and staff that they extend to their athletic departments. Many school sports coaches are also teachers in their respective schools, meaning they would have to go through background checks for those jobs.
However, the fact is that youth sports go beyond the schoolyard. From little league organizations to summer sports camps, countless organizations exist solely to provide youth sports opportunities. These organizations are often not tied to a school or any other organization, so they do not usually have a higher-level parent organization requiring them to follow specific background check protocols. Instead, youth sports organizations must devise their own background check protocols to keep kids safe
Unfortunately, recent history has highlighted the opportunities in youth sports for adults to take advantage of vulnerable kids. Tales of predators like Jerry Sandusky and Larry Nassar, who used their roles in the athletic world to sexually abuse children, have shaken the system and pushed youth sports organizations and the bodies that operate them to reform their policies for background checks and oversight. Read our blog post, “Town Aims to Improve Background Check Compliance for Youth Sports Coaches and Volunteers,” to learn about one such situation.
Volunteers play considerable roles in most youth sports organizations. They can act as coaches, assistant coaches, umpires, referees, judges, drivers for out-of-town competitions, equipment managers, and more. Most of these roles will bring volunteers within close contact with kids or teenagers. Volunteer checks are a crucial safeguard to ensure those close contacts don’t jeopardize the safety of young athletes. Criminal background checks, screenings that check for a history of abuse and neglect, and sex offender registry checks are all essential for employees and volunteers in youth sports.
Community Services
Especially in smaller towns and more rural areas, volunteers are often called upon to play key roles in essential community services. Emergency response teams, like fire departments and search-and-rescue, regularly include volunteers among their ranks.
Community service is one category where department leaders face a difficult balancing act regarding background checks – volunteer checks especially.
On the one hand, emergency response of any kind is a high-responsibility capacity, and there needs to be trust there – between leaders and team members, among team members themselves, and between the community and the response teams – for everyone to do their jobs safely and adequately. Background checks that scrutinize criminal history, past behavior, relevant experience, and other factors are one way to establish this trust.
On the other hand, background checks take time, cost money (with volunteers often expected to pay some or all of the associated fees), and are viewed by some to be an invasion of privacy. As a result, there are situations where background checks can be a deterrent to attracting workers or especially volunteers. Read our blog about what to do when would-be volunteers bristle at volunteer background checks to learn about a county that faced this same challenge when trying to find volunteers for its fire and emergency response teams.
Ultimately, background checks are essential for community service volunteers, even when would-be volunteers push back against the process. Fire departments, search-and-rescue crews, and other emergency response teams are units deployed in intense, urgent situations where trust and discipline are essential. A volunteer who hasn’t been vetted thoroughly in such scenarios could feasibly put their fellow volunteers at risk, not to mention the people they are trying to save.
Even if skipping the background check should be out of the question, there are questions worth discussing here – specifically, “Who should pay for volunteer background checks?” Requiring volunteers to cover the costs of background checks can be a money-saver for cash-strapped entities like non-profit organizations, government agencies, or community service offices. However, this option also runs the risk of pricing low-income individuals out of volunteer opportunities that they would otherwise happily take. It can even be an inconvenience or turnoff to people who can technically afford to pay for their own checks. In most volunteer situations, the best option to avoid losing prospective volunteers will always be for the entity requiring the background check to pay for the cost of that check.
FAQs
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No, having a Social Security Number to run a background check on a volunteer is not necessary. Do note, however, that the more personally identifiable information you have about a subject (SSN included), the more accurate your background check results are likely to be.
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Yes. Technically, volunteers fall under the same rules as employees regarding the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the federal law that dictates permissions and disclosures around background checks. As such, volunteer organizations should get written consent before proceeding with volunteer screenings. Read our post, “FTC Says Screening of Volunteers is for Employment Purposes Under the FCRA,” to learn more about these requirements.
