Monday, October 25, 2004
Employee Background Checks - Instant Backgorund Checks
An article by Karen Freifeld of Newsday makes a fairly strong case for using County-level background checks in the pre employment screening of new hires, as opposed to instant "Nationwide" checks.
The article, Holes Found in Background Checks, is posted on the Newsday Website. I have posted an excerpt below:
The arrest earlier this month of a FreshDirect deliveryman, an ex-con who allegedly made obscene calls to female customers, has raised serious questions about possible gaping holes in commercial background checks.
In FreshDirect's case, the company hired ChoicePoint, a major background check company, to vet its employees for possible criminal histories.
Despite the check, FreshDirect did not know Erik Reynolds, 33, of the Bronx was an ex-con with at least two felony convictions and a half-dozen misdemeanors until his arrest this month.
FreshDirect has since fired Reynolds -- and ChoicePoint, saying ChoicePoint did not provide a "very satisfactory" reason for why it did not flag Reynolds for them.
Chuck Jones, a spokesman for ChoicePoint, said his company provides customers with several levels of screening options, some simple and some complex.
For FreshDirect, ChoicePoint performed what the company calls a National Criminal File search, which searches records in all 50 states. But the breadth and depth of records varies by state. In New York, all this search included was online prison release records from the New York Department of Correctional Services and ChoicePoint proprietary records.
This is among several reasons someone's criminal history could go undetected. For starters, the Corrections Department search would reveal only crimes for which a criminal served state prison time. It would not record crimes for which someone would serve time on Rikers Island, a city correctional facility, for instance...
This is the primary flaw of Online "Instant Background Checks." Employers think that their bases are covered and that they have done their due dilligence in screening by performing a "Nationwide" Criminal Record Search. Unfortunately, many companies that offer this kind of search fail to educate their clients on the differnces in information sources and the Best Practices in Employment Screening. These "Nationwide" searches do not provide an accurate and comprehensive picture of the applicants background, and should only be used as a supplement to County-level Searches.
Inquest Pre Employment Screening specializes in employee background schecks, including County-level Criminal Investigations.
The article, Holes Found in Background Checks, is posted on the Newsday Website. I have posted an excerpt below:
The arrest earlier this month of a FreshDirect deliveryman, an ex-con who allegedly made obscene calls to female customers, has raised serious questions about possible gaping holes in commercial background checks.
In FreshDirect's case, the company hired ChoicePoint, a major background check company, to vet its employees for possible criminal histories.
Despite the check, FreshDirect did not know Erik Reynolds, 33, of the Bronx was an ex-con with at least two felony convictions and a half-dozen misdemeanors until his arrest this month.
FreshDirect has since fired Reynolds -- and ChoicePoint, saying ChoicePoint did not provide a "very satisfactory" reason for why it did not flag Reynolds for them.
Chuck Jones, a spokesman for ChoicePoint, said his company provides customers with several levels of screening options, some simple and some complex.
For FreshDirect, ChoicePoint performed what the company calls a National Criminal File search, which searches records in all 50 states. But the breadth and depth of records varies by state. In New York, all this search included was online prison release records from the New York Department of Correctional Services and ChoicePoint proprietary records.
This is among several reasons someone's criminal history could go undetected. For starters, the Corrections Department search would reveal only crimes for which a criminal served state prison time. It would not record crimes for which someone would serve time on Rikers Island, a city correctional facility, for instance...
This is the primary flaw of Online "Instant Background Checks." Employers think that their bases are covered and that they have done their due dilligence in screening by performing a "Nationwide" Criminal Record Search. Unfortunately, many companies that offer this kind of search fail to educate their clients on the differnces in information sources and the Best Practices in Employment Screening. These "Nationwide" searches do not provide an accurate and comprehensive picture of the applicants background, and should only be used as a supplement to County-level Searches.
Inquest Pre Employment Screening specializes in employee background schecks, including County-level Criminal Investigations.