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A common assumption is that volunteers aren’t linked to a business or organization in the same way employees are. In truth, volunteers often serve roles that staffers could easily fill with employee-like responsibilities. As a result, unvetted volunteers can pose all the same risks to an enterprise as unvetted employees. A volunteer with a violent past could still harm a customer, which could lead to legal liability and negligence on the part of the organization. A volunteer could still steal money or property from the organization. A volunteer could still behave in a way that reflects negatively on the organization. Thorough volunteer checks can minimize these and other risks.
Currently, there is a growing push for volunteer background checks. Explore our volunteer check resources on backgroundchecks.com to learn more about this trend, including blog posts like “More Organizations Embracing Background Checks for Volunteer Positions” and “Lansing Non-profit Adds Background Checks for Volunteers."
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A volunteer screening is a background check aimed at vetting anyone hoping to serve an organization or business in a volunteer capacity. These checks can vary depending on the organization’s needs but will often focus on aspects such as criminal history, sex offender registries, and past instances of theft, embezzlement, or fraud.
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Some organizations may start the background check process by having volunteers fill out a “background questionnaire.” This questionnaire may ask prospective volunteers to disclose criminal history, share previous volunteer experience, provide references who can speak on their behalf, and more. Think of the background questionnaire as the volunteer equivalent of a job application.
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The answer to this question will depend entirely on the organization(s) you are trying to volunteer for. Some entities, such as schools, may have stricter rules in place about whether they let individuals with criminal backgrounds volunteer or not. Meanwhile, organizations filling volunteer roles that don’t involve close contact with children may be a bit more lenient regarding criminal records.
What should be verified when conducting a volunteer background check?
Most volunteer supervisors attempt to flag past behaviors that indicate trouble in the future. Volunteers with histories of violence, sexual offenses, theft, fraud, embezzlement, or other more serious crimes can theoretically pose risks, hence the desire in volunteer organizations to identify this background information upfront. Therefore, criminal history and sex offender registry checks are usually the top priorities for volunteer background checks. Some volunteer organizations may wish to incorporate other checks, such as reference checks, past employment or volunteer engagement verifications, drug tests, driving history checks, and more.
Read about backgroundchecks.com and our SelectCheck solutions for volunteer background checks to learn more.
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Again, the answer to this question depends on the volunteer role. Most volunteer organizations don’t require specific “clearances,” but will require an upfront background check before they allow you to volunteer.
Additional Resources
Iowa Lawmakers Re-Evaluate Background Checks for Nursing Home Workers
In the state of Iowa, the law that requires nursing home workers to go through background checks is fourteen years old and many believe these requirements are outdated and need an update. A new bill has been introduced into legislation that would alter the way that background checks are done on nursing home employees. These new changes are supported by both state regulators as well as by the nursing home industry.
Currently the background check done on new nursing home workers only takes a few seconds and is simply an initial search for records. If there are no matches for felonies, certain misdemeanors or abuse, the job applicant can be hired at that time. If there is a match during the few seconds that the background check is going on, the applicant will go through a more stringent process where it will be determined how serious the previous crimes are and if these crimes would be detrimental to the position or would lead to putting patients in danger.
Though this background check system is thorough, each time a person switches agencies or gets a new position, they must go through the background check again, including the extra work if any crimes are found. This wastes a lot of time and money as it is estimated that about 22% of all applicants need to go through the second background check. Lawmakers in the state believe that eliminating the second check and focusing on automatic elimination on some results would be a more efficient process when checking the backgrounds of potential hires.
Another way to streamline the hiring process would be to partner with a third party background check company like backgroundchecks.com. Due to the enormous volume of searches they perform they have already perfected the re-verification process of instant searches that result in hits and brought the research time down to just a few days instead of a weeklong process. During that re-verification backgroundchecks.com can also apply standardized grading criteria so that offenses that would NOT lead an applicant to be barred from working in an Iowa care facility would be removed. That way the nursing homes would know that in the final reports they would only be looking at criminal records that according to predefined criteria would typically lead the nursing home to bar the applicant. Saving the nursing home time and ensuring the consistent application of screening standards within and across nursing homes in the state of Iowa.
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.
Are Universities Doing Enough When it Comes to Background Checks
Ever since the Penn State and Syracuse scandals came to light, colleges and universities across the country have been asked if they are doing enough when it comes to background checking their staff. One of these universities, Indiana State University, is really asking themselves that question as over the past two months three ISU employees have been arrested. Though the university states that all employees went through a background check and that the arrests are not related to their policy, there appear to be several employees who have been hired that have backgrounds that are less than desirable.
The current policy at ISU states that all new employees of the university are put through background checks including student employees who have access to sensitive information. However, these background checks are only done when an employee is hired and never again. In the case of ISU, they would benefit from hiring a third part background check company like backgroundchecks.com that would be able to offer specific products to enhance the way they are checking their existing employees. Products like their Ongoing Criminal Monitoring service can be added to traditional background checks to monitor for the occurance of new criminal records. ISU would be notified of any new criminal record that appeared for an employee's name.
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.indianastatesman.com/news/background-checks-can-isu-do-more-1.2776783#.Tzj5CFFAXK4
Chicago Daycare Hires Sex Offender Even When They Knew His Background
A registered sex offender has been working at a Chicago area day care without the knowledge of parents, the community or other employees. Eric Ellis, the employee in question, was hired by the day care through a temp agency. Though Ellis worked in the kitchen and had no access to children, as soon as the management found out about the history of Ellis, they immediately removed him from the property.
Ellis states that both the day care center and the temp agency knew of this background as he informed them both. The day care, on the other hand, states that they only hire temps when regular employees are sick. They rely on the temporary agency to do the background checks on these employees. The day care does not do the background checks on temporary employees themselves, though they do background checks on permanent employees.
Parents had mixed thoughts about Ellis being inadvertently hired by the day care center. Some were understandably upset and are considering removing their children. Others, though happy that Ellis was quickly found, believe it was an honest mistake and do not hold the day care responsible. Both sides believe that the day care needs to re-evaluate the way they get employees, even those through background checks. Though the day care relies on the temporary agency to perform the background checks, they may consider taking a closer look at the results.
It is true that the temporary agency does background checks, but the day care did not take on the responsibility to actually look at the results of the background checks in question. It may be difficult to place blame in this situation as some would say the temporary agency is at fault for not informing the day care center of Ellis’ background and others would say the day care is to blame as they did not take the responsibility to check the background of Ellis themselves. Both agencies should likely re-evaluate their practice in this situation.
There are many third party companies like backgroundchecks.com who perform background checks instantly and have products like a US Offender OneSEARCH that can search through records in seconds. It contains records from all 50 states and US territories like Puerto Rico, Washington DC and Guam. If the day care in question had considered an option such as this, it is very possible that this entire situation could have been avoided.
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.
Schools Move to Require Background Checks for Volunteers
In a move that follows many other schools, the Parsippany, NJ Board of Education has made the decision to consider performing background checks on volunteers who have the chance to work closely with children. New Jersey recently made it law to require all members of the Board of Education to undergo background checks and it seems as if the momentum is continuing down the line to include volunteers. The volunteers who would be covered under this requirement would be both those who work in the classroom as well as those who work in after school activities like sports coaches.
Though many are supportive of these changes, others have concerns like cost. The cost of these background checks would have to come out of the schools budget. Another consideration is parents not wanting to go through the hassle of getting a background check done. Some feel that it could deter parents from interacting with students in school which is needed for not only support of the school, but for building relationships.
Should the school decide to go through with this, companies like backgroundchecks.com are able to provide services for full background checks and can also offer products like US Offender OneSEARCH which can search offender databases all over the US.
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://parsippany.patch.com/articles/boe-again-takes-on-issue-of-background-checks
Should Door-to-Door Salesmen Under Go Background Checks? Some Say Yes
The city of Huntsville, AL has a proposal on the table that would require door-to-door salesmen to undergo a background check and have to carry a city ID if they want to legally sell their wares. The goal of this move is to not only keep residents of Huntsville safe, but to also weed out anyone who may be selling illegally or selling unsafe products door-to-door.
It is important to note that these background checks would only be required for those who are commercial sales people and professional fundraisers. The background checks would not be required of school children, girl scouts, political candidates, and charitable or religious groups. The proposed legislation in the city would look at the criminal background of each door-to-door salesperson and make a determination based on their background if they will be given an ID card from the city of Huntsville. This ID card would need to be worn continuously and shown when the salesperson approached a home. There would also be a provision added which would make it illegal for them to approach a home with a “No Solicitation” sign. Violators could be subject to a fine of up to $500 and/or spend up to six months in jail.
Should this legislation pass, it seems that those who are ex-convicts or who are paroled would be unable to participate in this program. Even certain misdemeanor crimes would be considered disqualifying events.
The city of Huntsville says they simply want to keep their residents safe, and this is one way that they can go about it. Should a sales person who previously received a city ID card be convicted of a crime, they would immediately lose their ID card and be unable to keep selling in the city limits.
Companies like backgroundchecks.com can be useful to cities like Huntsville who may be considering a move such as this. Not only can backgroundchecks.com perform these checks, they can offer products like Ongoing Criminal Monitoring that would let the city know, immediately, if one of these sales people were indicted or convicted of a crime. This would help the city keep track of who is out on their streets and interacting with their residents.
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://blog.al.com/breaking/2012/01/huntsville_considering_backgro.html
Taxi Drivers to Go Through Background Checks to Ensure Public Safety
A bill has been introduced that will ensure taxi drivers in certain areas are subject to background checks before renewing their licenses. there is no law or policy that forces taxi drivers to get their backgrounds scrutinized but if lawmakers have their ways, this will soon change.
Not only will this change of policy protect the public, it will standardize the way cities across the nation hire their cab companies and drivers. The plan is for licensing authorities to make the final call when it comes to granting a license to be a cab driver based on the results of the background check. In many cities, people rely on taxi’s for transportation and when they know the have gone through criminal background checks, they will feel better about taking cabs. Protecting the public is one of the main reasons these checks are being done.
Cities that will bring this policy into their borders can choose to use a third party processor like backgroundchecks.com in order to get the checks done. backgroundchecks.com has products that would be perfect for checking the background of taxi drivers including instant criminal checks and motor vehicle record checks. The information from these types of companies can be to cities and companies who hire taxi drivers.
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 ’ offerings, please visit www.backgroundchecks.com.
Fire Department May Require Background Checks for New Employees and Volunteers
Some cities in the nation are taking steps in order to fully protect citizens. For example, the city of Coatesville, PA is considering putting employees and volunteers from their fire department through full criminal background checks. In Coatesville, there are currently both full time and volunteer firefighters. The new policy, if passed, would only apply to new volunteers and employees, not those who are already serving. One of the main reason the city is considering this change is so full time employees and volunteers will be going through the same process when it comes to background checks.
Though the idea is certainly out there, the city is currently forming an exploratory committee as to decide what will be checked and how extensive these background checks would be. It is important when checking the backgrounds of all employees and volunteers that all of them go through the same process.
The city of Coatesville states that there was no single event that caused this idea to take hold, but there is a history of issues when it comes to the fire department and their lack of background checks. One example is the case of Robert Tracey, who was a volunteer fire fighter. He was serving as the assistant Fire Chief of the city when a series of arsons took place. Tracey was convicted of the arsons. After his arrest it was found that he had a history of arson as well as two counts of writing bad checks and two counts of theft. He had never been subject to a background check until he was arrested. The fire department has never said that this case is the cause of the move towards background checks, they only say they wish to move in a positive direction.
Companies like the Coatesville, PA fire department can continue to move in a positive direction when it comes to background checks by using the services of third party companies like backgroundchecks.com. The company backgroundchecks.com have a lot of different products, like Ongoing Criminal Monitoring which would be a great idea for the fire department since they are only planning on performing background checks on those who are new hires. This would allow the department to be notified if any of their employees or volunteers are indicted or convicted of any crime. Keeping the residents of Coatesville safe from fires is one job of the fire department and now they are also moving towards keeping them safe from criminals.
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://dailylocal.com/articles/2012/02/01/news/doc4f29ce103245e156859826.txt?viewmode=2
Should Poll Workers Get Background Checks
With presidential primaries and caucuses looming in many states, plans for the next election cycle are in full swing. Many polling locations are planned to be in schools and the city of Madison, WI has something to say about that. They want all poll workers, who will work in one of their city schools, to go through a background check before being allowed to work on Election Day.
Currently the city is looking into ways to get the background checks done, as well as the criteria that will be used in order to make a decision on who can work in a school and who cannot. The question has also been raised asking if all poll workers should be subject to a background check or just those working in schools. The city of Madison has over 2000 poll workers and over 200 of them are scheduled to work in schools throughout the city.
At this time, poll workers are not subject to any type of background check, though they are required to take an oath and attend a training course. If the city of Madison is going to get this enacted, they are running out of time. The primary in Wisconsin will take place on February 21 and the next election is April 3.
It is important to note that the school districts plan to begin putting poll workers through background checks is not caused by any specific incident, it is only to get in line with school policies and procedures when it comes to employees and volunteers. Since poll workers will be in the school and will technically have access to children, it is important, according to the school, for these workers to go through the same process. The district also states that putting poll workers through background checks will bring a greater sense of safety in schools as well.
Organizations that are planning on doing large volume background checks may want to consider using a third party background check company like backgroundchecks.com. Not only can backgroundchecks.com perform background checks quickly and easily, they can handle high volume business accounts. In addition to doing traditional background checks, they have several products available that will give companies an even better overview of employees and volunteers. One of these products is called the US Offender OneSEARCH which should always be done when someone will be working around children. Taking care to check the background of anyone who is in contact with children is the safest way to conduct business.
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.
backgroundchecks.com Legislation and Compliance Update: FTC Warning: A Consumer Report is A Consumer Report Even if You Think It’s Not_1229
The Federal Trade Commission warned several mobile app makers that their products may be consumer reports. According to the FTC’s website, these app makers all performed instant database checks into individual’s criminal histories. The FTC noted that this information, if used for employment purposes, is a consumer report. The on an app that it is not for employment purposes. Instead, the FTC said it would look to indications of actual use, such as where the mobile apps were advertised and who was on the app-makers’ customer lists.
This is who use anything other than a regulated consumer reporting agency for their background reports. (whether mobile apps or websites) . The FTC points out that a consumer report is a consumer report, regardless of whether the companies providing or obtaining it think so. The FTC is absolutely correct.
At a minimum, the FTC and plaintiffs’ lawyers would be able to show a violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(f)(2), which prohibits anyone from obtaining a consumer report without having first certified to a consumer reporting agency the purpose for which the report will be used. Most likely, they would also be able to show a violation of:
· 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)(2), which prohibits anyone from obtaining a consumer report for employment without having first told the subject that that it will obtain a consumer report and having obtained the subject’s authorization;
· 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)(3), which requires anyone intending to take adverse action based on a consumer report obtained for employment purposes to give a specific notice before taking that action, and
· 15 U.S.C. § 1681m, which requires anyone who takes adverse action based on a consumer report to give a further notice about the action.
It seems probable that the FTC would show this to be a knowing violation, which would entail . More significantly, plaintiffs’ lawyers would show this to be willful, which means that the employer would be liable for
Using a regulated consumer reporting agency like backgroundchecks.com avoids this particular problem. More importantly, it assures employers that the reports on which they make critical hiring decisions were prepared by a responsible agency using processes designed to produce accurate, complete, up-to-date reports. When another service – whether mobile or web – disclaims the FCRA, that is a sign that the report may be too unreliable to be used for hiring.
Boston Prep School Hired Registered Sex Offender to Work with Children
In Boston, the New England Conservatory has recently been under fire for hiring a registered sex offender and having this man on their staff for ten years. Peter Benjamin, who is a freelance videographer, has worked for the prep school by videotaping numerous concerts, performances and rehearsals involving the children of the school. When he was hired, he was not given a background check.
If Benjamin had been giving a criminal background check prior to being hired, it would have been noted that he had spent five years in prison in the 1990’s after being found guilty of sexually abusing teen boys. Though the school has a policy that prohibits the hiring of convicted sex offenders, Benjamin was able to slip through the cracks. He was hired on a freelance basis by the director of the youth philharmonic orchestra at the school Benjamin Zander. Zander would have been in charge of getting the background check done on Benjamin, something he failed to do. Zander has subsequently been fired recently for failing to ensure Benjamin had gone through a background check even though he know about Benjamin’s background.
What makes this even more troubling is not only was Benjamin not required to go through a background check ten years ago when he first started freelancing with the school, he was not put through a background check in 2010 when the school put in a firm policy about background checks for all of their volunteers, vendors and staff. In fact, besides Zander, school officials only found out about Benjamin’s background through an anonymous tip. Parents and the community, of course, were outraged and the school has received over 6000 letters of protest.
This is a situation that easily could have been avoided by ensuring that Benjamin had gone through a background check before being hired. Companies all over the US are upping the amount of background checks they give and with the help of companies like backgroundchecks.com, they are able to stop potentially dangerous situations before they even have a chance to happen. Though there are no accusations that Benjamin has done anything wrong since working for the school, the chance alone is too much for most people.
backgroundchecks.com has several products, like their US Offender OneSEARCH which could have told the school about Benjamin’s past instantly. Not only could it have given the school information on Massachusetts, it is able to search all fifty states.
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.
Drug Roundup at Elementary School Yields Criminal Janitor with No Background Check
Late last month January, Beaumont Independent School District in Texas performed a routine drug roundup in their schools. Though it is not unusual to find a hit or two in the local high school, it was a surprise when a hit was found at Caldwood Elementary School. It wasn’t a student who had drugs on them, but the janitor, Darrel Patrick Clover Jr. When arrested and booked, it was found that Clover, age 32, has a lengthy criminal background, including six misdemeanor drug charges. He has never undergone a background check and has been employed at the school since 1998.
According to the Beaumont Independent School District, non-certified employees, basically anyone who is not a teacher, who was hired prior to January 1, 2008 was never required to go through a background check. The school district had no idea who was working in the same facilities with students. Even though these employees, including janitors, cafeteria workers and secretaries, do not work directly with students, they still interact with them on a daily basis. Parents question if the school district has the best interest of the students in mind with this policy on background checks. The school has stated that Clover has been suspended and that another policy states that any employee found with drugs will be met with criminal charges.
Clover, who had marijuana on him at the time of the arrest, has not yet been charged, but since he was found with drugs in an area that is certified to be a “drug free zone”, it is likely he will be charged with felony drug possession. This recent even raises the question of why all employees who have access to children in a school has not gone through a background check.
In this day and age, it is extremely easy and affordable for companies to get background checks done on their employees. Companies like backgroundchecks.com offer instant information for many types of records including criminal records by county, state and even on a national level. backgroundchecks.com offers many packages and products that can be beneficial for companies and organizations to look into like their Single State OneSEARCH which will pull information from one state and may include information from such places like the Department of Corrections and county courts.
Choosing a third party to do background checks could have prevented this from happening and would have given the school a better idea of who was interacting with their students.
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.
Should Employees be Responsible for Self-Reporting Crimes?
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, 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.
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/
Tennessee employers required to collect documents or use E-Verify database
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 or services.
The employment verification provisions referenced above will be phased in as follows:
All state and local government agencies must 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 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 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.
